Returnship Builder

What is a returnship program?

In a nutshell, returnships are supported hiring programs that offer a pathway for experienced professionals to return to the paid workforce after a career break. They bridge the gap between employers and highly qualified, yet often overlooked, talent.

Since returnships were first introduced in the mid-2000s, more than 250 companies have launched a program in the US, including about a third of the Fortune 100. Thanks to the success of existing programs, more companies are creating programs every year, fueled by a desire to attract new pools of talent and create a more diverse and equitable workforce.

Why do these programs exist?

Simply put, the size of the talent pool sitting on the sidelines of our economy is enormous, but so is the level of bias that people on career breaks face when they attempt to return to the paid workforce. Returnship programs provide a structure through which companies can welcome talent that they might not otherwise consider through traditional hiring processes.

How big is the opportunity? At any given time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are nearly 25 million people of prime working age (age 25-54) who are not participating in the paid workforce. The top reason they cite is family caregiving (44% or 10 million of them), and those caregivers are women by a ratio of 12:1. Given that most companies struggle with attracting, retaining, and advancing women in the workforce, finding a way to tap into this talent pool can be extremely beneficial.

When people seek to return to the paid workforce, they face two distinct biases: a bias around the gap in their work history and a bias related to the nature of their break. Research has shown that a job applicants’ chances of getting an interview drop off by nearly 50% after their employment gap extends beyond two years. The more startling research, however, found that applicants who shared that they were out of the workforce to care for their families were half as likely to get an interview compared to applicants who gave no reason for their break, even when their specific skills and experience and the length of their career break were identical.

What’s behind this bias? Perhaps employers disregard applicants with a career gap because they incorrectly believe that returners are a risky hire, that they may lack current or relevant skills, or that they will struggle to balance work and family and may leave the workforce again.

Returnships were created to address these misconceptions by creating an opportunity for this talent pool to prove employers wrong. The tens of thousands of returners in Path Forward’s community are educated, experienced, and highly motivated professionals who have often been active and learning during their time away from the paid workforce. When given the opportunity, they excel.

Who are returners?

Returners are people who have taken time off from their careers and are seeking to re-enter the paid workforce. They are all ages, ethnicities, and gender identities. However, because prime working age women are 12x more likely to be out of the paid workforce than men, the pool of returning talent is largely women.

As with all groups of this size, the range in years of professional experience, length of career gap, and educational level is quite large. However, Path Forward has been collecting data from our community for nearly a decade and can share this average profile:

Top reasons your company should have a returnship program

Hopefully by now, you’re excited about the possibility of bringing a returnship program to your company. Here are our top 7 reasons why you should get started today:

1. Access to an untapped pool of talent. The hardest talent to hire is experienced talent, and a returnship program gives you access to a huge number of people who aren’t captured by your traditional hiring process

2. Find experienced pros with past experience and fresh perspectives. Returners are standout workers with high motivation. They average more than a decade of prior professional experience and hold in-demand degrees. Companies crave not just their technical skills, but also their soft skills — time management, attention to detail, and eagerness to learn.

3. Bolster workplace diversity. Women are 12 times more likely to put their careers on hold for caregiving reasons. Support your diversity goals by providing a new on-ramp for experienced female talent, along with workers of different ages, backgrounds, gender identities, and life perspectives.

4. Accelerate the pipeline of women for leadership positions. Help break down systemic barriers preventing highly talented women from advancing into leadership roles. Women represent nearly 60 percent of the US workforce but only hold 35 percent of senior leadership positions. Returnships bring in mid-level women and create a pipeline for future leadership.

5. Show your culture of support for working parents and other caregivers. A returnship program is ideal for organizations with a culture of inclusivity. Boost your employer brand and demonstrate that your company supports employees at all stages in their careers and lives.

6. Create lasting, positive change in how your teams think about talent. When you create space for non-traditional talent via your returnship program, you begin to change the way your company approaches hiring. These programs give you the opportunity to examine and modify your recruitment, onboarding, and learning and development practices, while also giving current team members new mentorship opportunities.

7. Boost employee engagement and retention. Across all of the companies we track, more than 80% of those who complete a returnship convert to full-time positions. They also feel a strong sense of loyalty to the companies that welcomed them back, with 90% of program graduates staying with the company for at least two years.

