Filhos no Currículo research shows that 98% of the interviewees developed skills that add to their career after motherhood
If, on the one hand, gender equality advances in the creative industry, on the other hand, the parenting agenda still has very deep layers to be explored. A survey by FGV shows that 48% of women are fired up to two years after maternity leave. With the normalization of the home office and flexible work, however, the expectation is that companies increasingly bring the culture of well-being into their contexts, making it possible for mothers to better reconcile their roles. In addition, society’s pressure for more diversity in the work environment also reflects the greater interest of organizations in the sustainable growth of women’s careers.
“Companies are being invited to think about policies and benefits from a new angle. I have noticed that the market is maturing for the agenda. When we talk about taking care of motherhood, it’s about taking care of the gender strategy within an organization. I have seen many companies seek to enable the sustainable growth of the female career that is not at any cost, emotional health, well-being, because otherwise it cannot be sustained. This woman can reach a leadership position, but with a damaged personal life, with enormous guilt for not being able to reconcile the roles”, argues Michelle Terni, CEO and co-founder of Filhos no Currículo.
Positioned as an impact consultancy, Filhos no Currículo is one of the initiatives that have emerged and are growing in the country with the proposal to make the job market more empathetic and inclusive, valuing parenting. It offers parental policy review, diagnosis, awareness-raising and content curation work within organizations. The consultancy came about four years ago from the personal pain of Michelle who, after the arrival of her first child, Thomas (she is also the mother of Alex), decided to leave the job market.
“I started to question the role and responsibility of organizations in this equation of reconciling work and children. Do we change or are companies not prepared to welcome us back? It was in this context that Filhos no Currículo emerged, with the intention that the work environment is genuinely pro-family, attracting, welcoming and boosting the career of professionals with children”, highlights Michelle, who is an advertising professional.
One of the flags defended is that motherhood is a springboard in the career of women, because, from the arrival of children, they develop a series of skills, such as resilience and leadership, which they add to the profession. Filhos no Currículo carried out a survey, in partnership with Movimento Mulher 360, and asked mothers (and fathers) about what skills they exercise in raising children that add you as a professional? And 98% stated that they developed some skill from the relationship with the child that they add to the curriculum. That is, almost 100% of the sample – 825 were interviewed. “We received a number of super interesting insights, such as patience, resilience, conflict resolution and leadership.”
The survey culminated in the launch of the #meufilhonocurrículo campaign in October last year, with 40,000 people interacting with the hashtag in five days, and with the institutional support of brands such as Magalu, Danone and Cielo. “The movement has grown and I’m confident it’s just the beginning. One of the ramifications of the campaign, which goes beyond raising awareness, is the launch of a study called Parenting in organizations, whose results will be released very soon, with insights into what people need to consider their work environment pro-family. and how they feel welcomed from the birth of the baby to the return of maternity leave”, says Michelle.
In the #mychildoncurriculum campaign, women are encouraged to put their children’s names on their LinkedIn and say that the career break means a time of learning and skills development. “A mother is born, a leader is born, much better. We are invited to occupy this leadership role to allow our children to be children. It’s 24/7 leadership.”
Michelle says that the movement was exponentially accelerated by this pandemic context. “We see a revolution that would not have happened without, for example, the normalization of remote work, which is a great desire for many women. These professionals with children want to work remotely, they want a flexible journey. It is a movement of no return”. “Companies have woken up a bit to the fact that there are not two lives, there is only one. Today there is no longer any embarrassment to mix professional and personal life. Companies were invited to review that these invisible walls do not exist and bring the culture of well-being into their contexts”.
step back
In the communication market, the CEO of Filhos no Currículo understands that there is a positive intention to bring this agenda to the branches, but in general, she realizes that the segment is still a step behind in this journey. “There is a work culture with no time to finish, with long hours, work that starts later and also ends later, the networking itself takes place during happy hour”, exemplifies Michelle. Among the consulting cases of Filhos in the Curriculum for large companies is the holding of a cycle of awareness-raising events on the subject for Publicis Groupe. “We had the opportunity to speak with leaders and focus on empathy to bring a socio-emotional repertoire and also talk to the organization’s mothers and fathers about responsible parenthood. There were interactive lectures and workshops”.
Michelle highlights a greater movement of brands that take care of the parenting agenda, create a pro-family environment and promote it from the door out too, as is the case of Grupo Raia Drogasil, which hired Filhos no Currículo to review the program company parenting. In addition, the brand sponsored the Filhos no Currículo podcast, for example.
A disruptive case cited by the consultancy’s CEO is the emergence of the first pro-family corporate building in Brazil, on Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, in São Paulo. This is the B32 building, which has a sculpture of a whale on the front, which already houses companies such as Meta (Facebook) and other large companies. “It is a building with a sustainable, pro-family concept that will have the support of Filhos in the Curriculum. In practice, we will have a parenting support room to support both those who work in the building and those who walk around the square, with an intense program of events, conversation circles and activations for mothers and children. The expectation is to hold the inaugural event in May, in celebration of Mother’s Month”, informs Michelle.
Baby boom
With a story similar to that of Michelle Terni, Paula Sousa, 28, also a publicist, launched last July the Mãellennials experience hub, which was created to connect mothers and businesses and help co-create a job market that values parenting and humanize relationships, while promoting professionals and developing a more empathetic and inclusive environment.
According to the creative leader and creator of Mãellennials, the project began to be designed when she was pregnant, in 2018, a time when she faced difficulties due to her condition and began to resign from several agencies, because she could not fit motherhood with the modus operandi. from the market.
“I realized how exclusive spaces were for mothers. I was, for example, the only mother at an agency where I worked. It was scary to see that people did not understand that a pregnant woman needed prenatal care. It was very sad, I came to think that I could no longer be creative. And I only had the courage to take the Mãellennials project off the ground in July last year, when I felt empowered after joining a company that was very welcoming to my motherhood”, says she, who is the mother of Pedro, 3 years old.
“Motherallennials has become a community of mothers who, like me, have faced maternal loneliness within the job market, especially within the creative and technology industry, which still has many practices that exclude those who are mothers. The goal is to work with both sides, both with companies and mothers.”
Today, one of the biggest questions to be answered by companies is whether they are prepared to welcome new mothers into the job market. That’s because with the country heading towards the end of the pandemic, the expectation is that the baby boom phenomenon may reappear, with many women getting pregnant at the same time.
It is worth remembering that the pandemic also intensified the reduction in the birth rate in Brazil. The numbers show a 14% drop in 2021 compared to the previous year. Paula also cites the fact that 86% of Brazilian women, according to the IBGE, want to be a mother at some point in their lives. “It’s a very high number. In addition, many women have postponed their pregnancy due to public health issues and the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.”
In Paula’s opinion, despite the advancement of gender equality in the job market, there is still much to be done for motherhood. “Companies think that just because they hire women they are doing a lot for gender equity, but what about women who are mothers? What about women who are black mothers? There are multiple layers of diversity within motherhood that companies still don’t see,” she notes.
One of Mãellennials’ actions is the free mentorship Fala, Madrinha for mothers with inspiring market leaders accompanying each one individually. In the first edition, more than 50 mothers were sponsored. Another is the performance of Speed Dating, a dynamic that divided the participants in a 1:1 format, mothers and recruiters in rooms to see if they match the company’s culture.
Within the advertising market, Paula closed with AKQA to brainstorm with the aim of rethinking the issues of inclusive diversity at the agency, with a focus on motherhood. “It is our consultancy for companies, in which we give a live session with all the collaborators reflecting on the problem of diversity and inclusion in the company”. Hyper Island will also be served along the same lines.
