20: How leaders can support their team’s childcare responsibilities, as working parents themselves

In this podcast, Gaelle Blake, Director of Permanent Appointments for Hays UK&I and James Milligan, Global Head of Technology, share their expert advice on how leaders can effectively support their team members who have childcare commitments, alongside balancing parenting themselves.

You can read the full transcript at: https://social.hays.com/2020/08/05/podcast-20-how-leaders-support-teams-childcare-responsibilities-working-parents/

Timestamps:

(01:17)It would be great if you could both introduce yourselves, explaining a little bit about your roles. Gaelle, could we begin with you?

(01:55)And James, how long have you been at Hays and what's your current role?

(02:16) And what have been your experiences of working from home with children so far?

(03:10) And Gaelle, how have you found working from home as a working parent?

(04:49) Now with many leaders across the globe, managing remote teams as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, this presents some very difficult challenges, particularly for those who have childcare commitments. Gaelle, what do you think are some of the most common challenges?

(05:49) And do you have any advice you can share, which may help parents keep their children entertained throughout the working day?

(07:30) And James, how important has establishing a routine been for you to help overcome some of the challenges we've just discussed?

(11:58)James, how can leaders support their team members who also have childcare responsibilities. For example, helping them establish a routine?

(14:30)And Gaelle, do you have any other useful tips which can help parents working from home overcome any challenges?

(17:03) Over the past few months. Have you found any ways that help you and your teams remain productive whilst you're working from home with children?

(19:01) Now, one of the flip sides of this of course, is that many listeners may feel overstretched when dealing with a whole host of commitments in their professional and personal lives these days. Do you think that this pressure can lead to working longer hours as James said earlier, but also potentially result in burnout? And can you share any advice to help limit the risk of this?

(21:40)And James, in some countries, those who may be expected to return to their workplaces in the coming weeks and months, in addition to those who have already gone back to the office, could be concerned about how they'll manage their childcare commitments when this happens, how can they mitigate these worries?

(25:05) And if some individual team members are experiencing any anxieties around this. How would you recommend leaders approach and manage these conversations?

(26:34) And Gaelle, as we enter a new era of work and given all we've learned and experienced during lockdown, do you think there will be a positive change in the flexibility offered to working parents in the future?

(27:52) James we would like to end this podcast with a question that we ask all of our guests. What do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader and crucially, do you think these qualities have changed as a result of the pandemic?

(29:41) Finally, the same question to you, Gaelle, what do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader? And do you think these qualities have changed since the beginning of the pandemic?