What's involved in running a program?

Now that you’re sold on the concept of launching a program, you’re probably wondering how much work is involved and what this might cost.

Hallmarks of a great program

Over time, we’ve seen some programs grow and thrive while others struggle to take off. We’ve found that the successful programs all have some characteristics in common. As you craft your program, consider these five essential elements to ensure your returnship program flourishes:

Choose your structure

At Path Forward, we’ve worked with hundreds of companies to help them structure programs, and we also track the structure and requirements of every returnship program in the U.S. In this section, we’ll share both best practices and data that will make your choices on how to structure your program both informed and easy.

Socialize the program and enroll teams

Now that you’ve determined how the program will be structured, you’ll need to share the benefits of the program with hiring teams and enlist specific managers to dedicate an open role or two to the program. While this may take some effort for your pilot program, rest assured that  managers who experience the benefits first-hand will be back for round two, as will many of their peers. 

That said, we can’t stress how important it is to find the right managers for your pilot program. These managers will understand that this is a mutually beneficial program, and that they will need to take some time to invest in their returners’ success. To recruit great hiring managers, look for these four traits:

Select roles

The roles you offer as part of your program should be mid-career level and aligned with the requirement for experience that you have set for the program overall. In general, most roles are appropriate for these programs. At Path Forward we’ve seen companies successfully fill roles ranging from human resources to finance to engineering. 

That said, if the role is challenging to fill in general, it will not be any easier through a returnship. Set yourself up for success by asking yourself these questions:

• Is the role highly specialized, niche, or does it require extensive knowledge of cutting-edge technologies?
• Is the role difficult to fill in a typical recruitment effort?
• Is the role geographically targeted to a very small, non-major metro area?
• Does the role require atypical hours (nights, weekends, etc.)?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, we recommend looking for other roles for the program, especially for your pilot. For best results, encourage managers to look for roles that they are hiring for regularly and that draw on both hard and soft skills.

Brand your program

Give your returnship program an official name as a way to build credibility and awareness, both internally and externally. When deciding on a name, consider something that conveys that the program is for people returning to the workforce. You might also create a page on your company’s careers site dedicated to the program. This page can give potential applicants more information about the structure and requirements of the program, insight into the application process and how to prepare, recruitment dates, and information about future programs, and down the line can showcase testimonials and success stories.

Here are a few of our favorite program names and program pages:

Create a welcoming job posting

The first step to attracting returners to your returnship program is to have job descriptions that are as clear and descriptive as possible. Add “Returnship” to the job title and include a header at the top of each job description that clearly states that the position is open only to those who are returning to the workforce after a career break. Also include any other eligibility criteria you set for your program (required experience, length of gap, etc.) in this header. 

Here are some other simple modifications you can make to make your job listings as “returner-friendly” as possible:

• Drop the “senior” from the title if possible. By all means, continue to post more advanced roles, but based on feedback we’ve received, removing “senior” from the title while keeping all qualifications the same, yields more applications. 
• Separate out the “nice to have” versus “must have” requirements. Whenever possible, try to keep the list of must-have requirements as short as possible. As you know, the majority of your applicants are likely to be women and research has shown that women are less likely to apply for jobs where they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. Want to take a more direct approach? Add some language that specifically says, “Don’t meet 100% of the requirements? We encourage you to apply anyway.”
• Emphasize the soft-skills or competencies that the team is looking for in the ideal candidate. Given that returners have past professional experience and have often developed their soft skills during their time out of the paid workforce, you’re likely to attract more candidates by mentioning these skills.

Insert your program specifics into this sample job description header.

The [program name] program at [Company] is a [length of program] paid returnship for experienced professionals returning to the workforce after taking time off for [reasons – e.g. caregiving]. The program is open to individuals who have at least [X] years of professional experience and have been out of the paid workforce for at least [X] years. If you meet these criteria, we welcome you to apply.

Evaluate your recruitment process

Before applications start rolling in, take a look at your current recruitment process and consider these two questions:

1. How could this process be made easier or less intimidating for someone who’s been out of the workforce for a few years?
2. Are all of these steps necessary for this program, knowing managers will have the returnship period to further evaluate the candidates’ skills before making a full-time job offer?

