Half (52%) of working mothers who have returned to work after having a baby are not satisfied with the support they received, a report published today (4 November) by women\u2019s educational charity The Female Lead has shown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than a third (35%) of working mothers felt their work setup was unsustainable, according to the report. Of those, 47% planned to leave their jobs in the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA third of returning mothers are at breaking point,\u201d Edwina Dunn, founder of the Female Lead said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWorkplaces are missing the chance to offer the support women need at this crucial transition point; we can see clear \u2018satisfaction gaps\u2019 between what returning mothers want and what they are offered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly three quarters (72%) of mothers reported that they struggled to balance childcare at work. A third (32%) said that they were underestimated, and a quarter (25%) reported having been overlooked for development or promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HR should prepare for mothers\u2019 return to work before their maternity leave starts, to ensure that staff members are satisfied when they return, Dunn added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She continued: \u201cHR teams can listen to women; meet with them or survey them, both before they leave for maternity leave, so that there is time to arrange necessary support, and after they return, to evaluate support and employee satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEmployers and HR can be concerned about what they shouldn\u2019t say [to working mothers]. We would recommend looking at the data: research like [the From labour ward to labour force report] can be the backbone for what you discuss and offer your returning mothers, based soundly on evidence rather than stereotypes or assumptions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked what employers could do to improve their satisfaction at work, more than half (54%) of women who were polled said that employers could ask what support they needed. Working mothers also requested flexible work around unexpected childcare responsibilities (77%) and flexible hours (75%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Training managers on how to conduct these conversations is crucial, according to Emma Spitz, parental transition coach at the Executive Coaching Consultancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cFoster open conversations with expectant and new mothers and their managers, to enable them to be honest about what they want to do on their return, and what they believe the challenges could be. Then review what is and isn\u2019t working as they transition back into the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHelp managers to be proactive and understand the role they play in supporting their returner. Leading these conversations with curiosity and empathy is key to ensuring that working mothers feel unafraid to be vulnerable and clear about what will make a difference to them.\u201d Spitz added that HR leaders can also empower managers with the knowledge and authority to make adjustments to working arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, once working parents return to work, HR could provide them with a mentor, Spitz suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: \u201cIt can be helpful to match the returner with a buddy or mentor who can listen to their concerns and advise them on how best to handle the challenges they might be facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is value in providing group coaching to returning mothers, providing a confidential space where they can share their experiences with their peers, and learn from each other and from the insights of an expert parental coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThemes drawn from group sessions can be fed back anonymously to help HR, to understand more fully the support needed by these returners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HR practitioners should ensure that they extend support to working parents who have transitioned to a part-time role, Natasha Kitson, founder of parental consultancy firm Maternity Mentor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cOne key issue is feeling excluded when transitioning to part-time roles; parents often miss crucial meetings, resulting in isolation and disengagement. HR can address this by ensuring that part-time staff are included in key activities, to maintain connection and morale.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Half (52%) of working mothers who have returned to work after having a baby are not satisfied with the support they received, a report published today (4 November) by women\u2019s educational charity The Female Lead has shown. More than a third (35%) of working mothers felt their work setup was unsustainable, according to the report. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1574,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions\/1574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}