Written by Divisional Director for Marketing and Digital Andrew Carr
With a six-month old at home, and a wife on maternity leave, I have seen first-hand the full-time nature of parenting. Whilst I have always hoped to display empathy and understanding towards working parents, both within my team and beyond, I have only recently truly appreciated the physical, mental and emotional balancing act that parents in the workplace face.
In my experience, return-to-work mothers (especially those working reduced hours) are often the most efficient and effective colleagues I have worked with. They can prioritise, plan and focus in a way that is often the envy of others. And yet despite this, a 2023 report by the Fawcett Society highlighted that more than 249,124 working mothers of children aged four or under left employment. A lack of flexible working arrangements and affordable childcare combined with “outdated and toxic attitudes around motherhood are holding women back”, said its chief executive, Jemima Olchawski.
These shocking statistics show the harsh reality – organisations are losing out on valuable talent due to lack of flexibility and extortionate childcare costs. It is time for businesses to recognise the immense value that working parents, mothers in particular, can offer. From diverse viewpoints to essential skills such as efficiency and problem-solving, working parents have a lot to offer, but more needs to be done to ensure the workplace is accessible for those who wish to parent and grow their careers.
Here, I explore four ways organisations can help working mothers and parents re-enter the workplace.
1) Encourage flexible working
As of September 2024, the government’s Employment Rights Bill means that flexible working is the default from day one of employment, with employers required to accommodate as far as reasonable. This is a huge step in the right direction for working parents who can now benefit from flexible working to help make parenting that little bit easier.
A 2023 report from Statista shows that 83% of employees want flexible working arrangements to support a better work-life balance, with 28% requesting flexible working to help with childcare arrangements.
Flexible working hours can support parents with childcare drop-offs and pick-ups, while hybrid working and work from home could encourage a better work-life balance, with parents replacing time spent on lengthy commutes with quality time with their children. The financial benefits are worth noting, too; flexible working could allow parents to work a 4-day week, working more hours but on less days. This could help parents cut down their childcare costs.
2) Celebrate new skills
Returning to work after maternity or parental leave can be daunting. It’s completely normal for new parents to feel nervous or feel as if they’ve lost their confidence. They have just spent a long period of time focusing all of their energies on their new bundle of joy, and rightly so. As an employer or line manager, it is essential to remind the employee of their talents and celebrate the new skills they will have acquired through their new role as a parent.
Any parent will tell you that resilience is something you absolutely develop when having a child. Add patience, time-management and problem-solving to the list, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface. Recognise these new qualities and work with the new parent to help them utilise these transferable skills in the workplace.
Focus on their strengths and newly developed skills to boost confidence and support the producvity and performance of your business in the long-run.
3) Be empathetic
There’s no denying that parenting is hard work. Add a career into the equation and it becomes even more complex. Showing compassion to working parents can make all the difference. Even if you can’t necessarily solve their problems (sadly, no one can make a teething baby sleep!), offering empathy and a listening ear can help working parents feel seen at a time when they are likely feeling the pressure.
If a parent is going through a particularly difficult time, you could support by extending deadlines where possible or working collaboratively with them on a task or project to take the pressure off. Some employees may find these adjustments difficult, viewing the additional support as a failure on their part. Reassure them that the adjustments are to support them and aren’t a reflection of their abilities, but more measures to create a work environment that sets them up for success.
4) Support their career progression
One misconception of working parents is that they are no longer ambitious. Now, any parent will tell you that their priorities absolutely change as soon as their child is born. But that doesn’t mean that parents don’t want to progress in their careers. Parenting is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world, but having a career outside of parenting can have a positive impact on self-esteem and confidence, not to mention your pocket – parenting is an expensive game, after all.
Employers should work closely with working parents to understand their career ambitions and help them achieve their goals, whether that’s developing skills in their existing role or taking a step up into a more senior position. This can be done by having a clear progression plan in place. Organisations could also offer job shares to help working parents take on senior roles without the long and sometimes unreasonable working hours.
Conclusion
From my own experience as a colleague and line manager, I can not speak highly enough of working parents. And now as a working parent myself, I have a newfound appreciation of the challenges they face during what can be a daily juggling act. Now flexible working is the default from day one, I hope that this will force organisations to start to adopt other initiatives that can support working parents. That way we can hopefully support more working parents, specifically mothers, with their return to work after maternity leave and ensure we don’t lose out on the often-underappreciated skills they bring to the workforce.
Discover more advice, insights and thought leadership content from our GRG Executive Search team on our website. Read our Divisional Managing Director Daniel Yates advice on making the transition to a Non-Executive Director, or discover how Executive Research Partner Frankie Ashford uses fitness to help her manage the stresses of her work and personal life.