In our experience, the companies that have taken these questions to heart have had the most fruitful recruitment efforts. They have reduced the number of interviews, reduced the size of interview panels, and ensured that the interview panels reflect the diversity they’re looking for in the program. 

Concerned about how a lighter interview process would work for technical roles? We’ve included some best practices, including specific best practices for technical tests and interviews, in the downloadable tools at the end of this section.

Set the stage with recruiters and hiring panels

Before you start taking and reviewing applications, it’s important to prepare your team for how to effectively, and fairly, screen candidates. In the downloadable tools for this section, we’ve included a customizable presentation and video recording of an effective recruitment training. The most important aspects to cover are:

• Unconscious biases about returners. We shared the research around these biases in Part 1 and now is the time to help your hiring panels recognize and address those biases so that they can fairly evaluate returnship applicants.
• Program objectives. Make sure everyone involved understands why your company is offering this program, the eligibility criteria, the program goals, and their role in helping to achieve those goals.
• Benefits and specific needs of returners. Use skills-based hiring approaches that focus on candidates’ relevant skills and experiences rather than gaps in their career history. You’re looking for attitude as well as aptitude.

You may also want to remind everyone that while your organization is evaluating the applicants, the applicants are also evaluating you. Your interactions with them will give them a glimpse into the company culture and help them decide if it’s the place for them. Taking time upfront to ensure everyone on the hiring team is up to speed on the program will help the process run smoothly and leave applicants feeling great about joining your company.

Source Candidates

When it comes to recruiting for a returnship program, you may need to adjust or add a few things to your usual playbook in order to get your roles in front of the right candidates. In this section, we’ll lay out the various ways to attract applicants.

Screen applicants

It’s time to start reviewing applications! Remind your recruiters that it’s not always easy to spot a returner on paper. They’ve been told for years that they need to hide their gaps in order to get interviews, so that “Jane Doe Consulting” role at the top of their experience list may be freelance or part time. If you’re not sure and the candidate looks like a good fit, ask them to confirm that they meet the program criteria rather than passing them by. Remember, we are screening in vs. screening out. 

As you review applications, prioritize relevant skills, experience, and potential for growth over traditional career progression benchmarks. For a program like this, keep in mind that there is a lot to learn about a candidate from their unpaid work experience.

Make the offer

Make a formal, written offer as you do for all jobs. However, if you’re using the temp to perm model for your program, be sure to specify the length of the program, the method of pay during the program (hourly or salaried), the benefits available (if any), and that they may be considered for full-time employment at the end of the program. 

Be prepared for a few additional questions. For instance, candidates may want to know how their benefits or pay might change if they are offered a full time role at the end of the program. If possible, share general information on the types of benefits offered and the pay range for the full-time role. Remember that while you are evaluating them for fit, returners are also considering your company for (and hoping for) longer-term employment after the program ends.

Build a programming calendar

Begin by creating a calendar of the returnship period. Make sure all of the usual onboarding activities for new employees are included, such as HR orientation, IT setup, etc. Then think about scheduling some opportunities for your returners to connect with one another, with your leadership, and with the organization at large. Based on our observation of hundreds of programs, these are the most popular returnship activities.

Engage buddies and mentors

Other than their managers, the most important support relationships a returner can have are a buddy and/or a mentor. 

A buddy’s role is to help the returner navigate the nuances of the company culture, offer advice, and answer questions about the unwritten rules and practices that nearly every company has. Giving returners this peer support helps foster a sense of community and can also provide them with networking opportunities. Many companies source their buddies from their employee affinity groups — or ERGs — particularly from groups focused on women or parents. Not only does this give the returners access to a whole community of support, but it also engages and energizes the ERG members who are often looking for meaningful ways to represent their group and impact company culture.

Mentors play a more job-specific role, helping returners integrate more effectively into their team. The returner’s manager should be involved in designating the mentor — usually a teammate — who can help answer questions when the manager is not available. A good mentor understands the returner’s role, and can provide introductions to key team members, guidance on collaborative projects, and technical, day-to-day support. The mentor role is an excellent development opportunity for anyone who has potential as a future people manager.

