5 reasons why you should hire or give a promotion to that mom or dad returning from their parental leave.

Last night, in the middle of a negotiation with my daughter trying to convince her to sleep, I started to think about how parenthood develops you.

I am not talking about the romantic aspect of such a life changing experience nor the “money isn’t everything” preaching. I am talking hard facts on how you change in relation to life and work.

I’ve recently read many articles about big companies increasing their parental leave allowances for mums and extending the right to dads.

While it is great that most companies are becoming more and more “Scandinavian” in that sense, I have a feeling that the focus is, still on the façade as companies mainly mention the perks: 1) length of the time-out and 2) money. I often read: Company X is now giving Y months “paid” leave to parents. Nice, but I think there is an aspect that is seldom mentioned: the return to work.

What type of workplace are parents going to find upon returning to work? How will that “break” have affected their career?

Their boss might have changed in the meantime. Is there a clear path and a set HR process in place? How will they fit in the organigram and how will the new line manager see their return and their different needs?

“Who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Growing up in Italy but starting my career in Finland and Sweden, I admit it took a long time for me to get adjusted to “latte dads” and moms disappearing from work for a few months. It was another world to me.

Fast forward 15 years and, last summer, I decided to leave the corporate world and start my own consultancy. My daughter was 6 months. I felt I wanted to improve my life — work balance after 10 great years in big multinationals and some 1,000 hours up in the air. I was finally getting what I had seen up north.

Talking to many parents returning to work in various European countries, I realized that there is still a lot of prejudice (much better up North) about people who have not been employed or on the job for months (or years).

Ever thought that a lot of those skills we are looking for in a job description might have actually been perfected during those months on leave?

there would be many but these are my favorite 5:

1. Negotiation skills

Not to be confused with bargaining. Practiced daily. Ever tried to convince a baby that going to sleep is actually a great idea (without using cartoons)?

2. Problem Solving

You learn to fix, alone a problem without relying on politics. You go straight to the root cause of the issue, genuinely wanting to solve it. No procrastination.

3. Empathy and ability to build trust

You genuinely strive to understand the drivers of the other person, building a lasting relationship.

4. Effective communication, tailored to different situations and audiences:

This is truly mastered, both verbal and non.

5. Determination to succeed in a rapidly changing environment

do you remember how long it took to sit up straight? Crawling? Walking? Without mentioning the falling and standing up again. That is resilience in a nutshell.

Do you see some similarities with the language used in job descriptions? These are just a few examples, so dear (re)hiring manager, just a tip: next time don’t overlook those skills on that CV!

Please comment below what you think!