The Women of Tomorrow Study by Nielsen, which ranked South Africa seventh out of the 21 nations surveyed in order of the most stressed women, found that women worldwide play multiple roles that contribute to their stress levels. In addition, a paper published by the University of Pretoria, comparing single and married mothers and how they balanced the demands of work and family, revealed that single mothers enjoy less work-family support, which adds to their stress. These reports, combined with the findings from a survey by Regus, which assessed employers' likelihood of hiring working mothers, highlight a very concerning reality. According to the survey, there is a downward trend in the number of companies planning to hire working mothers.
"The South African reality is such that there are many households that rely on the income of working mothers; some households have unemployed fathers and some single-parent households rely solely on the mother's income. This pressure is then added to by discriminatory practices and gender inequality that are still rife in the workplace," says Linda Madayi, managing partner of Khatala Staffing, a 100% black female owned human capital company.
Madayi continues, "The benefits of mothers in the workplace are numerous, such as their loyalty, strong work ethic, experience and maturity, all of which provide the soft skills that are often lacking in younger, inexperienced candidates. However, through our years of experience in recruiting for permanent, temporary and flexible staff, we have identified that many single mothers could not take up the opportunities offered to them because of the financial challenges in finding and paying for childcare until their first salary. It is for this reason that we developed our unique Dependent Care Assistance benefit."
Khatala Staffing's Dependent Care Assistance subsidises the childcare needs of newly employed single parents until their first salary, ensuring that there are no financial barriers to them successfully taking up their new post. It also means that their productivity and ability to learn the role and possibly new skills is not negatively affected by the worry of having to put their children in the care of unprofessional caregivers or strangers or older children.
South Africa's ability to follow the growing worldwide trend that sees companies partnering with professional staffing agencies to outsource their temporary or flexible staff component has been questioned and hotly debated over the past few years. The primary objection of those opposed to the usage of 'labour brokers' or staffing agencies for this staffing model is primarily the lack of benefits on offer to staff employed by the agency in comparison to their permanently hired colleagues.
Recruitment agencies offering benefits beyond those that are statutory are seldom heard of and extended maternity and dependent care benefits almost non-existent. Madayi states, "Most agencies offer nothing or little more than what they bill their clients for. It is a business and the billings per hour are worked out on a commercial model that often does not take into account the fact that we are dealing with people and not goods or services. However, it is for this very reason that we as staffing agencies, entrusted with the careers of so many, should be at the forefront of creating and offering benefits that ensure our staff's performance, morale, loyalty and livelihood."
In addition to their Dependent Care Assistance benefit, Khatala Staffing offers a Maternity Care Assistance benefit that grants financial aid to the expectant mother working for them at the time to cover the needs of preparing for her new child.
"By integrating the employment of expectant and working mothers into HR policies and practices, businesses not only help increase the country's GDP and fight poverty, but save their company's financial resources that would otherwise be needed for the hiring and training of new staff and to cover the resultant loss in productivity. Most importantly, it will empower the country's women and remove a great deal of the stress that they are under, thereby enhancing job performance, increasing job satisfaction and reducing turnover all of which ultimately affect organisational goals and objectives," concludes Madayi.
For further information about Khatala Staffing, go to www.khatalastaffing.co.za.
