What we feel is missing with many maternity and paternity leave policies is innovation. We believe they need to be seen from a transition perspective. Becoming a parent is a massive change for any individual, but can also be a significant change for their employer. So the question is, how can an organisation support this transition, from pre-leave right through to returning to work?

The financial aspects are key in supporting parents during their time away and this shouldn’t end when they return – as we know, childcare costs are a burden to working parents. We think that providing a comprehensive policy including a suite of ‘parental benefits’ will take you beyond the mere financial aspects, encouraging your employees to return to work. Research shows us that there are many simple and cost effective ways to enhance your maternity package; providing guidance to new parents, keeping in touch with them and parental facilities before, during and after Baby Break would contribute significantly to the likelihood that your employee will return to work and more importantly stay.

The way that the workplace and families are evolving means we need to think about parental leave more radically – this is why we call it Baby Break. We feel that these approaches will be the stepping stone to ensuring key talent is recruited into and remains in the organisation. At Innecto, we are fortunate to work with clients who are looking at parental leave in a new light, just like us.

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