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Radical EU plans which would see women entitled to full pay for the first 18 weeks of maternity have ‘little positive benefit’ for working women and could be the final straw for UK’s struggling small business, according to HR specialists at Dynamic Transitions.

The proposed changes, which could be enforced as early as this year, will have a profound impact on small businesses, especially those that are cash tight. Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain is concerned that many businesses will simply not be able to cope.

Germain says:

“This move may well be the final straw for small businesses as they struggle to pay bills at a time when resources are low and cash flow is at a premium. Particularly for businesses that employ only a handful of people, losing one member of staff can have a huge impact on the day to day business and this is just yet another added stress that is not needed in the current climate.”

Despite the fact that UK businesses would have two years to implement the new regulations, Germain has real concerns for the immediate impact on the employment opportunities for young women, as businesses feel less inclined to hire and retain women of childbearing age.

“We already know that the recession is bringing about a steep decline in graduate opportunities and moves like this will only serve to see yet more incredibly talented young women unable to secure work and lose out on opportunities to progress their career in a similar way to their male counterparts.”

“The short term financial gain of increased maternity pay for 18 weeks clearly does not outweigh the widespread long term effects on opportunities for women who want to work and have a family. In its attempt to encourage fairer working practices for men and women, Brussels is just pushing the divide further apart”.

Judith Germain is founder and principle consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent® and improving leadership performance in companies. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.

Generation Y employees must be granted access to social media tools like Twitter and Facebook in the workplace, as developing work-based relationships online will increase customer confidence, says leadership expert Judith Germain.

The publication of a survey by BT Business reveals that thousands of employees are worried that they will lose clients if they do not get better at using Web 2.0 technologies to communicate with them. Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain is warning companies to reconsider their restriction policies on the use of social networking sites for business use, or risk losing valuable market share to competitors.

Germain says:

“Companies need to recognise the ease with which these tools can be used to improve customer relationships and to engage with them. Generation Y employees have highly advanced online communication skills developed over years of using social media as part of their daily lives. They have the ability to unlock the potential of social media for the benefit of the business, but only if managers take the lead, set the guidelines, and show them how to harness this talent most effectively.”

“Now more than ever, companies need to devise a social media marketing strategy that encompasses the needs of the employees and the needs of the business. It should be their number one priority as it is only by making a determined move into the 21st century, rethinking the status quo and actively integrating the customer and employee journey, that substantial leaps forward for the business can be made.”

The social media buck should not just be passed to HR says Germain, who is also Vice-President of the BlackStar Life Members Community on popular business networking site Ecademy. “It is not just the HR department’s responsibility to manage social media policies. Marketing, HR and Ops need to find a way of working together to devise an effective social media strategy that can work for the entire business. “

Judith Germain is founder and principle consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent® and improving leadership performance in companies. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.

Leadership consultancy Dynamic Transitions is warning City law firm trainees who have been paid to defer their training, to use their time sensibly or risk having their places withdrawn.

Further to news that a number of City law firms are offering trainees up to £10,000 to defer their training, Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain believes that many firms will be using the opportunity to see which graduates have stronger leadership tendencies by observing how productively they spend their free time.

“Many graduates may be drawn into seeing this as a free ticket to a year of ‘loafing’ before they start their training, but in reality they need to realise that they are also being tested to see how self-motivated they can be when left to their own devices. Law firms are making the decision to defer start dates because they feel they need to in the current climate. This doesn’t mean they will not be watching to see how their trainees use their time,” says Germain.

Despite claims by some firms that there is no stipulation on how trainees spend the time or money, Germain urges trainees not to take this at face value, or be too complacent about their job prospects next year.

“The fact that some firms have gone as far as telling trainees that they need to do ‘something useful’ in the year, suggests that there is likely to be consequences for those that don’t. I predict that this time will be used to assess from a distance how these individuals use their time and those who don’t take it seriously may end up finding their places withdrawn next year, which may actually hurt their future career prospects.”
“Graduates should use the time to ‘round off’ their experience by doing relevant work or by enrolling in further education. Employers will be more impressed with those that use their time well,” says Germain.

Judith Germain is Founder and Lead Consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in working with Troublesome Talent® and improving the leadership performance within organisations. They provide strategic mentoring for senior executives and business leaders/owners and delivers innovative leadership programmes, training, coaching and consultancy to corporate clients. For more information visit www.developing-leadership.com or email jude@dynamic-transitions.co.uk