Leverage learning and development opportunities

Not every company has a robust learning and development platform, but be sure to use whatever tools you have at your disposal to provide your returners with the company-specific knowledge they’ll need to succeed. You can think about learning opportunities in two buckets:

• Office technology: Think about the technology you use to communicate, create, and convene. Although it’s often intuitive to use, the specter of new office technology can often be a major source of stress for returners. Can you offer the returners a primer on things like your video conferencing tools, preferred channels for communication, or any proprietary systems you use? Brief training on these topics can help quickly ramp up the returners’ productivity.
• Job-specific training: Depending on the role a returner is filling, you may have some existing training modules or sessions that are crucial to success in that job. For example, a sales representative may need more education about each product or service you offer, so they can speak credibly to potential customers. A customer support engineer may need to learn some proprietary code before troubleshooting for customers. Be sure to set aside time in your program calendar (and with the returners’ managers) to allow them to take any relevant training courses. Their managers may also recommend that they take specific learning modules over the course of the returnship, based on each individual returner’s role and skill set. The more information about the company, individual team, and role that you can provide in the beginning of the returnship, the more your returner is poised to succeed.

Best Practices for Tech Returners:

Incorporating learning and development tools for returnships in technical functions can have a significant impact on conversion outcomes. Many companies, including Allstate, Audible, PayPal, Red Ventures, VMware, and Walmart Labs, created opportunities for technical returners to learn together at the start of the program. Not only did this minimize the cost of training, it also provided returners a chance to help each other. Not surprisingly, the companies who’ve offered organized, returner-specific tech training have experienced faster ramp up times and higher conversion rates at the end of the program.

Set clear expectations

The idea of setting clear job expectations may seem obvious for any new hire, but taking time to be intentional about your goals and timelines can have a significant impact on your returner’s success. In addition to thoroughly laying out what you want them to accomplish during their returnship, be sure to include the timeframe and milestones you’d like them to hit. Help your returner understand how quickly you hope they will ramp up, what “good” looks like on your team, and which teammates they can rely on to help them achieve their goals. Your expectations may change over time as you learn more about your returner’s skills and their ability to work independently, so be sure to keep the conversation about job expectations going throughout the entire returnship.

Prioritize feedback

Returners don’t always operate with a level of confidence that matches their experience and competence. And, as you can probably guess, they are generally very eager to be considered for a full-time position at the end of their returnship. Quality, timely feedback is critical to helping returners — and you! — achieve this outcome.

In general, good feedback is both supportive and direct and should be delivered in an encouraging and clear manner. Managers can use a combination of  informal, on-the-spot feedback and more formal, dedicated feedback sessions to help their returner ramp up as quickly as possible. Let’s focus on a few best practices for giving feedback to returners.

Avoid common pitfalls

As we’ve shared throughout this section, starting returners off on the right foot is important. Unfortunately, we’ve seen companies make some significant missteps at this stage. Here are the most common:

• Treating returners like temps. It matters how returners are introduced to the team. You may have hired them as contract or temporary workers, but the goal of this program is for them to stay on afterwards, so they should be introduced and treated like full-time members of your team. Keep in mind that their employee classification in your system can sometimes lead to automated exclusions from things like all-hands meetings, company-wide email distribution lists, or even having access to training resources. You may need to take a few extra steps to make sure your returners are invited to and included in these types of events.
• Giving inconsistent or conflicting feedback. Returners will undoubtedly get feedback from a variety of people, including their manager, teammates, and mentors. If a mentor or someone else is spending time with the returner and notices strengths or areas for improvement, it’s crucial they share the feedback they have with both the returner and their manager. The returner needs consistent feedback, shared transparently among the various people working with them in order to maintain and improve their performance.
• Not delivering the tough feedback. We’ve seen well-meaning managers focus so much on encouraging their returner and easing their transition that they fail to convey how their returner is doing relative to expectations. This can lead to some very uncomfortable conversations at the end of the program when a returner who thought they were doing fine learns that they are not being converted to full time. Remember that feedback — even critical feedback — is a gift that allows people to grow and improve.

Determine individual outcomes

There are two key variables involved in determining the outcome for each returner in your program — their individual performance and the availability of headcount. If you followed our advice, you tied the returnship positions to existing headcount which would take that variable out of play. But, we know that practically speaking, headcount plans often change and you may be faced with some unexpected trade-offs.  Let’s look at the three most common scenarios for off-boarding returners from the program.

