“Navigating a career break - maternity leave, caring responsibilities and more” with DRAW Recruitment
Part three of series with Nina Langford and Julia Henderson, Founders of DRAW Recruitment
by Holly Howe
Julia Henderson and Nina Langford founded DRAW Recruitment in 2016. Julia has spent 20 years in senior positions within large recruitment companies, including as the CEO of Recruitment Solutions Group. Nina has worked in the art industry since 2001, and founded Art//Work Recruitment in 2013. Together they have come up with some top tips to help with the transition back to work.
Julie acknowledges that returning to work is filled with mixed emotions. “There is no manual on how to do the break or how to end it either.”
Tips for Maternity Leave
If a line manager is not as supportive “it might be due to a lack of training or fear of saying the wrong thing.”
In this case, the more preparation you can do to lead your manager, the more comfortable you will both be on forming a plan of action.
“Employees can work up to 10 days during their maternity or adoption leave and these days are called ‘keeping in touch days.’ “ These are optional and both the employer and employee need to agree them.
“Do not be apologetic for having a child - it is a normal part of life.”
Stay involved within the business whether this be popping in for leaving or Christmas party. This can help re-establish your relationships with your colleagues and keeps you in the loop
In the lead up to your return date, Nina emphasises the importance of getting into a positive mindset which includes preparing to be mentally stimulated again.
Low confidence is often common when returning after a long absence. Nina recommends reminding yourself of how motherhood has made you a better employee by making you stronger and more resilient. She also adds having a child puts things into perspective.
It is a good idea to keep your diary clear in the first weeks - you will have a lot going on.
Stagger your child’s induction to nursery, starting with a few hours before slowly building into a full day.
From an employers perspective, start planning as soon as you are told of a pregnancy as it can take time organising the replacement workload where this be a temp, replacement or internally sharing the workload. Also writing out the exact job description and what their day-to-day is can be extremely helpful in a handover.
Tips for returning to work from furlough or redundancy
“It is important to remember you are not alone”
Be kind to yourself, enjoy what may be the first time in your career you’ve had a substantial break.
If you have an extended period of time off, use it productively by doing online courses. It shows you are driven and motivated.
Keep up to date with what is happening in your industry
Update your linkedin profile and use the #opentowork hashtag to search for jobs
Honesty is the best way to deal with a gap in your CV.
Returning from sabbatical
It is easier to go on a sabbatical once you have shown loyalty to a company. Nina and Julia suggest this is 2+ years with one employer.
Navigating going part-time
Julie points out that by law, you have the right to make a flexible work request to your employer. This applies if you have worked there for over 26 weeks and haven’t made any flexible work requests in the last 12 months. In return, an employer must look at your request fairly and respond within 3 months.
In terms of what a request should look like, Nina and Julia recommend communicating how you think it could work, and think about what options you have to make your employer say yes. This could include considering what are their benefits or finding out if another coworker would like to job share.
Julia and Nina recommend the Acas website as a brilliant resource for both the employer and employee. It covers the best structure for flexible work requests, information on how to reclaim statutory maternity pay and any other obligations that an employer or employee may have. Julia and Nina do recommend that if you don’t have time to do the research, get advice from a HR company.