Getting a Return on Returners - by Kirsty Reynolds (Hardcover)

About the Book

From talent loss to talent advantage: a research-backed playbook for transforming parental leave into a powerful retention and performance lever.

Book Synopsis

Getting a Return on Returners examines one of the most critical and costly career inflection points for top talent: parental leave transitions. Drawing on Dr Kirsty Reynold's research into maternity transitions in high-performing professional environments, it offers a systemic rethink of how demanding careers treat parenthood -- and what leaders can do to retain talent at this pivotal moment.

While family-friendly policies have evolved to accommodate all parents, workplace behaviour has not caught up. In demanding professions across the globe, parental leave is still overwhelmingly a women's issue. The pattern is familiar: at precisely the point of highest return on investment, women step away or aside -- weakening leadership pipelines, slowing gender progress and diminishing the diversity of perspective at the top.

Combining rigorous research with lived professional insight, this book exposes the structural, cultural and performance dynamics that shape whether women sustain ambitious careers after leave. It shifts the focus from individual adjustment to systemic design, offering leaders both a structural diagnosis and a pragmatic blueprint for change - turning a critical risk point into a leadership and talent advantage.

About the Author

A former banker and mother of four, Dr Kirsty Reynolds (MA Oxon, DProf) brings a unique and distinctly commercial perspective to the challenge of retaining women after maternity leave. Her doctoral research explored the question of how women can return to work sustainably in high-performance industries, surfacing insights for leaders into what career-focused women want and need if they are to thrive in these systems.

As an experienced executive coach (EMCC Senior Practitioner) and researcher, on the leadership team of a thriving global practice of 55 coaches, Kirsty maintains an ever-current perspective of the challenges leaders in the financial, professional and legal industries face in achieving gender balance.

Alongside coaching and consulting, Kirsty regularly shares her expertise through speaking engagements, at industry bodies such as People in Law, Level 20 and Women in Tax, and at diversity events such as Dive In Festival. She also regularly publishes thought-leadership articles and white papers.

Kirsty is based in Winchester, UK.