This is not a short-term fix; this is a long-term strategy.

I am currently beginning to harvest some of the broad beans growing on my allotment. They have been easy to grow, resistant to black fly so far, and happily doing their own thing. I have not had to think about them a great deal. And they are delicious - especially when you get them small. The rewards are quick and significant on my plate.

Over on the other side of my plot, however, are the asparagus that a previous owner planted. Importantly, I don't know how long ago. Because I read that they can be a bit tricky to look after - they don't like their roots to be disrupted or have other things growing around them. And it can take a couple of years - yes years! - to be able to harvest them.

That feels like a very different amount of effort in a limited space - where every square inch feels valuable when you are growing your own food. Should I be done with the precious asparagus and grow something easier and quicker to harvest?

Truth is - I love asparagus. It is an early summertime luxury that says my birthday is just around the corner, the sun is coming out, and that somewhere, someone has tended to something great so it can feature on my dinner plate.

It is something special worth waiting for. It spells more than just something to eat. It suggests effort and care. It marks the beginning of summer and frankly, eating lightly steamed asparagus with dollops of melting butter (lets go heavy on the salt and pepper too) brings me unequivocal joy.

Who wouldn't want that?

So how do you weigh up the long- and short-term costs of something in your business?

How can you ever place more expensive, longer-term investments above the obvious quick fixes of the short-term solution? Undoubtedly, there must be a decision about the relative value of these solutions - built on a value system about what is most important to your company or business.

But I wonder how much consideration, in the throes of being relentlessly busy, is given to these values-based judgements? I wonder who holds the cards here too. Who is ultimately making the judgement calls that could affect the long-term development of the business you have built or work in, your company culture or how attractive you are to employees (and parents) of the future?

The work I am building at MAMA Coaching is asking organisations to make a value judgement - and to critically consider the short and longer-term solutions they offer to a very familiar and ubiquitous problem: how to support, engage, retain and develop women who return from a mat leave as working mothers.

Maybe (like those possible asparagus deniers out there) there is no actual desire to have women succeed over the trajectory of their whole career, in your company. Sure, it says it on paper, but no one is really that interested. Its dog eat dog out there; survival of the fittest. Success will come to those most available, hardest working, most visible, most driven.

Or maybe, as this week's Maternal Strengths Report 2026 shines a bright light on, mothers are worth waiting for - and definitely worth retaining. They require different conditions in which to develop and grow - but when they are given those opportunities, the benefits to your business are incalculable

Well, in fact, Mothered Media have done exactly that - they have calculated what I have been witnessing for 10 years now working with mothers: motherhood and care giving develops a range of highly transferable and precious skills that are often ignored or underutilised in the workplace.

On every single one of the metrics they explored (resilience, adaptability, decision-making under pressure, prioritization, time management, energy allocation, negotiation, communication, leading teams, empathy, conflict management, trust-building) women self-identified as having improved and developed their skillset through their care-giving experience.

And it wasn't just the soft, fluffy skills that are often associated to care giving - empathic, nurturing, relational - but 'many of the strongest increases appeared in operational and leadership-oriented capabilities tied to managing complexity, prioritizing under pressure, navigating competing demands, communicating clearly, and making decisions quickly in high-responsibility environments.'

"The findings suggest that motherhood may function as a significant developmental experience that shapes how many women lead, communicate, adapt, and operate under pressure."

Boom. Mic drop.

It seems that by ignoring the value of mothers, or not welcoming them back to work effectively enough (and let's face it, with 1 in 4 leaving their roles between 6 and 18 months after a mat leave, there must be something pretty consistent going on here), the corporate world is dangerously underestimating what they are missing out on.

So, let's reframe this.

Sure. In order for women to succeed when they return as working mothers, they might need some new conditions in which to develop and grow. Not forever, but definitely for the first 6 months of their transition into working-parenthood. This goes beyond flexible working requests; it requires an organisation to think root and branch about the short- and longer-term opportunities available to someone on a flexible working pattern.

Because, as well documented by Pregnant Then Screwed, flexible working is rarely flexible in practice: it is too often the same amount of expectation and workload, in fewer contracted or paid hours. They call it 'Flexicution: the slow and systemic killing off of careers under the branding of 'flexible working'. And I have coached too many women staying full time, even if they would prefer a part time pattern for a stretch, knowing that this is the reality of 'flexible working' requests.

Bonuses, billable hours, when meetings happen, how the company away day will work, what part time professional development looks like, and how job shares could work in senior leadership roles. All of it. It all needs interrogating. The working world was not designed with women in mind - especially those that take breaks to have a family, or who want to parent their children and stay professionally successful.

And yes, there is an investment to be made here. There may be costs attached. This is about getting your hands in the soil and developing new ways of doing things to ensure that your policies on inclusion and diversity in your workplace are not just token statements or gestures of good will. They are in fact, living, breathing practices that enable women to stay visible and valued when they become parents.

But given that 86% of women will become mothers, it also seems necessary for this longer-term strategic thinking to enable companies to change - and survive! - and for them to actually make a dent in the gender pay gap (that all companies will not only be legally required to report on from 2027, but also required to share an action plan on how they intend to narrow the gap).

Supporting women as they return to work is not a short-term fix. It is not the few weeks and a couple of KIT days before they come back to the office, or the few weeks of reduced workload once they have returned. It is not a quick catch up with your manager or a basket of fruit on your desk with a card written by HR saying 'welcome back'. It needs to be so much more than that.

A well-supported return to work should be understood to be a significant personal and professional transition made up of some predictable phases: the pre-return, the return, the settling in and the longer-term view. In each of these phases I have witnessed hundreds of women wrestle with the expectations they have of themselves as mothers and as professionals - whilst negotiating what is expected of them by managers, colleagues or company culture. The system is not built for this degree of tension - and women leave their roles as a result.

I have seen women jump through endless logistical and timetabling hoops to be able to afford the childcare that enables them to go back to work at all - whilst being able to parent their children in a way that feels meaningful. I have seen women seriously question whether their career is worth it, if they are left feeling this disappointed and undervalued when they return. I have seen women tired of trying to fight for their position, or to advocate for their own experience, training and skill. Women are tired of having to fight for their careers.

These issues are not choices that women make - but systemic barriers that need interrogation and change. The longer-term, future-proofing version of the work that I do recognises that at this point in a woman's career, returning to work after a mat leave can define the next 10+ years of her working life. It can define who is in leadership positions in your company. It can determine whether future parents will want to work for you. This is not a short-term fix. This is a long-term retention and culture strategy.

If you are a company that wants to make a positive change, and enable to women in your employment to flourish, please get in touch to discuss ways MAMA Coaching can support your journey.