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Working Mum from Staines wins award for post maternity guidelines
15 July 2003
A best practice guide for women returning to work after maternity leave has won local Staines mum Julie Richards a top award. Julie who works for Bupa Insurance has won £2,000 worth of holiday vouchers having had her idea selected out of thousands of suggestions from staff for ways in which the company could make improvements.
Having a baby and then going back to work can be stressful for a woman. Julie Richards has devised a best practice approach for women going off on maternity leave and their managers to reduce any upheaval at an emotionally challenging time by ensuring that all practicalities are in place before they go. This means that important issues such as whether they will be returning to the same role and if so, whether they want to stay in touch with the business during their absence, is agreed before hand. The guidelines have already proven invaluable in helping women employees return to work after maternity leave.
Commenting on her award Julie Richards said: "I never dreamed my idea would get this far and receive this type of recognition from my colleagues. I am thrilled that these post-maternity guidelines are being adopted and can now help mothers with a smooth transition back to work "
Two other Staines based staff members Denise Keane and Brendan Stuart also won prizes for their innovative ideas. Denise won her award for her commitment to delivering work to the highest standards and her invaluable input into meeting project deadlines, including one that will ensure improved care for cancer patients. Brendan who has come up with as many as 40 ideas over the last 2 years, struck lucky with an idea to help the company deal with health insurance claims more effectively, which has already led to savings of over £150,000.
The awards, in their fifth year, took place at The Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden and were attended by the winners together with their family and friends. The top 20 winning ideas each received money and a cut glass commemorative trophy.
Val Gooding, Bupa chief executive said: "It's a privilege for me to recognise Bupa people who are role models to inspire others. We are always looking for small improvements as well as bigger ideas and these are examples of people demonstrating real energy and commitment to considering problems both great and small and developing solutions."
Throughout the year hundreds of Bupa employees get involved with local schools helping on reading through the Bupa Community Connections programme. Most recently the company launched a new life education unit in Manchester with the help of Coronation Street star, Bill Roach.
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