ABSTRACT
Business enthusiasm for maternity mentoring tends to be influenced by two primary factors: familiarity with the specific concept and how seriously they take the issue of gender diversity. Cost is rarely a significant factor although the budget generally has to be allocated from somewhere. Mentoring can be seen as a nice-to-have rather than a significant contributor to achieving business objectives. Mentoring maternity is one part of a constellation of good practice towards building a more diverse organisation. By taking a proactive position supporting individual journeys, mentoring becomes an enabler, building collective momentum for a long-term investment in the future talent of the business, improving retention, supporting a faster re-engagement and return to productivity. MumtoMum mentoring was first introduced to the Asda Home Offices. The programme began with a small pilot group of just 12 mentoring pairs; working mothers and one father, who came together to begin a groundbreaking project, to improve support for colleagues returning to work post maternity.
