Just one or two small steps can make a massive difference to an individual returning from maternity leave, to the women coming up behind them, to the business and the wider industry. Will you take them?

Coming back from maternity leave with a previous employer allowed me to see our industry in a new light. And, spoiler alert: it wasn’t hugely flattering. But if the shock of a negative experience stuck with me, so did the realisation that all of the things that could have improved it were both free and wholly within our gift as a talented, creative, and (hopefully) adaptable industry.

Maternity leave is a life-changing event. It is a moment when an employee needs support from their employer and colleagues. For some it may be the first and only moment they feel truly vulnerable in their careers.

All you have to do is ask any woman who has processed, or is still processing a negative return to understand just how important empathy to an individual's personal feelings are. Yet, this is not just a personal issue; making the return from maternity leave a positive experience is vital for the long term success of the industry.  

The motherhood penalty 

The return from maternity leave is a huge moment for potential talent drop-off. According to the IPA 2020 agency census our industry gender pay gap sits at 22.7%, a gap which the All In Census 2021 reveals widens as you move towards more senior positions.  As the IPA Future of Fairness report 2021 revealed women make up 52.6% of employees in our industry, but only 28.5% Managing Directors. 

It’s hard to discount maternity leave return and working with young children as one key factor in this disparity. If we are serious about achieving gender equality in our industry and making it inclusive, we have to make work work for our maternal talent.

And let’s be clear, the benefits go far beyond the individual concerned. Research shows that women account for approximately 85% of consumer spending, so building that representation within our senior ranks is vital to strengthening both our thinking and creative outputs. While beyond just our industry, addressing what PWC call the ‘career break penalty’ for female professionals could generate an additional economic output of £1.7 billion annually. And that’s just for starters.

So how are we doing with our maternal talent right now?

A recent survey led by Rachel Stern for Bloom UK saw nearly half of first-time industry mums surveyed agree their maternity leave return was ‘more negative than I was expecting’. Crucially, those with negative return experiences were 63% more likely to leave their company within 6 months. Over a quarter surveyed stated that from when their pregnancy was announced they were treated more negatively.

As an industry, we have a decision to make; do we leave this as is or do we take action to retain and unlock our maternal talent? At Bloom UK, we choose the latter and hope you do too. That’s why in partnership with Major Players, we have published a practical guide to fuel successful maternity leave returns.

Currently two thirds of industry mums state that no return-to-work initiatives or programmes were available to them. This includes those that bear no cost like thorough handover processes.  A fact that underlines there is clearly room for us to improve. And the good news is that it doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming for us to do so.

If you get the return to work experience right  the benefits are quickly felt. Half of returners we surveyed with positive return experiences were still with their companies more than 3 years post return. As the industry grapples with the much-discussed talent crisis, retaining maternal talent is vital.

It also sends an important message to the next generation of talent. As Dr Nina Ansary wrote;  “it’s hard to be what we cannot see.”. By encouraging more industry mums to stay, we are creating role models for the next generation of industry women.