Returners & Career Changers:
Best practices in adapting to a
changing workforce and
attracting untapped talent
Returners & Career Changers: Best practices in adapting to
a changing workforce and attracting untapped talent
How WISE members are balancing the work-life needs of returners,
and insights into the initiatives that are attracting career changers.
Returners & Career Changers: Best practices in adapting to a
changing workforce and attracting untapped talent
Rebooting and rerouting: Best practice for STEM career break returners
Dr Clem Herman, Director of eSTEeM (OU Centre for STEM Pedagogy), The Open University
Relaunch Your Career Programme
Anouska Ladds, VP Airlines, Hotels and OTA’s, European Business Development, Mastercard
Get Into Tech Initiative
Conrad Langworthy, Academy Leader, Group Technology, Sky
Vicki Marshall, Associate Software Developer, Sky
Returner Programmes - what we have learnt
Julie Thornton, Head of Human Resources, Tideway
Returners & Career Changers: Best practices in adapting to
a changing workforce and attracting untapped talent
Rebooting and rerouting: Best practice for STEM
career break returners
Dr Clem Herman, Director of eSTEeM (OU Centre for STEM
Pedagogy), The Open University
REBOOTING AND REROUTING: BEST PRACTICE FOR STEM
CAREER BREAK RETURNERS
DR CLEM HERMAN
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
LEAVING STEM
Over two thirds of women with STEM qualifications don’t go back into STEM sector work after a break
(Maximising Returns 2002)
• Traditional cultures and career structures within established professions like engineering
and scientific research. New masculine cultures of exclusion in IT sector.
• The ‘ideal worker’ is still considered the norm within many companies. Uninterrupted full-
time careers are what get rewarded and leads to ‘success’.
• Gendered organisations (Acker 1990) reproduce gendered patterns of career
• But women’s careers are often non-linear and thus perceived as frayed or broken (Sabelis
and Schilling 2012, Herman 2015)
GENDERED CAREERS IN STEM
RETURNERS
• Returners are diverse in age, background and reasons for being out of work
• Maternity isn’t the only reason for leaving – often it is a combination of push factors and pull factors (Hewlett et al., 2008)
• The longer the break, the harder it is to get back into STEM work
• Getting back into STEM more difficult than other sectors because of gendered employment norms, and rapid change in skills/knowledge
• Career breaks and periods of part time work can have negative impact on career progression and employability.
• The parenthood penalty - recent research showing that stay at home parents are less likely to get call back for interviews than others who have been ‘unemployed’ (Weisshaar 2018)
Locality and mobility
OPEN UNIVERSITY INTERVENTIONS
Gender role normativity
Structural/ Institutional barriers
• UK government funded Open University to develop Return to SET course.
• national partnership led by UKRC• First large scale online course for women returners• Over 1000 women took the course between 2005 and 2011• Longitudinal follow up study in 2011/12• Survey of 167 women 5 years after they had completed the course• Biographical semi-structured interviews with 23 women• Identified barriers as well as success strategies in returning
Key barriers to return were identified as:
Return to SET – 5 years on
The course improved my confidence … and got me in touch with other women in the same situation. It was great to know that I wasn’t alone. I managed to build a good network out of it, and most importantly for me, it helped me put together a successful job application.
I have recently accepted a job working as a software engineer. The Open University course was a crucial part in my journey towards getting started in commercial work again. It was so important in building up my confidence and helping me make key decisions about my own skills set and the opportunities available to me locally
Getting Back InReturning after a career break – 5 top strategies
OPEN LEARN: Badged Open Courses
• These courses are a key part of The Open University’s mission ‘to promote the educational well-being of the community’.
• Journeys from informal to formal learning.
• Badged Open Courses differ from formal Open University courses – no start or finish date, can take however long you like.
