A spoonful of sugar for Sir Alan

Apr 1 2008 by Sarah Green, The Journal

ANY employer deciding to take a page out of the Sir Alan Sugar guide to successful recruitment would soon find themselves competing against their rivals with one hand tied behind their back.

There are around 20,000 vacancies for jobs in the North East which firms are finding increasingly hard to fill with suitably skilled staff. So any employer who turns up his or her nose at a woman of child-bearing age (effectively any female aged 16 to their mid-40s) is not helping themselves or anyone else.

Sir Alan seems to have two main gripes. Firstly, he wants to be able to quiz women over their plans for a family and, secondly, he objects to the length of maternity leave available to any woman who has had the temerity to have a child and a job.

I disagree with him on both issues. For starters, why should a woman answer questions which a man would not be asked, particularly if doing so would jeopardise her career prospects? It is a straightforward case of unfairness which should not exist in this day and age.

Second, having a child does not mean you disappear off the face of the planet; it just means being more creative about how you balance your work and family life to meet the challenges of both.

Indeed, many employers who recognise the different flexible needs of all their workforce – and try to accommodate them all fairly – discover their rewards. Staff repay them with a level of loyalty, dedication and commitment rarely seen in less-enlightened workplaces.

Most employers rise to the occasion and offer forms of flexible working to both women and men who want to take a child -caring role, although as a working mum and a manager of a team, I know it is not always easy. Small firms in particular can find it hard, especially the administrative burden.

But having the right people is the key to the bottom line and if you can develop your workforce through a flexible approach, this can lead to both happy employees and a healthy, profitable business.

I wish Sir Alan all the best but I shall make sure that I recruit the best person – man or woman – without fear or favour.

Sarah Green is the regional director of the CBI