We believe that everyone has the potential to be the best person for the job, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or disability. This is why we have a team of Inclusion Ambassadors who are becoming subject matter experts in their special interest. They support our colleagues and our clients on Inclusion and form part of our commitment to being the UK's best inclusive recruiter.
We caught up with Becky Buggs, who is one of our amazing Senior Recruitment Consultants based in our Manchester Office, and our Parent Returners Ambassador.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Bex!
I'm Becky Buggs, I'm 30 years old and mummy to Eddie who is 16 months, Django our fun-loving miniature Labradoodle, and wife to Rich. I have a competitive, caring and honest nature. I used to run for Staffordshire and swim for Newcastle (the little one) as well as competing at national level for the West Midlands, then I discovered boys and alcohol!
I started in recruitment straight from college, in a Business Administrator apprenticeship role with a local IT recruitment firm – Omnium IT, back in 2010. I started out making the tea, prepping CVs, answering the switchboard, posting the job ads out etc. and within a couple of months was recruiting IT Contractors. Omnium were acquired by Outsource UK in 2012 if I remember correctly, and I've been here ever since.
When I properly reflect on my time in recruitment, I have achieved so much, there’s been some highs and plenty of lows but essentially I have developed from an 18 year old school leaver into a traveler, homeowner, dog mum, wife, and now a mummy. So I am pretty proud of that and I'm grateful to Outsource and the people I have worked closely with here for enabling me to get to where I am today.
Why did you choose to be a Parent Returners Ambassador?
I have a thoughtful and caring personality - I just want to help and support people wherever I can. I wanted to educate / inform my colleagues on what it is like to juggle family and work life. Prior to becoming a parent, I was guilty of just thinking this was a normal thing, it is a normal thing but
that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I didn’t realise that I perhaps hadn’t been that supportive of my friends or colleagues until I was in this position myself and I feel so guilty for that.
Becoming a parent for me has been like a slap in the face, getting up every 90 minutes through the night to feed a child that is so reliant on you for survival while you can barely survive yourself because every time you are just dropping off to sleep, bang you're woken up again! Then literally having no time in the day to make yourself a much-needed hot drink or have a nice long relaxing bath. I mean it sounds like a form of torture! On top of this, there was the dread of thinking I have got to go back to work in a few months and I will still have all of the above to cope with as well as having to perform properly in my professional life.
Having been through the experience I feel like I have something to offer to others that are thinking about returning to work and I want to be able to help support them and raise awareness to their colleagues on how they might be feeling / the challenges they will be facing not just at work but when they go home too. that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I didn’t realise that I perhaps hadn’t been that supportive of my friends or colleagues until I was in this position myself and I feel so guilty for that.
Becoming a parent for me has been like a slap in the face, getting up every 90 minutes through the night to feed a child that is so reliant on you for survival while you can barely survive yourself because every time you are just dropping off to sleep, bang you're woken up again! Then literally having no time in the day to make yourself a much-needed hot drink or have a nice long relaxing bath. I mean it sounds like a form of torture! On top of this, there was the dread of thinking I have got to go back to work in a few months and I will still have all of the above to cope with as well as having to perform properly in my professional life.
Having been through the experience I feel like I have something to offer to others that are thinking about returning to work and I want to be able to help support them and raise awareness to their colleagues on how they might be feeling / the challenges they will be facing not just at work but when they go home too.
What have you found to be most difficult about returning to work?
It’s actually felt pretty seamless, I don’t feel like I have had any major difficulties but that is probably down to how supportive my immediate team and the People Team have been since my return. The first few weeks were hard, dropping Eddie off and knowing full well I was leaving him for the full day, he was fine but I was so sad! And then when I sorted myself out and was fine, he’d realised I was dropping him and leaving him for the full day so the tears were from him!
I was also worried I might have forgotten what to do but I've come back with more determination than ever and I'm proud of what I have done since I have been back. I feel like I need to specifically thank some of the team - Stephen Lynch, Liam Fahey, Matt Williamson, Chloe Glascoe, and Danni McCarter. They’ve all been instrumental in the deals I have made and their support has meant so much to me. But also the whole of the Manchester office, the environment there is just so nice, friendly, and welcoming. Every single person in that office is lovely and would go out of their way to try and help out, they’ve all made me feel like I had never even been away! :D
What’s been the best thing about returning to work?
Honestly… being able to have lunch in peace! Hahaha. Returning to work has also given us a good structure and has given me a bit of me back! The Manchester lot joke (although they are definitely right) that a Thursday is like my little day trip out and I love going in to see the team and have some adult interaction, although I probably bore them all to death with pictures and videos of Eddie!
What have you got planned for your role as an Ambassador?
I want to plan an internal event as I loved Nandini's Potluck Lunch, but other than that I intend to keep writing blogs, sharing CV or interview tips and information on other companies that are supporting parents in one way or another, whether it be better maternity / paternity / adoption or flexible roles etc.
What advice do you have for employees that are returning to work?
- Talk to your colleagues or HR about returning and ask all the questions you have, even if they seem silly, they aren’t. All these things can help you feel less anxious about coming back.
- Try to get childcare sorted well in advance of returning to work so you’re not running around panicking in the last month. I sorted Eddie's childminder out the month after he was born and would go to see her with him regularly. Looking back, it would have been beneficial to maybe send Eddie to the childminder once a week or for a couple of half days while I was on maternity – it would have given me a nice break and also would have meant we were both comfortable and prepared when I did return to work – worth thinking about if you can afford to do it.
- To-do lists are brilliant as you transition back to actually engaging your brain! My memory used to be brilliant but now I am so much more forgetful so writing lists has definitely helped.
- Try not to get too worked up about going back to work, everything will soon fall into place, it can feel daunting but it will honestly be fine and then the time you do have with your child is so much more precious and fun because it is quality time.
What advice do you have for clients to support employees returning to work?
- I’m not sure whether it's normal practice but I had a return HR induction, our Head of People went through everything that had changed while I'd been on maternity which was really useful.
- Try to be supportive and flexible, especially in the first couple of weeks and months.
- Suggest grabbing lunch out just to help them get settled back in and comfortable with their colleagues.
Want to learn more? Please don't hesitate in contacting Becky Buggs:
- LinkedIn - Becky Buggs
- Email - Rebecca@outsource-uk.co.uk
- Phone - 0161 694 9214
