The real value of maternity leave returners in the workforce

Our latest article, featured on IMAGE.ie explores the true value of maternity leave returners in the workforce. What a privilege to write for one of our longstanding favourite Irish publications. Check out our piece below.

Returning to work from maternity leave is a tricky transition. Just as no two babies are the same, no two maternity leaves are either. Every returner will face a whole host of complex (and sometimes conflicting) emotions prior to their return. Women returning to work have been through profound biological, emotional and circumstantial changes. This, coupled with having to navigate a creaking childcare and infrastructural system, can cause a huge number of returning mothers to struggle. Maternity leave returners need support, not just from their employers, but from their colleagues, friends and society.

Supporting their return starts with seeing the value they are bringing back with them.

Role models

Regardless of their work or employment status, parents are direct role models for their children. There are more women in the workforce now than ever before and this is powerful. They exemplify a world that isn’t confined to traditional stereotypes. Women in the workforce are blazing a trail and ensuring that there are clear paths for future generations to follow.

Culture pillars

It is in all of our interests to create a workplace culture where mothers feel safe. Ensuring there is a population of representative mothers is key. Mothers bring comfort, understanding, care and nurture to a team and organisation.

Working mothers help to create a safer space for other parents. So many parents have faced, and still face, obstacles in the workplace, feeling they can’t disclose childcare arrangements, fertility appointments, or pregnancy loss. The more mothers we have in the workforce, the more we open the channels for these crucial conversations to be normalised, spoken about and supported.

Skills and dedication

Alongside the profound physical, mental and emotional shift (see the book Matrescence by Lucy Jones) a woman goes through when she becomes a mother comes the development of several invaluable professional competencies. Sharper intuition, tighter time management, faster problem-solving and effective multitasking all come from months of managing the constantly shifting, high-stakes demands of children. Returning to work also demonstrates a significant level of dedication. Choosing to come back, often while navigating childcare logistics, cost and no small amount of guilt, is not a half-hearted decision. This level of commitment deserves recognition.

Resilience

The first year of a child’s life is a masterclass in navigating constant change. Mothers come out the other side with a proven ability to take change in their stride. In a world where work is constantly changing and technological capabilities are developing at an unfathomable rate, employees must be equipped to manage and embrace change.

Perspective

Maternity leave tends to widen a mother’s perspective. Many returners find they’re better at reading situations, managing people, and knowing when to push or hold back. They can also bring the perspective of a key consumer base back to the workforce with them. Mothers are often in control of making a lot of household spending decisions. This gives them a genuine, first-hand understanding of a customer segment organisations can struggle to reach.

Closing the gap

Ireland’s gender pay gap is still shaped heavily by career breaks and the penalty women face for taking them. That’s not a reflection of women’s value; it’s a structural, historical and societal problem. It won’t be solved overnight, but the more maternity leave returners we can facilitate in the workforce, the closer we come to ensuring the gender pay gap begins to close.

Culture champion

Mothers in the workforce are in a good position to reshape things for the better. They return with a clearer view of what worked and what didn’t before they left. They have enough distance from it to then suggest changes that people who are still immersed in the day-to-day might not think to raise. Teams with returners in them tend to talk more openly about boundaries, flexibility and what sustainable work actually looks like, not just for parents, but for everyone.

Because they’re worth it

Returning to work can go against a mother’s maternal instinct, but whether a return is driven by necessity or choice, there is huge value to their return, personally and professionally.

On a personal level, returners retain their place in the workforce; it maintains career momentum and progression and gives them an identity and purpose beyond motherhood. Motherhood is a lifelong vocation and purpose, but children grow, and women must maintain a life for themselves too.

Returning to work is also subject to a lot of obstacles. It requires access to affordable support systems, not all women are lucky enough to have.

For those who can return, they also return for the good of those who can’t. They return with an understanding of the value of mothers. They know their worth, whether they are directly in the workforce or not. They may be a future hiring manager or decision maker, and they will have the power to reshape the value of women in the workforce. This is the true value of their return.

Sorcha is the founder and lead coach at Clarico, a coaching, training and support service for employees and employers navigating life’s key transitions. Clarico offers individual career and return-to-work coaching. They also partner with employers to craft practical, employee support solutions.