Unlock the Power of Returners
Coming back to work after a baby can be daunting. You're juggling all of the commitments you had before... alongside an entirely new human being.
It’s one of the moments that matter most at work.
As an employer, if you get it right, you can earn lifelong loyalty. But get it wrong, and you risk losing great people fast.
Are you one of the employers with a hastily scribbled 'congratulations' card? Or those with proper parental policies, clear communication and real flexibility?
Attracting returners can have huge benefits.
Research by Ivee has shown that those returning to work tend to have better commercial awareness, management, and team work skills than the average employee.
That's a valuable talent pool - you just need to find a way to tap into it.
£1.7
Billion boost to UK economy if the career break penalty was addressed
10+
Average years of experience of returners
427K
Additional FTE roles available from targeting returners
£1.7
10+
427K
Billion boost to UK economy if the career break penalty was addressed
Average years of experience of returners
Additional FTE roles available from targeting returners
The employer brand data to focus on
Firstly, you need to pay attention to women. Using the right employer brand data, and you can enhance your talent attraction strategy. Fewer than 10% of fathers take more than two weeks off work - and 40% don't take any paternity leave at all. Increasing mens uptake of parental leave is a whole extra question - but for now, you need to be paying attention to what women want.
And, specifically, what women in your target salary bracket want.
Switch up your strategy depending on salary
We see massive variation in what women want when we slice the data by salary band. The no.1 work priority changes for each salary band - so switch your offering depending on which roles your targeting:
£100K+ it's job security
£80 - 100K it's management
£60 - 80K it's work-life balance
£40 - 60K it's pay and reward
£20 - 40K it's work-life balance
£0 - 20K it's pay and reward
Flexibility is non-negotiable.
Women aged 31 - 40 (the demographic most likely to be returning to work after a baby) rank flexibility as more important than the rest of the UK, and they also place remote work higher in their list of priorities. Offering flexible working significantly increases the attractiveness of your company to employers.
For example, the insurer Zurich decided to launch flexible working after seeing a fall in the number of women applying for senior roles - which boosted applications by 66%.
Keep on top of new offerings
Companies are springing up to make it easier for you to support returners into your business. Returnships are increasingly popular. These are internships for those who have been out of the workforce, whether that's due to a baby or career break. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, IBM, Chevron and Audible have all launched returnships in recent years.
There's also a host of new technology platforms that can help you support returners back into the workforec.
- Use Ivee - a job board for returners.
- Check out the Total Jobs Gender Bias Decoder to make sure your job descriptions are not putting female candidates off
- You could even trial asynchronous working (working across different time zones or hours) using async platforms like Loom and Bubbles
And last but not least...
Use Wisdom to find out more
If you do want your employer brand strategy to target returners, you need the data to back it up. Different returners want different things, and it's only by paying attention to your target industry or roles that you can get the full picture.
Book a demo with Wisdom, and find out how to put the data into your employer brand to target returners effectively.
Make your brand talented.
Book a demo below.
