I am an executive and also a mother. When I joined VIas CMO, my entire team knew about my family and the needs that come with caring for two very young children. I would often talk with my employees, many of whom are women, about parenting and the challenges of juggling it all. So, when one of my direct reports told me about one of our employees being pregnant, it came as a surprise to learn how nervous she was to tell me about her happy news. She was nervous about potential consequences on her career. Despite my openness about children and family, the stereotypes that still surround much of the business world today about what having children can mean for working women were weighing on her.
Are the stereotypes just that, or are they reality?
Apple was recently put into the spotlight for not including childcare on their new campus while offering to pay for female employees to freeze their eggs. The signals sent by the company are clear: “We need your whole focus to be your job and we will help you manage the delay of having a family.” At first, I found this shocking, but then I also thought it was incredibly honest that Apple would help women understand what they were getting into before deciding to join the company.
In many other cases, women deciding to have a family can only guess what reaction they’ll get from their bosses and companies in response to their pregnancy news. All this comes at a time when, as statistics show, women (like me) are deciding to have their kids far later in life than our mothers did so they can focus on their careers first.
Changing the stereotypes, one team, one company at a time
When I became a mother, I was already at the executive level and I was surprised at how my approach to work changed. I became more focused, more creative, and more impactful because I had limited time, and that time needed to be used efficiently. I also became extremely loyal to the companies who trusted that I was the same professional I had always been, treating me no differently than before while giving me the flexibility I needed to care for my children.
So what I’ve learned from this experience, I’ve made a point to pay forward to my own team.
And yes, this means that I actually do encourage my female employees – and all employees- to have children. Not because my duty is to help with our population increase, but because I want to create an environment where all employees feel that they fully own the decision to have a family. Women on my team know that 3 months of maternity leave is nothing compared to the contributions they will make to the company in 3-4 years of employment (or more).
A good business approach
I truly believe this is also good for the business. Some of my most creative and productive working years happened once I became a mom. As many mothers have unfortunately experienced, motherhood is often equated with a person having less time, less focus, and less dedication to the business. That is simply untrue. As moms, we find creativity in places we had never looked before. Family or work isn’t a one-or-the-other choice, and when it isn’t sold that way from a cultural perspective, you create much more loyalty from and retention of your female employees. Compartmentalizing mothers into their own, less-valuable category does nothing to help the need for more diversity in tech
As a business leader and executive, I pride myself on giving my team the power to control their own lives without fearing that they’ll lose any level of respect or opportunity to grow. Not only is flexibility an option for my team, but I encourage it. It’s not about hours spent at a desk, but the quality of work they do, and for mothers, that flexibility is invaluable. Being able to take a child to a doctor’s appointment knowing they can get back online later in the day effectively increases working productivity.
Motherhood in the workplace is not a condition. It’s a personal life choice that employers would do well to support more openly. VI-Media’s core values celebrate the idea that when you treat your employees like grown-ups, everyone is a lot happier, much more productive, and effective in their role, and yes, that even extends to mothers.
