Case Study: Women Returners - FPM Chartered Accountants

Women in the accountancy profession are becoming more and more important given the university student intakes mix of male and female students. FPM Accountants recognises that no two people are motivated in the same way and their aim is to motivate staff in their chosen direction, while aligning this with corporate goals They are committed to creating a friendly workplace where they can attract and retain highly skilled and highly motivated staff.

Female staff within FPM are primarily in the 21-35 age bracket.

The company offers flexible working arrangements in terms of times (flexible hours) and locations (working from home) and provides support (childcare vouchers), training and technology to enable this to happen.

The main developments have been:

• An increase in the number of female staff who are now working part-time after having children
• Continued promotion for part-time workers, with two new female partners who are both working on a part-time basis
• An increase in the uptake of childcare vouchers following an awareness presentation on the company’s policies
• An increase in the number of male staff who take paternity leave after the birth of their child
• All staff have now been given secure access to their emails from home and some staff have been provided with Blackberrys

Despite an increase in staff numbers during the year targets for turnover for the year ended 30 April 2007 have been achieved. Staff retention continues to be good.

FPM is now looking into a new initiative aimed at people who may have left the jobs market to raise a family and are now seeking employment again, and who may suit a book-keeping role.