⚠️ 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻).
And your most loyal employees are slipping through the cracks because of it.
I joined a new gym this week.
It was “flexible.”
No structure. No support. Just me, figuring it out.
And I nearly didn’t go.
Because freedom without guidance doesn’t feel supportive - it feels isolating.
And that’s exactly how flexible working plays out for many women in your business.
Here’s what the data says:
↳ Women are 2x more likely to request flexible working but far more likely to report burnout
↳ Most flexible working policies still ignore menstruation, menopause, miscarriage and maternal health
↳ 1 in 4 women consider leaving their role after baby loss, mainly due to poor leadership, not poor pay
You think flexibility solves the problem.
But without structure, it creates new ones.
One of my clients faced this first-hand.
A returning employee (after baby loss) wasn’t engaging.
Work was slipping. The manager was walking on eggshells.
They didn’t want to lose her.
But they didn’t know how to support her or the team around her.
I stepped in and rebuilt the framework.
Here’s what we implemented:
↳ A tailored flexible working agreement balancing wellbeing and business needs
↳ A phased plan with agreed outputs, communication rules, and wellbeing support
↳ Manager training on emotional leadership, accountability, and lawful flexibility
↳ A strategy to set clear team boundaries and expectations - without over-policing
And everyone won because I looked at the issues BEFORE instructing policy.
✔️ Output increased by 36% within the first 30 days
✔️ The employee met every milestone without relapse or absence
✔️ Manager confidence in handling future cases increased from 4/10 to 9/10 (measured via survey)
✔️ The business saved £14K in projected attrition, replacement, and lost productivity
✔️ And they retained one of their top performers - who felt seen and respected
Why do I care so much about this?
Some of you will know it took me a decade to talk about my unfortunate miscarriage. When I miscarried, I never returned to work.
Not because I didn’t want to
But because there was no structure while I was off.
No plan. No check-in.
Just silence, assumptions, and pressure from a manager who didn’t know what to do.
That wasn’t a performance issue.
That was a leadership failure.
And now I help you prevent the same.
I build people strategies that support women (and all 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀) and protect the business.
Are you leading flexible working with intention, or hoping your team can lead themselves?
I would love to have a chat, here's my diary
https://lnkd.in/eSXgRSX5
♻️ REPOST to help your network build structure that works
▶︎ Follow Tina S. Rahman for trauma-informed, women-aware HR and leadership
Founder of HR Habitat, award winner of "Best HR & Employment Law Consultancy, 2024" title. As featured in BBC Oline, BBC Asian Network Radio, Telegraph & more.Β
