How to keep the most productive employees — again

Parents are the more productive employees, research shows. So you want to keep them and you want to keep them happy. How can you support fresh parents returning to work after their parental leave? Here is how:

Coming back from parental leave is not always easy. Coping with sleep, sports and leisure time deprivation is just one part of it. The other one is dealing with changes at the workplace, like new faces, new processes, new tools and making it work in part time etc.

But having a child is one of the most rewarding things in life. Here is how you can help fresh parents in your company to enjoy this time and embrace the new situation by making the return to work experience a smooth and easy one.

…Before someone returns, s/he has to leave first. This whole experience of leaving and being away for such a long time determines already with which feelings a fresh parent will return to work.

A proper goodbye

• organise a team night out and celebrate
• send a card signed by all colleagues
• surprise with a baby basket
• have a “last official meeting with the manager”
• organise and introduce a Buddy (see below)
• check with HR for official guidelines and support

Touch points during absence

• write a personal postcard (have the team sign it)
• call
• write an e-mail
• forward the company newsletter
• ​​​​​​​meet up F-2-F (in a café, going for a walk — so the baby can join in the stroller…)

Agree beforehand on how often and via which channel you touch base. Check in on personal level, offer support, discuss the return plan (e.g. part time hours, responsibilities, paperwork, deadlines).

Business topics to include in your communication:

• Business decisions
• Organisational information and updates
• Facility news
• Team matters
• Invitation to company events

Return experience

• Card on desk and/or chocolate
• Coffee/lunch with manager
• Team lunch
• Personal reintroduction and welcome to wider team
• Guidelines around #returnity (e.g. quiet room for expressing milk)
• Regular 1on1 for personal check ins

Personal Buddy

Sometimes, all we need is someone who has been there already. Someone who understands our situation and can help out of experience. When becoming a parent (and it doesn´t matter if for the first or 4th time), everything changes. And this is where a Buddy comes in:

What is the duty of a Buddy?

A fresh parent´s Buddy is there to offer support and give guidance. They listen to parents´ joys and sorrows, they can give tips from their experience and answer their questions. Buddies can direct them to the correct authorities and websites, remind them of deadlines and necessary paperwork, and generally support them with their “first steps back in the office”.

How can I introduce a Buddy system in my company?

Simply create a “Buddy list” in excel, where other parents in your company can enter their name, contact details and maybe a few words about themselves, and publish it on your intranet or equivalent.

Happy mom, happy dad, happy company!