There are plenty of reasons people take time away from their careers—from starting a family to caregiving to health issues—and the return can be daunting. And as women are more likely than men to take leave, questions of equity naturally rise to the surface. HR leaders are in a unique position to not only help re-entry into the workforce, but also create more inclusive and innovative workplaces through previously untapped talent pools.

The HR team at business software company Unanet has developed a unique program to do just that. Their “returnship” Encore “offers people with previous professional experience who have been out of the workforce for a year or more a pathway to return to work” through training, reskilling or upskilling and mentoring.

CHRO Stacy Critzer and Jessica Taylor, senior recruiter, share the details of the returnship, how they are supporting women in the workforce and how it’s paying back to their company as well.

How does your returnship program work, and what are the key objectives it aims to achieve for participants and the company? What are the benefits you’ve seen?

Critzer: Unanet’s returnship program, Encore, offers people with previous professional experience who have been out of the workforce for a year or more a pathway to return to work. As part of the program, they get training, reskilling or upskilling and mentoring, either in a field in which they have previously worked or one that’s new to them.

It’s a 12-week program that we offer twice a year, where we provide participants with intensive training in a particular area of our business—HR, finance, marketing, etc.—along with practical communications skills development, one-on-one mentoring and coaching.

We make a point of exposing “returners” to a variety of roles and responsibilities within a specific area of the business so they get a feel for a role in which they may want to specialize. The goal is for them rejoin the workforce after completing the program, either at Unanet or elsewhere.

As a woman-founded company that cares deeply about diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, returnship has proven to be an ideal fit with our company ethos and culture.

I can say without hesitation that the Encore program has surpassed expectations, to the point where three-and-a-half years in, it has become a fixture within our company for the benefits it’s providing to the business and the returners themselves. The team leaders who manage returners say they bring a uniquely valuable and fresh perspective to our business, which really levels up the quality of the work produced by the teams they’re part of. They tend to be fast learners who bring a lot to the table. And on the other side of the coin, we help them develop professional skills that they can apply wherever their career path leads next.

What are some common reasons professionals take career breaks, and how has your returnship program supported their successful re-entry into the workforce? How was Unanet’s program designed to facilitate a smooth transition back into work?

Taylor: It’s well documented that women are much likelier than men to set aside their careers to care for a child, for example, or a loved one with a health issue. Our returnship program opens a door for them to find their way back into the workforce, with specific training and support to help ensure they make the transition back into the workplace successfully.

Returning to work can be daunting, particularly if you’ve been out of that environment for a while. We’ve tailored the Encore program to ease that transition, with an onboarding process that emphasizes ways to manage the stress and anxiety that can accompany a return to the workplace.

We give them tools to deal with imposter syndrome, to operate in a remote or hybrid work environment, to network in a chosen field and to develop a résumé that resonates with potential employers. We give them access to specific employee resource groups within Unanet—for parents, for women, for military veterans—so they can speak with people who have walked in their shoes. That’s been really helpful in smoothing their re-entry.

And we bring each class of returners together regularly so they can compare notes and share experiences with one another. That’s an important part of the experience.

Are returnship programs becoming a nationwide trend in HR, and why should companies consider adopting them to attract and retain talent?

Critzer: I don’t know if it qualifies as a national trend, but according to Path Forward, a non-profit organization that helps companies and workers connect via returnship programs, there are about 200 U.S. companies that offer returnship programs. Given the benefits we’ve seen here at Unanet with the Encore program, I’m surprised that number isn’t higher.

One of the most compelling benefits to returnship from an HR perspective is the access it’s providing to a largely untapped talent pool. We’re finding quality people in places outside the mainstream that we otherwise may have overlooked.

The Encore program also has done wonders for our brand reputation in the talent marketplace. People aren’t just aware of Unanet because of the program, they view us as a place that will value them as people, and one where they can thrive and advance professionally. It has helped position us as a top destination for the types of people we want to hire. That’s important in a day and age where finding quality talent is so difficult.

What factors should HR executives keep in mind when designing and implementing a returnship program to ensure it benefits both returners and the organization?

Taylor: The experience with Encore has taught us quite a bit about how to build a successful returnship program. My suggestions:

• Just do it! Commit to starting a returnship program, even if it means starting small with just one returner. You can expand the program as you gain experience.
• Define the types of candidates you want to recruit, the skills you want to develop and the end game. Our focus is on empowering women who want to re-enter the workforce after a hiatus. Along with job-specific skills development, we also want to ensure they leave the program with baseline business communications, technology, networking and collaboration skills, a comfort with virtual/hybrid work, along with the resiliency to manage the stress and anxiety that comes with returning to work. If participating in Encore leads to employment, we deem it a success, whether the person lands with us or another company.
• Get early buy-in from company leadership. We got our executive team and managers behind the program at the earliest stages by getting them to understand the business case that makes it a good fit for the company.
• Synch the program with markets your organization serves. We opened Encore to ex-military personnel because defense/military-focused government contractors represent a big part of our business.
• Align with kindred organizations to help with awareness and recruiting. Besides publicizing Encore via our company and executive social media channels, we’ve partnered with local women’s centers, women-in-technology organizations and veterans’ resource groups to spread the word about the returnship opportunities we’re offering.
• Measure the impact of the program, solicit feedback and be open to adjusting as you go. Using surveys, one-on-ones and the like, we consistently gather feedback from returners as well as their managers, because it’s vital to actively measure the extent to which Encore is meeting the needs of recruits and the business. That input has really helped us refine the program, to the point where it has been so successful, we’re expanding and scaling it. It has become part of our organizational DNA and most importantly, it’s making a real difference in peoples’ lives.