Publicity

To make a valuable contribution to our research, as an HR Manager, Employer or as a New Parent, please go to our online survey. All responses are annonymous and your thoughts and perspectives are important to us.
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PARENTS at WORK

	Parents of children under five are more likely to experience discrimination at work than any other minority group (Equal Opportunties Commission)
	Only a minority of new mothers, have NOT experienced any form of discrimination in the workplace. (Equal Opportunities Commission)
	Almost 50% of women with children under 5 are in jobs which under utilise their skills and level of qualification (Skills Survey for the Women and Work Commission)

Our own research to date, from a survey group of 40 mothers who have returned to work within the last year, suggests that they are likely to experience stress (100%), anxiety generally (60%), separation anxiety (40%), a loss of confidence(60%), a lack of up to date knowledge(80%), a feeling that 'the job is not the same as before motherhood' (80%), and a change of self image (40%). Causes of frustration during the transition period, range from a lack of understanding to some form of discrimination, for example 'being overlooked for training and involvement in new initiatives'.

(Becoming a mother) is a highly emotive time for women,” says Jo Lyon, a director at Talking Talent. “There’s the change from being a 100 per cent professional person . . . to six months where you are a 100 per cent mother. And then the transition when you go back to work and are 50-50 but trying to do both 100 per cent.”

As one of our respondents says:

My employer could have been more understanding of how it feels for new mothers to return to work after maternity leave. You feel tired, your mind set changes, your priorities take a huge shift in position and you even feel changed as a person.'

83% of respondents to our survey returned to work between six months and one year after having their babies. New parents are still dealing with fast moving transitions at this stage and these are naturally designed to test our limits. The majority of 'difficult situations' at work are caused by misunderstandings and when resilience is low, the trigger for these can be high.

Our research clearly suggests that in addition to well defined maternity policies, returning mothers favour a phased return and 1:1 support, as the two strategies that did or could have made a difference during this period.

PARENTS at HOME

For career minded new parents, there can be few challenges greater than the experience of being at home on maternity leave. We are thrown into an unknown world, without the support from work colleagues or reassurance from all the usual feedback, assessments and reviews which the work environment can provide. One mother responding to our survey says, ' the structure which held everything in place before, just disappeared overnight. Sometimes I just longed for my day to start somewhere and end somewhere'. Other concerns and challenges for parents at home on maternity leave include (ref):

"I miss the spontaneous and frequent contact of my work community”

"At least I knew what was expected of me in my old job”

"I have a sense of loss of identity, status and self image”

"I feel a loss of familiarity, especially relationships with people who knew and valued me.”

"I'm afraid I might loosing my marketable skills”

"I'm confused by the constant rate of change”

"I worry about loss the of financial independence and /or security”

"I enjoyed my work and defined much of myself through my work”

"I feel overwhelmed, under-appreciated and flat out exhausted”

My work was intense, stressful and required lots of energy, but when I needed a break, I knew I could take one''I feel like a burden to my husband but I'm not ready to leave my baby'

Whether anticipated or not, this can be a soul searching time. Even with the best support system in place, the days can be long and the nights short. This time is one of the most conducive periods we have, to re-think where we are, what we've done, where we're going, what our priorities are and what we will do for the rest of our (working) life.

It has been scientifically proven (ref) that Women are 'well-wired for empathy'. This is a very powerful characteristic which not only helps us to nurture our children, but also develops outstanding customer service and product creation skills. As new parents we have to learn to make decisions before we have all the information we need. We develop the ability to deal with and eventually dictate the fast rate of change and chaos around us. We learn not to attach ourselves to the perfect plan, which more often than not leads to stress and missed opportunities. Other qualities which inevitably become highly developed during the maternity leave period, include:

Multitasking
Working under pressure
Interpersonal skills, especially listening
Analytical & decision making skills
Planning, organising, sorting, de-cluttering;
Reasoning, explaining, compromising & negotiating.
Managing timelessness, meeting deadlines & dealing with the inevitable missed deadlines
Responding positively to setbacks.
Aptitude for working alone and as part of several different teams
Flexibility