• 8 weeks 3 hours a week (24 hours)
• Interactive quizzes each week
• Completers of the course get a Digital Badge
Returning to STEMFree course from the OU
Week 1 – The story so far
Week 2 – Presenting yourself
Week 3 – What’s going on in your sector
Week 4 – New ways of working
Week 5 – Work life balance
Week 6 – Getting support
Week 7 – Finding your STEM opportunity
Week 8 – Planning Your Next Steps
• Curriculum partnership with Equate Scotland - women returners to STEM in Scotland studied the BOC as part of a 9 month integrated programme.
• Equate secured funding from Scottish government. 40 women enrolled to their returners programme in March 2017. Studied the BOC between April and June. Initial seminar and then ongoing support from OU Associate Lecturer via Linked In group.
• Equate organised additional webinars and face to face career clinic, plus returnships in industry.
FEEDBACK FROM EQUATE RETURNERS PROGRAMME
Lesley (Equate)
• Employers are very aware that they want to improve the gender balance within their staffing profile but they’re not always sure where to start. So the great thing about the project is it’s an opportunity to take action.
The programme’s got me from, in the beginning, not having a clue where to start, to now, in a couple of weeks’ time I’m going to start a six month placement.
The workplace is a different environment from where I left it. There are new ways of establishing yourself, of making yourself known, of expressing yourself and there are new ways of understanding that you can work flexibly.
This programme makes me feel like my past experience and my past knowledge and skills are actually worth something. ….It’s a relief and it brings hope back into my life.
RECOMMENDATIONS• Develop more bespoke programmes for returners
• Community building and peer support to combat experience of isolation
• Use online tools and environments, plus face to face meetings
• Promote networking as a job seeking strategy – explore the hidden job market
• For employers
• Promote and encourage returnships
• Work with recruiters to combat discrimination against returners
LINKS TO RESOURCES
Returning to STEM Badged Open Course
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/returning-stem/content-section-overview
Reboot your STEM career – interactive toolkit
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/stemreboot
Contact me Clem Herman – email:[email protected] Twitter: @clemherman or on Linked In
Returners & Career Changers: Best practices in adapting to
a changing workforce and attracting untapped talent
Relaunch Your Career Programme
Anouska Ladds, VP Airlines, Hotels and OTA’s, European Business
Development, Mastercard
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• Manager Training. Session to educate managers on the individual they are supporting, their needs and how to ensure they have meaningful work/projects during their time with Mastercard.
• Induction Programme (2 days):
– Internal sessions covering Business Overview, Product Knowledge essentials, HR Intro/Degreed overview
– External sessions covering Preparing for personal change, Building strengths and confidence, Making the Most of the opportunities, Resilience and Creating a clear vision, goals and action plan for the returnship.
• How Mastercard Makes Money. 1-2 hours session run by Finance. Take place 2 weeks after the start date.
• Buddy Assigned. Select individuals who would relate well to the challenges of coming back to work having gone through similar experience.
• Lunch & Learns with senior leaders. To take place within first 6-8 weeks of the programme, and cover business relevant areas. Minimum 2, maximum 4 sessions recommended.
• Ongoing Learning Support. Participants are introduced to Degreed as a one-stop resource for learning. They complete Relaunch Your Career pathway through the duration of the programme (including professional skills training, Welcome to Mastercard and Payments 101 on Degreed).
