Why only having skill upgradation return to work programs won't cut the mark for women who want to successfully join back work?

I have studied most of the return to work programs in India, and abroad and majority of these programs emphasize on skill upgradation.

Did you know?
Only 42% women return back to work post maternity.
Out of these 42%, 82.3 % women quit their jobs in the first year of joining.

Has anyone wondered why?

Let me pull up some facts, figures and insights for you:

• It takes 6 months to recover if you have had a C Section.

• It takes 1 year for us to feel physically fit post delivery.

• It takes 2 years for us to get back to our regulated hormone system.

• It takes 5 years post birth for women to actually get acquainted with the identity of a mother and work on a new work identity beyond the expectations of the mother role.

• It takes years for mothers to come out of postaprtum depression because of lack of appropriate support.

And none of the organization’s return to work program caters to any of these.

So when women join back work post maternity, they feel lost, not confident and start harbouring a feeling of ‘I have lost the mojo at work’.

Well, in reality, it is not about you. It is the support system around you.

You are not a failure. You don’t have the right support to scale from here.

I want you to go to your organization or HR and have conversations about this. Go and have open conversations inside organizations because that will be a start of the change. You can be a part of the revolution. Don’t under estimate the power of a insightful conversation and you.

As I have been designing Return to Work programs for organizations which really care about their women employees returning back to work, here is what we are doing inside these organizations:

• Interviewing the employee before she joins back work to see where she stands in terms of her mental health postpartum. The matrix designed for these are highly tangible. It requires an expert to facilitate this.
  

• A program for each of these women which involves a common element and a customized element:
  - Skill upgradation according to the project
  - Working on their gender inhibitors - “I am not good enough”, Judgement and Guilt.
  - Aligning a goal plan according to their and organization’s vision.
  - Physical and mental wellbeing
  

• Checking their support system:
  Do these women have a robust support system at home? If not, arranging for counselling sessions on how they can create one with what resources they have.
  Providing creche facilities at work place.
  Providing nursing rooms at work place.
  

• Lastly, timely progress updates from both the parties. The employees as well as their managers. Correcting from there.

The results which we have seen through this program have been tremendous. The percentage of women quitting has reduced drastically. And we have been able to correct the elements which make them quit.

I understand not, all organizations have budgets to cater all of these. If you really want to ascertain the success of your return to work programs, you need to cater two elements fiercely -

• Ensuring these women have a robust support system at home

• Working on the gender inhibitors of judgement, ‘I am not good enough’ and guilt.

My heart lies here. In enabling talented women like you join back work with confidence. To not letting being a parent be a career killer. And I need your support for this.

Go, speak with your HRs. Share this newsletter with them. Let me in and facilitate atleast the gender inhibitors sessions.

Because it matters.
You matter to me.
Our economy matters to me.
And you can play an important part in boosting our economy by letting women thrive at workplaces.

I am here to answer any questions, clear any doubts or just listen to you.

Enjoy......

I love you all.

Xx Pradnya xX

The juicy things happening in my life in upcoming weeks...

1. I will be replying to all of you who email me your insights on this newsletter.
   

2. Navigating Working Mom Guilt is here to download.
   

3. Are you ready to stand out at your work place with authority? Feeling as if you are at a rut at work right now? Want to reinvent your career. However not sure how? Join the next cohort of The Rose Sisterhood. Your place to start your journey for that 35% hike, promotion, role change or saying ‘yes’ to a leadership role - https://bit.ly/4aaczRk