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Employers often invest significant time and resources supporting employees while they’re on parental leave with policies covering everything from top-up pay to benefits and leave administration. However, according to Sophie Warwick, co-chief executive officer of workplace consultancy The Thoughtful Co., the bigger retention challenge begins when the workers return.
“It’s such a vulnerable time in someone’s career and personal life,” Ms. Warwick says. “A lot of things often happen at the same time.”
She describes the return-to-work moment as a “pressure cooker.” Returning parents are juggling disrupted sleep, new childcare arrangements and the emotional transition of spending less time with their child, while also re-establishing their professional identity and trying to perform at work.
Ms. Warwick says this final stage of parental leave often receives less attention because employers tend to approach it the same way they would a vacation or a short-term leave, where employees typically return to work much as they left it.
With parental leave, however, the employee may return fully capable of doing the job but with a fundamentally different day-to-day reality. How supported they feel during that transition can shape whether they see a future with the organization.
She most commonly sees two approaches. Some managers immediately hand returning employees high-profile or complex projects to demonstrate confidence in their abilities. Others reduce workloads or restructure responsibilities in an effort to ease the transition. Without discussion, either approach can leave employees feeling overwhelmed or undervalued.
“I think sometimes the biggest part is a lack of communication,” Ms. Warwick says. “[Managers] have really great intentions, but the impact isn’t translating into what they thought it was because there wasn’t good communication.”
Rather than relying on assumptions, she says employers should build a more intentional return-to-work process.
Managers should start the conversation before an employee ever goes on leave, and ask ‘What kind of communication, if any, would you want while you’re away?’ Once the employee returns, they can ask about childcare responsibilities and whether flexible hours would help, while also clarifying expectations with a question such as, ‘What would success look like for you in the first few weeks or months back?’
They should also treat the transition as a true onboarding process, scheduling regular manager check-ins and consider using feedback from employees who have experienced parental leave to create a framework based on what people actually need rather than what leaders assume they need.
“People will have very different needs and experiences. The common theme is developing a framework so there’s a clear process to establish communication and support someone without making it too restrictive,” she says.
Fast fact
Transition trouble
41 per cent
That’s how many Canadian mothers report feeling overwhelmed about returning to work after giving birth, according to a report from professional training and coaching company Maturn.
Career guidance
Meaningful meetings
Do you ever feel like your scheduled one-on-one meetings end up being a waste of time?
Talent and leadership development specialist Eileen Dooley recommends focusing on conversations that genuinely require face-to-face discussion rather than project updates that could be handled by email. Keep meetings purposeful and efficient by holding them about every two weeks for 30 minutes, preparing in advance, and encouraging both the leader and employee to take ownership of making the time valuable.
Read more
Quoted
Connection crisis
“I think what’s happening in our personal lives is mirrored in the workplace,” psychotherapist Esther Perel tells Fortune. “We expect something different from a business leader than from a parent or a partner, but the underlying shift is the same: there is a general state of social atrophy creeping up on us and we don’t even notice it. There’s a pervasive sense that we’re living through a period of crisis rather than a period of abundance.”
On our radar
AI autonomy
Canada is ramping up sovereign AI infrastructure, led by projects like Bell Canada’s data centre network, to reduce reliance on foreign tech and keep sensitive AI applications domestic, with ripple effects expected across the construction industry, employment and local economies.