Relaunch Your Career Development Programme Overview
Manager Training
Induction Programme
Buddy Assigned
How Mastercard
Makes Money
Lunch & Learns
Ongoing learning support
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJyqB7NDgFc
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Returners & Career Changers: Best practices in adapting to
a changing workforce and attracting untapped talent
Get Into Tech Initiative
Conrad Langworthy, Academy Leader, Group Technology, Sky
Vicki Marshall, Associate Software Developer, Sky
Get into Tech Conrad
Head of Software Engineering Academy
Get into TechConrad Langworthy
Head of Software Engineering Academy
25
Launched 2016
Opportunity Balanced workforce
Learn, Support &
Evolve
Run in Osterley &
Leeds
26
Agile, Javascript, PHP, HTML, CSS
Dedicated external instructor
Support from our Software Engineering professionals
Evolve young people into Software Engineers and address the gender balance
Taster Event 1-2-1 discussion
15 weeks training (1 week full immersion,
14 weeks evening course) on the Sky
Campus
Practical exercises and group Software
Project
Mid week Google Hangout sessions
Develop skills to apply for a place on the
Software Engineering Academy
Started 15th January and 19th February
2018
27
GraduateDeveloper &
Tester
ApprenticeDeveloper
Get into TechFor Women
WorkExperience
SummerPlacement
Academy Master
Agile University
28
Oct 2017
Get into Tech attraction and
selection
Nov 2017
Get into Tech insight event
Dec 2017
Get into Tech attraction & selection
Jan 2018
Get into Tech starts
Apr 2018
Get into Tech Complete
May 2018
Software Engineering Academy attraction &
selection
July 2018
Software Engineering Academy start
Sept 2018
Level 4 qualification starts
Dec 2018
Delivery team placement
Jan 2019 Software Engineering Academy ends
Sept 2019
Level 5 qualification starts
Dec 2019
Expected promotion to a mid rage developer
Sept 2020
Level 6 qualification starts
May 2021
Degree qualification complete
Continued delivery team placement
Applications Creating female developers Transformation
• Over 700 women have applied for our Get into Tech scheme
• 154 women have taken a place on a course
• So far 27 women from Get into Tech have secured a place on the Software Engineering Academy
• They are now fully fledged software developers in our business
• Last year the Software Engineering Academy was 47% female rather than 8% in previous years
The Nut Job
Returners & Career Changers: Best practices in adapting to
a changing workforce and attracting untapped talent
Returner Programmes - what we have learnt
Julie Thornton, Head of Human Resources, Tideway
Tideway Returners – What We Have LearntJulie Thornton
27 February 2018
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Tideway – who are we
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A brief history of our progammes
2015 – first programme – 7 returners join Tideway
Project based – Corporate Finance, Legal, Project Management, Asset Management,
Internal Communications, Business Planning
2016 – Joint programme with Main Works Contractors – 3 returners join Tideway
Role based – Quality, Commercial, Innovation
2017 – 2 Returners Join Tideway
Role based – Training, Internal Communications
• 12 week programme of paid employment
• Supported by Women Returners
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What we learnt
• Senior Executive endorsement is critical but:
• Managers need to understand the practicalities – not just the concept
• No detailed job descriptions / person specs
• Probably no immediate up-to-date experience
• Technical skills – may need updating
• First month may need more support – a good buddy is essential
Organisation buy-in
• Consider programme roles v recruiting to vacant positions
• Roles that can use appropriate transferable skills – give greatest pool of
candidates
• Individuals may use the role as a stepping stone or opportunity to change
career
• New roles –often returners shaped them
• Learnings:
• Consider the real technical needs of the role and whether a returner
is a suitable route
• Junior/mid level roles can be easier to source candidates
Returner Roles
• Labour intensive – potential high volumes to screen
• Screening – has to be personal – finding the gap and the match
• High level of briefing required if using 3rd party recruitment companies
• Pick your channels job/boards well
• Joint programmes – can become logistically complicated
• Be VERY specific in the adverts, programme details and process
• Support managers in different selection/interview style
• Have one person responsible for the whole programme
Recruitment
• Full time or part time – we increased flexibility but set parameters
• Mentors and buddies need to be introduced day 1
• Cohorts – provide self help and support following programmes
• Internal communication – how do you position the programme
• Value of external specialist support
The Programme
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What we confirmed
• Returners are a valuable addition to the Company
• They bring enthusiasm, skills and experience and are “up and running” in a short period of
time
• They are no more “risky” than any other external hire!
• Returners programmes work if you have family friendly inclusive organisations which
support all employees
• They can help improve diversity in an organisation