Your employee is on maternity leave, and the time to come back to work is approaching. Assuming she is coming back full-time, below are some simple ideas to help with this transition, and why this benefits both the employee and the company…
1. Have a keep-in-touch (kit) days during maternity leave.
Invite your employee to come into work for a cup of coffee and a chat. Make it your responsibility to update your employee, not the other way round.
Having kit days means your employee is aware of any new initiatives, major changes and can meet any new team members.
From her point of view – this means she isn’t shell-shocked by what feels like either like lots of changes (which she has to process and adjust to) or what feels like a new company.
From the company’s point of view – the company will benefit as the re-learning curve will be reduced significantly.
2. Consider flexible starts and finishes in the first few weeks of return to work…
It takes time for a family to adjust to a new routine, and whilst childcare arrangements will be in place, often it is the morning routine to get everyone out the door that needs to be finely honed.
For her: Offering flexible starts and finishes in the first few weeks provides the opportunity to get the routine running like clockwork without the pressure to be at the office at a certain time.
For the company: Agreeing this in advance means that you’ve preset your own expectations, and can focus on re-settling your employee into work.
3. Remote working. Would it be possible for the employee to work from home one or two days a week?
The benefits for her are less travelling time, which in itself can reduce stress and tiredness, which means increased productivity for the company.
4. Confidence boosters. Think of ways to boost your employees confidence at work.
One of the most common issues for returning to work mums is a dip in confidence at work. The skills set haven’t disappeared, but somehow they get forgotten of their existence. Boosting confidence will help your employee realise that her skills remain intact, and quite possibly, she’s picked a few new ones along the way that can tranfer to the workplace.
The above ideas are a result of having been through the return to work process twice, and what I found, or would have found, helpful both times.
