While on Maternity Leave
Most women today work till the day they deliver a child. Many have gone for delivery straight from work! So, the chances that a woman delivers soon after taking Maternity Leave are high.
In what ways can you stay in touch with the employee and make her feel valued and remembered? Staying in touch offers a pulse on the events in the life of the employee and a clearer indication of her plans to return. Things to think about:
Return from pregnancy
Convincing a new or expectant mother that she should come back, requires, among other things, assuring her that the company understands the challenges she faces; is committed to easing the transition during her first months back on the job; and doesn’t view her absence for child care as a career liability.It is important to remember and respect that each mother is an individual with her own set of needs and values. Acknowledge her new position and empathise with her new experiences, expectations and fears.
Some of the things you may want to think about will include:
My learning’s:
- While maternity is still a vulnerable life event for many career women, key stakeholder at work and at home are making more concerted efforts to support the woman during this period.
- Social structures are changing and Gen Y is driving a lot of the change. Increasingly, traditional careers paths are changing to include life events and organisations are acknowledging this need of employees irrespective of gender.
- Women and men of Generation Y want to become involved mothers and fathers who are successful in their career while raising a family.
- Also, today’s new mothers are older, better educated and feel empowered to renegotiate their career paths helping them to make more informed choices regarding their career and parental responsibilities.
APPENDIX 2: Data Tables.
The results of the interviews are summarised below.: No of respondents
APPENDIX 4 References and acknowledgements
References:
Steve Garrett and Jonamay Lambert
http://www.careerperformancestrategies.com/pdf/genders.pdf
Sri Jitendra Swami’s explanation of Ardhanarishvara
http://www.jinendra.org/glossary/?view=1&gid=353
women.html
The Female Brain by LouannBrizendine, published by Bantam press
Sexing the Brain by Lesley Rogers, published by Phoenix
Coaching - Evoking excellence in others by James Flaherty published by Butterworth-Heineman
Executive coaching - Practice & Perspectives by Catherine Fitzgerald and Jennifer Garvey Berger, published by Davies-Black publishing
Coaching the alpha male - by Katie Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson published in The Harvard Business Review issue of May 2004.
The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar, published by Hachette Book Group
http://nithyanandafamily/insight/ardhanarishvara---concept-and-significance
Acknowledgements:
- Ram Ramanathan, director ICA in India for his constant support, motivation and presence in the ICA journey.
- Gayatri Krishnamurthy for encouraging and driving me to complete the required ICA submissions.