European Social Fund in England

www - Why Women Work ok

Funded by: Alternative Bid Policy field 5.3, Project Group: SMEs, employees, unemployed and underemployed women

Region: GO East Midlands

Start Date: September - 04

End Date: September - 06

Details of the Project

Research project into gender employment issues in Leicestershire, leading to a training programme for companies to create more female-friendly environments for their workforce - improved workplace practices and flexible working. The research project looked into barriers to women's participation and progression in the workplace. It identified the following as issues impacting on women's participation in the workplace: lack of childcare, individuals' self perception, employer attitudes towards employing women of childbearing age. Following this, the project developed a training programme for SMEs, commencing with an audit of their training requirements - this covers use of ICT within the business, flexible working practices, waste minimisation and environmental controls, risk management, management systems and financial controls, operational issues e.g. customer care, HR issues. Training is then delivered in-house in 2 - 4 hour chunks, thus minimising the cost and time burden on the company. The project helps overcome barriers for women because it helps women enhance their skills and move up into management positions and it helps male managers to offer a working environment in which their female employees are more likely to thrive and achieve their potential. The training is totally bespoke to the company: "The companies drive the programme. Training is delivered at a time, place and pace that suits them and the sector they are in". Jean Lee, Project Manager.

Key Achievements

As of April 2006 - 139 beneficiaries from 30 SMEs (60 males and 78 females, 19 BME and 1 disabled person).

Initially the project aimed to assist 4 people from each company but as the managers have seen the benefit to their employees they have often put more staff forward. There are several individual company testimonies as to how the project has benefited them Example 1. "Help at Home, domiciliary care agency, has just won four block contracts in Leicestershire! We have offices in Melton Mowbray, Syston and Leicester. We now employ around 200 staff virtually all women. We offer all training to our staff up to Level3 NVQ. We have achieved this with support and help from the Pathfinder Trust which has enabled us to develop a website, further our skills in IT especially Sage, to gain detailed control of our payroll and accounts and also offer appraisal training to our office managers. "(Elaine Hind, Company Manager, Help at Home). Example 2. "The Scheme .... was excellent for our company. The process only took a period of 3 months and has benefited both the company and the individuals concerned. All the training was done on our premises which then lessened the "down-time" of that person which for a small company is a great consideration. The training received has allowed us to look at the business in a different manner and focus more closely on the processes used within the company, through the use of existing software packages, so no extra costs were involved. This together with the greater awareness of the functionality of the Sage accounts package has helped to transform the way the company operates." (Julie Potts, Director, North Supply Ltd)

For more information contact

Jean Lee

Project Manager

Tel: 01530 830700