I Did That: Introducing Paid Maternity Leave
When it comes to equality and justice for women, we have reached a point where we need the rubber to hit the road. We need actions, not just words. I have attended countless breakfasts, lunches and dinners where problems are framed and personal, often painful, case studies are heard. But more often than not, we are left without a solution. We wish that our leaders will take our problems and come back to us with ways of solving them. But mostly they don’t.
More and more, I have found myself at the end of these events with two questions. What are we going to do about it? And are there any examples of people who have acted on these perennial problems?
“I Did That” is an occasional series that features women who have moved beyond words to action. Until we start to talk about what has been done or what can be done, the conversation about a solution won’t move forward.
I will start by sharing one small way that I have acted on an issue that is important to me. We would love your help in identifying other women who have also found a way to take action. Maybe that woman is you. Please don’t be shy about sharing your story.
What I Did
I had completely forgotten that I had done this until I was on an International Women’s Day panel recently with Angela Priestley, co-owner of online publication Women’s Agenda. She told the story of how, back in 2013, I advocated for and managed to convince the company that we were both working for at the time, to implement a paid maternity leave policy. Angela was the first woman in the company to benefit from the scheme.
I didn’t realise it at the time, but it clearly had a big impact on Angela. The decision made her feel valued and secure. Perhaps more importantly, it shaped the way that Angela has approached the subject of pregnancy and maternity leave with her employees at Agenda Media. Although it is a small business with a small staff, the company provides maternity leave to its staff so that those women can also feel valued and secure. I hope that it also benefited other women beyond my tenure with the company.
Why I Did It
I was doing my job as the most senior female leader in the business at the time. Career progression and opportunities for women to succeed have always been very important to me. I had an extremely poor workplace experience with my first pregnancy and I was determined that none of the women who worked in an organisation where I had a platform for change would be disadvantaged for being a woman. I had also been advocating for women in the workplace for so long, that it would have been a difficult position for me to not act.
How I Did It
The HR manager confirmed that the company didn’t offer maternity leave, so I initiated a discussion about what it would take to implement a policy that could be offered to all female employees. We spent some time modelling the costs to the business and the risks. What might happen if a number of women were pregnant at the same time? What would that do to the cost base of the organisation? It was a fair question, but we approached it with the intent of finding a reasonable solution, rather than believing it was insurmountable. We considered the impact of losing loyal, quality employees. The cost of finding and training their replacements had to be factored into the equation. In the end, the business case was compelling and the policy was implemented.
What I Learnt
There is always a solution to a problem, and organisational leaders are more likely to listen if you present them with a solution rather than just a problem that needs to be solved. If you leave it to them, they may never prioritise the problem enough to solve it.
My Advice
The solution to any problem isn’t always clear, so don’t be afraid to ask for help or to seek out ideas from others who have tried to solve similar problems in the past. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but you do need to have a plan. Stay open-minded with your plan as there may need to be a compromise along the way to the ultimate solution. Keep your eye on the end game.
How You Can Help
Take my example above and ask yourself if your workplace has the best policies in place to attract and retain women. If not, advocate to change that so that the leadership team in the organisation can include women and have a pipeline of women coming up through the ranks.
Have an I Did That story that you’d like to share? Email hello@tonicmag.com.au
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