Getting a Return on Returners

Retaining top talent after parental leave

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.