07.05.2025

โš ๏ธ ๐—™๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ป'๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด (๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป)

โš ๏ธ ๐—™๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ป'๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด (๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป)

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โš ๏ธ ๐—™๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ป'๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด (๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป).

And your most loyal employees are slipping through the cracks because of it.

I joined a new gym this week.

It was โ€œflexible.โ€
No structure. No support. Just me, figuring it out.
And I nearly didnโ€™t go.

Because freedom without guidance doesnโ€™t feel supportive - it feels isolating.

And thatโ€™s exactly how flexible working plays out for many women in your business.

Hereโ€™s what the data says:
โ†ณ Women are 2x more likely to request flexible working but far more likely to report burnout
โ†ณ Most flexible working policies still ignore menstruation, menopause, miscarriage and maternal health
โ†ณ 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) wasnโ€™t engaging.
Work was slipping. The manager was walking on eggshells.
They didnโ€™t want to lose her.

But they didnโ€™t know how to support her or the team around her.

I stepped in and rebuilt the framework.

Hereโ€™s what we implemented:
โ†ณ A tailored flexible working agreement balancing wellbeing and business needs
โ†ณ A phased plan with agreed outputs, communication rules, and wellbeing support
โ†ณ Manager training on emotional leadership, accountability, and lawful flexibility
โ†ณ A strategy to set clear team boundaries and expectations - without over-policing

And everyone won because I looked at the issues BEFORE instructing policy.

โœ”๏ธ Output increased by 36% within the first 30 days
โœ”๏ธ The employee met every milestone without relapse or absence
โœ”๏ธ Manager confidence in handling future cases increased from 4/10 to 9/10 (measured via survey)
โœ”๏ธ The business saved ยฃ14K in projected attrition, replacement, and lost productivity
โœ”๏ธ 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 didnโ€™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 didnโ€™t know what to do.

That wasnโ€™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 ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป'๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ'๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€) 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
โ™ป๏ธ REPOST to help your network build structure that works
โ–ถ๏ธŽ Follow Tina S. Rahman for trauma-informed, women-aware HR and leadership
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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.ย 

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