Companies publish parental leave and flexible-working policies. Kimberley Rowley argues they should also disclose what happens to the careers of the people who use them.
Thank you so much for featuring my piece, Claudine, and for giving this issue a platform. Family-friendly policies can make an enormous difference to parents and the time they get to spend with their children. But what we still don't adequately measure is the longer-term impact on their careers, earnings and progression. Until employers start tracking what happens in the years following parental leave, we're only seeing part of the picture.
Thank you for writing it — I was very glad to publish it. I think the point about measuring what happens in the years after parental leave is especially important. Return-to-work statistics can look reassuring while missing much slower effects on pay, progression, opportunity and retention. It feels like an area where employers could learn a great deal simply by following the data further.
This is such an important distinction — having a progressive policy and achieving the outcome it was designed for are two very different things. I particularly like the idea of looking beyond the point of return. Someone can come back after parental leave and technically be counted as a “successful return”, while the impact on pay, progression, opportunity or ultimately retention only becomes visible much later.
As someone who works in compensation (HR), I also find the idea of connecting these different data points really interesting. We spend so much time looking at gender pay gaps and representation, but understanding what happens to careers in the years after becoming a parent could tell us so much more about where those gaps actually begin to emerge. Really thought-provoking piece.
Thank you — I think you’ve put your finger on one of the most important questions. Measuring whether someone returns after parental leave only tells us what happened at one moment in time. The more revealing question may be what happens over the next two, three or five years: pay progression, promotion, access to opportunities, performance ratings and ultimately retention.
Your compensation perspective is particularly interesting because it suggests there may be a much richer story in joining up datasets that are often looked at separately. The gender pay gap tells us where people end up; longitudinal career data could help show where and when the divergence actually begins.
Exactly! The longitudinal piece is what I find so interesting. We often look at the outcome, but not necessarily the points along the way where the divergence starts to happen. So much potential in joining those datasets up. Really enjoyed your piece!
Absolutely — and I suspect that identifying those inflection points is where the real value lies. Kimberley Rowley wrote the piece, and I was very pleased to publish it on Big4News. Thank you again for such a thoughtful contribution to the discussion.
Thank you so much for featuring my piece, Claudine, and for giving this issue a platform. Family-friendly policies can make an enormous difference to parents and the time they get to spend with their children. But what we still don't adequately measure is the longer-term impact on their careers, earnings and progression. Until employers start tracking what happens in the years following parental leave, we're only seeing part of the picture.
Thank you for writing it — I was very glad to publish it. I think the point about measuring what happens in the years after parental leave is especially important. Return-to-work statistics can look reassuring while missing much slower effects on pay, progression, opportunity and retention. It feels like an area where employers could learn a great deal simply by following the data further.
This is such an important distinction — having a progressive policy and achieving the outcome it was designed for are two very different things. I particularly like the idea of looking beyond the point of return. Someone can come back after parental leave and technically be counted as a “successful return”, while the impact on pay, progression, opportunity or ultimately retention only becomes visible much later.
As someone who works in compensation (HR), I also find the idea of connecting these different data points really interesting. We spend so much time looking at gender pay gaps and representation, but understanding what happens to careers in the years after becoming a parent could tell us so much more about where those gaps actually begin to emerge. Really thought-provoking piece.
Thank you — I think you’ve put your finger on one of the most important questions. Measuring whether someone returns after parental leave only tells us what happened at one moment in time. The more revealing question may be what happens over the next two, three or five years: pay progression, promotion, access to opportunities, performance ratings and ultimately retention.
Your compensation perspective is particularly interesting because it suggests there may be a much richer story in joining up datasets that are often looked at separately. The gender pay gap tells us where people end up; longitudinal career data could help show where and when the divergence actually begins.
Exactly! The longitudinal piece is what I find so interesting. We often look at the outcome, but not necessarily the points along the way where the divergence starts to happen. So much potential in joining those datasets up. Really enjoyed your piece!
Absolutely — and I suspect that identifying those inflection points is where the real value lies. Kimberley Rowley wrote the piece, and I was very pleased to publish it on Big4News. Thank you again for such a thoughtful contribution to the discussion.