On International Women’s Day, Returning Works® partnered with Great Western Railway to deliver an online workshop for its leadership team.

The live training session focused on the impact of maternity on women professionally and how GWR can create allies at the most senior level, so that barriers to participation and development are removed for maternity returners.

As part of its International Women’s Day 2023 programme of events, GWR wanted a parental returners expert to provide a Maternity Bias Workshop for its leadership team. 

The event was designed to educate senior leaders on how maternity bias creates barriers to women fully participating in the workforce.

GWR also wanted to explore the importance of creating allies in the senior leadership team, so they set the tone for inclusive attitudes and behaviours, that will cascade through the organisation.

More broadly, GWR understand the need to increase gender diversity at all levels, by safeguarding the female talent pipeline when women go through the maternity transition.

Returning Works Founder Emma Waltham delivered a live, interactive 90-minute session by zoom video conferencing to a team of GWR colleagues.

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The webinar covered: 

• The lived experience of women in the workplace when they go through the maternity transition, including the biases that impact on their re-engagement, confidence and progression.

• Barriers to participation and development, which prevent women from reaching the most senior levels in organisations. 

• Evidence that shows what is happening to women today, to help leaders understand the importance of supporting returners on retention and how barriers to participation impact on gender diversity, particularly in male-dominated environments.

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The discussion then moved onto allyship, focusing on how GWR’s leaders can be allies for expectant and returning mums, recognising and overturning inappropriate attitudes and behaviours.

Participants were split into breakout rooms, where they discussed potential barriers to progression for returning mums, and actions that can be taken. Operational changes included potential re-deployment of front-line staff to roles with more family-friendly hours and increased flexible hours for operational roles where out-of-hours childcare isn’t available. 

We also discussed changes to company culture, such as normalising family and child-care commitments and supporting co-parenting fathers, with senior leaders acting as visible role models to set the tone throughout the organisation.

The session was recorded by GWR and will be used as part of the company’s resources for managers.
 

After the session, one of the delegates commented: 

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“Great Western Railway – and the industry in general – have really come a long way in understanding the pressures on working parents. We’ve made big changes to how we operate, which means we offer a more inclusive, welcoming environment for our returning parents. Initiatives such as flexible working are making a massive difference in keeping our returning parents on their career pathways so that they stay and progress their careers here at GWR. 

While this is worth celebrating, there is still work to be done! We are keen to be trailblazers within the industry, and training such as Returning Works workshops really help to broaden the conversation within our senior leadership team and help us understand how we can take those next steps. Following the training with Emma, our team have all gone away with practical ideas for how they can contribute towards helping their female colleagues develop their careers, and the role our leaders can play in fostering a culture of allyship and understanding.”