You likely picked your employees at interview stage to add value to your business. You have probably invested in their training, making them even more of an asset to you.  I imagine you want that investment to continue to pay back. Employees moving through life stages, particularly becoming parents can be worrying, if you don’t have a plan. Can you afford to lose your staff? 

 

The reality is that sadly 9 in 10 Mothers face issues in returning to work after maternity leave. 1 in 5 find it necessary to leave their job altogether after having a baby (1). The pandemic has had a huge impact on new parent’s wellbeing, 70% of new mothers reported experiencing mental health problems during or after pregnancy (2). 

 

It isn’t only women who struggle. Official statistics recognise that 10% of dads experience postnatal depression but a study by the National Childbirth Trust found as many as 1 in 3 dads suffer. Sadly, though, most parents are suffering in silence as only a fifth seek medical support (3). The impact of perinatal mental illness is significant with 1 in 10 parents saying it had negatively impacted their work performance (3).

 

7.6% of sickness absence is attributed to stress, depression, and anxiety annually in the UK.  This equates to 14.3 million lost working days per year (4). Analysis by Deloitte, found that poor mental health costs UK employers up to £45 billion each year (5).

 

In addition to the financial implications of absence and poor performance there is a huge cost to losing talent. This relates to new recruitment and retraining, and to the loss in the female talent pipeline. WorkBabyLife offers support to all parents. However the statistics show that more women (1 in 5) find it necessary to leave the workforce after having a baby. This directly impacts the female talent pipeline within businesses and reinforces the gender pay gap. Companies with more women on their boards were found to outperform their rivals with a 42% higher return in sales, 66% higher return on invested capital and 53% higher return on equity (6). Firms where at least one-third of the bosses are women have a profit margin more than 10 times greater than those without (7). Considering that gender diverse boards outperform their rivals, we can conclude that loss of female talent directly equates to financial loss for businesses.

 

By providing additional support during the transition to parenthood you can help your employees remain in the workplace, retaining a valuable asset and maintaining an engaged female talent pipeline. Employee engagement denotes the strength of the mental and emotional connection employees feel toward their place of work. Research shows that engaged employees are at least 17% more productive and highly engaged workplaces saw  41% lower absenteeism (8). For every £1 spent by employers on mental health interventions they’ll get £5 back in reduced absence, presenteeism and staff turnover (9).

 

WorkBabyLife is here to support both employer and employee with tailored solutions, to discover how we can help your business book a call.​