Reaching a New Crowd Trying to hire Harvard MBAs and ex-Googlers is great. Until you discover everyone’s at war over the same talent.
Moms The most overqualified talent stuck at the playground
The Case for Hiring Them
Plenty of employers dream of hiring temporary or part-time teams of seasoned pros adept at running multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns or spearheading strategic analyses. What they don’t realize is that playgrounds can be full of them: experienced professionals turned parents, who are eager to work but have been sidelined by parenthood for a few years or don’t want the full 9-to-5 commitment of their previous gig. “Small businesses have a unique advantage in that they can usually offer a lot more flexibility than a larger enterprise,” says Allison Robinson, founder of digital talent marketplace the Mom Project.
How to Help Them Succeed
Communicating expectations and needs—on both sides—can help get new hires integrated faster and increase their tenure. Some women returning to work after a few years away are eager to embrace a traditional workweek, but others may crave flexibility—to work remotely, to create a set schedule that’s not 9 to 5, or to work the hours needed to get the job done rather than hewing
