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Getting a Return on Returners examines one of the most critical and costly career inflection points for top talent: parental leave transitions. Drawing on Dr Kirsty Reynold’s research into maternity transitions in high-performing professional environments, it offers a systemic rethink of how demanding careers treat parenthood — and what leaders can do to retain talent at this pivotal moment.
While family-friendly policies have evolved to accommodate all parents, workplace behaviour has not caught up. In demanding professions across the globe, parental leave is still overwhelmingly a women’s issue. The pattern is familiar: at precisely the point of highest return on investment, women step away or aside — weakening leadership pipelines, slowing gender progress and diminishing the diversity of perspective at the top.
Combining rigorous research with lived professional insight, this book exposes the structural, cultural and performance dynamics that shape whether women sustain ambitious careers after leave. It shifts the focus from individual adjustment to systemic design, offering leaders both a structural diagnosis and a pragmatic blueprint for change - turning a critical risk point into a leadership and talent advantage.
A former banker and mother of four, Dr Kirsty Reynolds (MA Oxon, DProf) brings a unique and distinctly commercial perspective to the challenge of retaining women after maternity leave. Her doctoral research explored the question of how women can return to work sustainably in high-performance industries, surfacing insights for leaders into what career-focused women want and need if they are to thrive in these systems.
As an experienced executive coach (EMCC Senior Practitioner) and researcher, on the leadership team of a thriving global practice of 55 coaches, Kirsty maintains an ever-current perspective of the challenges leaders in the financial, professional and legal industries face in achieving gender balance.
Alongside coaching and consulting, Kirsty regularly shares her expertise through speaking engagements, at industry bodies such as People in Law, Level 20 and Women in Tax, and at diversity events such as Dive In Festival. She also regularly publishes thought-leadership articles and white papers.
Introduction
Part 1. Why maternity leave creates the biggest leak in your pipeline of senior women
1 THE SYSTEM
I. The success equation: relationships, numbers and visibility
II. Broken by design: gendered workplaces and power
2 THE TRANSITIONS 24
I. Journey to parenthood: secrecy, silence and stress
II. Parental leave: OOO, still in the loop
III. Returning to work: The myth of choice
3 THE POLICIES 37
I. It’s pot luck: the parental policy lottery
II. Policy vs practice: when good intentions fall short
III. What’s Dad got to do with it?: Unintended impacts of family-friendly policies
IV. Long Covid: the tail effect of WFH and flexible working
Part 2. Why fixing that leak should be top of the leadership agenda
4 THE BOTTOM LINE
I. The diversity dividend: why diverse leadership pays
II. Retaining top talent: the brain drain and attrition costs
5 THE PEOPLE
I. Attracting Millennials and Gen-Z: future-proofing family policies
II. I’m a good guy: leadership, integrity and impact
6 THE REGULATION
I. Under the spotlight: industry, regulator and government imperatives
II. Reward charts: linking pay to progress on gender
Part 3. What professional women really experience during their maternity transitions
7 THE CULTURE
I. We are where we work: the influence of firm culture
II. Managers matter: the missing human touch
III. Sshhh! Dad’s the word: the hidden barrier in parental leave
8 THE INDIVIDUAL
I. Trailblazing women: the lonely road of maternity
II. The broken rung: career and wellbeing costs of return
III. Changing identities: the shift from professional to working mother
**Part 4: What you can do to make changes now **
9 START SMALL
I. Clarity counts: policies around promotion, pay and leave
II. Get vocal: telling stories that shift culture
III. Get the basics right: pregnancy, pumping and workplace design
IV. Get line managers in line: build a culture from the bottom up
10 BUILD MOMENTUM
I. Bridge the loneliness gap: create opportunities for connection
II. Structure for success: balancing preferences, presence and progress
11 THINK BIG
I. Marginal flexibility for all: removing the parenthood penalty
II. Fixing the broken rung: review success and reward criteria
III. Shared leave, shared responsibility: Review parental policies and pay
IV. Data wins: setting targets matters more than ever
CONCLUSION