parental leave: connection, comms plan, community + career glow up

Welcome to Make Work Suck Less, a place for parents who manage children at home and deal with childish adults at work.

(only slightly kidding)

The last five+ weeks, I've been diving into topics around parental leave. When and how to announce, how to build a turnover and communications plan that supports your personal and professional boundaries, how to turn this career transition into a career glow up, and more.

Whether you're an expecting parent, a manager with some incoming "unpaid interns" on your team, or just an amused child-free bystander, this MWSL Roundup edition is full of actionable resources to support yourself or your team as they go through it.

(It* in this case is a giant life and career upheaval as we shoehorn an additional human being into the mix. Having a kid really is doing more with less.)

community note

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turn your parental leave into a career glow up

Parental leave is a period of career transition, and is often viewed as a pause or even a step back, particularly for women. I’m going to challenge that today. The period of parental leave and return actually holds untapped potential for significant professional growth. When we look at it as a strategic opportunity to reassess and realign, this is a unique change for a career glow up.

but first, the data

• The US is one of only seven countries that do not guarantee paid parental leave. This means moms are the default social safety net for child care (but 45% of us are also expected to continue contributing at least half of the household income). Cue my Gloria rant.
• 17% of women (compared to just 4% of men) stop working in the five years following childbirth
• 1 in 3 women leave their employer after parental leave, with only 48% returning to their previous role
• Not at all surprisingly, 2 in 3 mothers would prefer full-time work, provided they can secure adequate childcare

But going back to my first point… without enough paid leave and affordable childcare, this career transition equation becomes much more difficult. Some of us in the corporate world are incredibly privileged to get the (paid) time we need and to afford essential childcare to make this career glow up a possibility.

Ok, moving on. Read the full article.

how to build a stress-free turnover plan

As you're gearing up for parental leave, what’s on your mind these days?

What type of breast pump is best? What car seat is safest? Do I need the fancy, expensive, reactive cradle? Absolutely, yes to that one. Where are we going to fit another kid in this house?

Oh yes, and the daunting task of handing over your work.

I got you.

The trick is creating a Stop, Start, Continue plan and then identifying game-changing work that aligns with 1/ business goals, 2/ your strengths and priorities, 3/ innovation and growth, and 4/ your career goals (this is most important).

Read the full article to walk through creating a turnover plan that's stress-free for you and for your team. Having been through this rollercoaster myself, and now going through it again, I promise it's possible to leave your desk without a trail of chaos behind you.

beyond the HR handbook: building your parental leave village

Ever feel like you're the first-ever employee to go on parental leave at your workplace? You're not alone.

It seems like no matter how big an organization is, or how long they’ve been around, it seems like every pregnant employee and parental leave is the first one they’ve managed. HR is already overworked trying to juggle about 100 glass balls in the air and may not have the time to dedicate to walking you through the process or understand your specific needs. They also may never have gone through it themselves and so don’t fully grasp the amount of uncertainty and upheaval you’re going through.

This is where the power of community steps in - a resource that can be a game-changer for expecting parents.

Read the full article.

How to set boundaries while on parental leave to stay in the loop (without losing your peace)

Navigating parental leave brings its unique set of challenges that can make stepping away from work feel more daunting than it should. There's the all-too-common pitfall of becoming an indispensable crutch for a team that struggles to adapt in your absence, which can blur the lines between your critical bonding time with your newborn and unwarranted work obligations.

This period isn't a vacation; it's an essential phase for healing and connecting with your child, and you shouldn't feel compelled to keep the work wheels turning unless you choose to. Then there's the fear of losing grip on projects you've nurtured, worrying that your absence might lead to their derailment. Coupled with the struggle to truly disconnect—finding yourself peering into emails or Slack out of habit, only to be pulled into the minutiae of daily office dramas that, in reality, will resolve themselves without your intervention.

Crafting a parental leave communication plan will help you set clear boundaries and avoid these pitfalls while you’re out doing much more important things.

Read the full article to craft your parental leave comms plan that walks the fine line between "in the loop" and "in the weeds."

next week in MWSL

Made it this far? Awesome. Don't miss next Monday's edition of MWSL.

Next week we're diving into the realities of the return. Let's be honest, by the time most parents head back to work (especially moms), you're still figuring out how to juggle ever-shifting feeding, pumping, and nap schedules with showering. Let alone an 8-hour work day.

I'm sharing practical tips and resources for making this next career transition as smooth as possible.

Subscribe now so you don't miss it.

Until then, you got this.

#makeworksuckless #parentalleave #careertransition #workingmoms #yougotthis