Diversity and Inclusivity Finance Forum (DIFF) podcast guest Sophie Maunder, founder and CEO of MATRI Coaching, said 27% of women either did not return to work at all after maternity leave or had left their job by the end of the year, not because they did not want to go back to work but because they “couldn’t make it work because their employers didn’t support them enough”.
“I just see that as a massive societal tragedy. They lose their careers right at the point that they’re at the height of their earning potential and career development, businesses lose valuable trained talent that they’ve supported for years, and it costs a hell of a lot to replace that,” Maunder added.
She said businesses needed to help parents through the transition to avoid losing these employees.
Maunder previously worked in advertising, and set up MATRI Coaching after she became the first woman at the company to return to her former employer after maternity leave and asked to go down to a four-day week.
She started to become more senior and, after being hired in a chief executive role, became a single mother to two young children.
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Maunder became an unofficial mentor to her colleagues, as other women who struggled with post-maternity leave were encouraged to speak to her. In these conversations, Maunder would often admit that most of her days were a “total logistical, anxiety-ridden, complete shit show, but I get through it and I’m passionate about my job and I’m passionate about my boys and I’m just doing the best I can, and this is what I’ve learnt”.
During the pandemic, the division she worked in wound down, and that was when Maunder retrained as a coach to help women coming back to work after maternity leave.
Maunder said many women said they wanted more support after taking time out to have and raise a child, community, content they could look at in their own time while on maternity leave and to hear from other experts.
Kevin Roberts, managing director, mortgage services, retail at L&G Mortgage Services, said how maternity and paternity leave policies were implemented mattered, including the leadership tone and culture around it, saying: “It’s all well and good having a policy but if you don’t feel comfortable to take it or use it… it doesn’t work.”
Roberts said he would have appreciated such support early in his career, saying his partner “let his career flourish” when they became parents, so he never had to make tough decisions about the impact of this on his career.
He said working with his colleagues at L&G was “enlightening” as there were many things he realised he did not need to consider, such as attending late-night industry events. Roberts said it was good that more men were having these conversations, yet, with all the policies and support available, he still questioned whether he would take it up if he had a child now.
“The more that us men put ourselves in the shoes of what’s going on, it’s so important, and just to ask those questions of ourselves. It just makes you better leaders and makes you a better husband, hopefully, and helps make you a better parent,” he added.
Maunder said with statutory paternity leave at just two weeks, it became hard for a father to ask for flexibility at work to take on more childcare duties when it came time for his partner to return to work a year later.
“Society and businesses are not set up for that, there isn’t that natural opportunity and pause in conversation a whole year or so after they’ve said, ‘congratulations, you’ve had a baby’, everyone’s forgotten about it and moved on,” she said.
Listen to the rest of the episode [38:41] hosted by Danielle Moore, operations director at Mortgage Solutions, with guests Sophie Maunder, founder and CEO of MATRI Coaching, and Kevin Roberts, managing director, mortgage services, retail at L&G Mortgage Services, where they discuss leading by example and the language around men looking after their children.
