Background
Although family life is part of the landscape for most people, there are still many areas where work and home life do not fit together. This mainly impacts women, with only one-fifth of new mothers returning to a full-time career within five years of giving birth. The impact of the pandemic has been harder on women as they are more likely than men to be in lower-paid and/or precarious work in addition to carrying a disproportionate number of caring responsibilities. The plan to have a family is often seen as making a ‘choice’ of children over career. There is, though, growing understanding of the need for work-life balance and that this should not necessarily mean sacrificing a fulfilling career. As these types of expectations become more widespread, employers may need to work harder to retain their staff, as people decide to move around to find job satisfaction alongside family life.
What are the benefits of supporting career progression?
Where employers provide access to career progression, this can help individuals maintain a fulfilling role, be more motivated and be less likely to leave. It will also be easier to attract others to work for them, particularly where the market for staff is competitive.
Research from the Racing Home project showed that women sometimes ‘pull back’ from career progression opportunities, as it is not always possible to freely discuss their plans around having children. This leaves no space to formulate alternative plans or pathways. Encouraging open discussion about this will allow honest conversations to take place, and support planning for both employer and employee.
Furthermore, post-Covid there is concern for future job security, and this should be a key area of focus for the industry moving forwards to ensure stability in the workforce. Providing ways to maintain individuals’ skills will make a significant contribution to their feeling more secure in their roles.
What can employers do?
Larger employers may be able to provide specialised training opportunities, and employers of all sizes can access a range of resources to help their staff progress. Within horseracing, it is possible to signpost staff to places where they can get industry-specific guidance and advice, and the following links might be helpful for career advice and to help them plan in a way that keeps their skills relevant:
British Racing School Regional Staff Development Programme
National Horseracing College Regional Staff Development Programme
Careers Advice and Training Service (CATS)
Mentoring support for women can be available via the Women in Racing Mentoring Programme
Employers and managers themselves may be interested in accessing CATS (Careers Advice and Training Service) Management Support Service which is open to anyone who manages or mentors other members of staff no matter where they work.
It may also be possible to help employees to focus on and understand their transferable skills, and help to recognise opportunities for possible ‘side steps’ (involving changing to a different role) and career progressions that are more compatible with family responsibilities. This can allow them to eventually transition into other roles with the same employer, or at least stay within horseracing, which helps with talent retention.
Some ideas for action
- Structures to monitor and develop talent, such as reviews or appraisals, are an important part of developing career progression. It is also helpful to monitor at an organisational level to see if staff in part-time or flexible roles, or those with caring responsibilities are remaining in the same positions relative to staff overall.
- A key factor for women returning to the workplace with children is to build their confidence. Mentoring programmes are a good idea, particularly as there are so many mature and experienced people with a lot to offer in the horseracing industry.
- Investment in training opportunities to complement employees’ skills can pay dividends in terms of staff satisfaction, motivation, productivity and retention.
- Recognise that part-time staff are sometimes overlooked for roles because they are taken less seriously, or it is thought that they are not interested in career progression. Remain open to ideas, and keep the door open for conversations about progression and learning opportunities.
- When reviewing performance, senior staff and management should ensure that the amount of time someone is present in the workplace is not an influencing factor, so that part-time/flexible staff are not penalised. Be sure to challenge this opinion, which may be conscious or unconscious on the part of management and colleagues.
- Look at all the options! Where permanent changes or promotions are not currently viable, support staff in their learning and development through job sharing, job rotation or secondments, and remain aware of the possibility for temporary arrangements to help staff maintain their CVs.
- Employees being on maternity, paternity or adoption leave can offer career opportunities for other employees if they are given the chance to act-up in a higher position, or take on some new responsibilities to cover parental leave periods for short secondments. This can contribute to staff development, succession planning and increase the skills of the talent pool in your organisation.
For some additional reading and resources for this page click here.
Also see our FAQs page for ‘What support is available in terms of training or coaching’; ‘It feels like my (economic) value is disappearing and I’ve no idea what to do about it. Where do I start?
