Jennifer's blog

New Year’s resolutions – you may have been thinking of this tired old repetitive topic and already glazed over a few magazine articles genre fitness, gym’ing and losing weight !  There is, however, another season running in parallel which we can approach in a similar spirit - in most organisations it is an important time for us as individuals and employees to take a step back – it is annual appraisal time, and for most companies, it is also compensation planning season for 2014 ! (really hope I have your attention now .. ?!). There are opportunities for us to leverage this annual organisational cycle, to reflect on achievements of the past year as well as things we might have liked to have done differently or better, our strengths and development needs – and most importantly think of the year ahead and how we can continue to develop both personally and professionally.  We owe ourselves time to prepare for this discussion (and probably a written exercise) – and do something for ourselves ! Find out what training and development opportunities your organisation has to offer, and commit and promise yourself that you will take the time for yourself to attend that training or find that mentor.  The reality is that there is « never a good time » - and as working Mums we can often prioritise ourselves last.  The compensation discussion, whether it is held as part of your appraisal, separately or communicated by letter with a passing comment – merits a serious sit-down and review.  Our time has a value, and that value should increase commensurately with our market value, experience and should be correctly benchmarked and mapped on an annual basis.  We are accountable for our own development, and for ensuring that being a working mother is just not a factor that should differentiate us during appraisal and compensation reviews. 

Jennifer is a Senior HR Manager currently working for an independent Asset Manager in the City, having previously lived and worked in Paris and Zurich.  Jennifer works full time in the City and commutes from Kent, she has a 2 year old son and has a live-in au pair for childcare.