• The returner is performing well and headcount is available. This is the situation and outcome you were hoping for! Work with HR to put together an offer that reflects the returner’s performance level. Keep in mind that this could be at a different level from the level of their returnship position, as performance warrants. 
• The returner is not performing well and isn’t a good long-term fit for the role. This situation may be straight-forward — e.g. they aren’t a good fit for the company as a whole and they will be leaving the company at the end of the returnship. But perhaps you see potential in the returner for other roles at the company. In that case, engage with your HR team to assess the returner’s skills against the requirements of other job openings at your company. We’ve seen many instances where returners excelled in different roles within the same company. If you think your returner might be a good fit for another team, make introductions to those managers. 
• The returner is performing well but there is no budget or headcount to keep them. This is admittedly the worst situation to find yourself in. If you think headcount will be opening in the near future, you might explore whether you can offer the returner a contract extension to bridge the gap. You can also help your returner find their next opportunity within the company by reaching out to managers who do have headcount and recommending that they consider them.

In the downloadable tools for this section, you’ll find a presentation and recording that you can use to review these scenarios with managers, as well as best practices for communicating your decisions to returners.

Communicate decisions

Get your managers and HR teams aligned on making hiring decisions, how and when you’ll present offers, and how you’ll handle transitions out of the organization. Ensuring that everyone is on the same page around expected timelines for sharing decisions and making offers is critical when you have a cohort of returners. When some returners have their conversion decisions and others are still waiting, it only adds anxiety to an already stressful situation, so follow a coordinated timeline. For example:

• Three weeks prior to end of program: Managers share conversion decision with HR
• Two weeks prior to end of program: Managers communicate conversion decisions to returners
• Final two weeks: Managers facilitate connections between returners who are not being converted and other hiring managers with open positions, as appropriate

Whenever possible, tell the returners about this timeline so they know when to expect a decision. Your cohort of returners have probably gotten to know one another well during this program and they will almost certainly be talking amongst themselves about their prospects for conversion, so make sure that all managers involved in the program are following the same timeline.

Negotiate offers

For those returners who are getting offers, take a minute to tell them why you are excited to have them stay with the team, sell the benefits of the organization, and give them a preview of what’s to come after the program ends. As with all job offers, there is a chance your returner may negotiate some of the terms of their employment. In fact, we hope that they do! This is not a sign that they’re ungrateful, but rather that they are experienced professionals with a lot to offer. Then, after your returner has accepted the offer, be sure to share the exciting news with the team and meet with your returner to develop a new professional development plan and goals.

Support transitions out

There are two important things you can do for any returners who won’t be staying on with your team. First, continue to provide honest and constructive feedback through the end of the returnship. This will help the returner identify the gaps in their skills, make a plan to address those gaps, and be more prepared for their next opportunity. Second, as we mentioned above, assess the returner’s skills and strengths and wherever possible, recommend them to other teams who may be hiring. If you feel so inclined (and company policy allows) write a recommendation on your returner’s LinkedIn profile highlighting their strengths or offer to act as a reference for them.

Celebrate success — in all forms

The work that your returners have accomplished during the program deserves recognition and celebration. If possible, consider having them give a presentation to various stakeholders as a group, or encourage hiring managers to allow time for them to share their experiences at the team level. Either way, this can be a great opportunity for the returners to practice articulating the experience they received through the program and provide some additional visibility for the program results to leaders across the organization. If you’d like to do this, we’d recommend having the presentation before you share your individual conversion decisions, so the focus is on the effort, not the outcome.

Regardless of the outcomes for each returner in your program, we highly recommend you organize an end-of-program celebration for all returners, managers, and senior leaders involved. This will ensure that all returners, whether staying or leaving, feel proud of their accomplishments. In the celebration, you can have returners talk about the impact of the program on their personal and professional lives, how they’ve grown, or what they’ve learned. In addition to recognizing the massive transition the returners have gone through during the program, it is another great opportunity to highlight the impact of the program to leaders throughout the organization. 

Concerned about celebrating when the returners have mixed outcomes? Remember that your program has made a lasting impact on every participant, not just those who were hired into full-time roles. Here’s what one returner had to say about her post-returnship outlook:

Assess your pilot

After your returnship has finished and you’ve celebrated with your team, there is still one more step to take: assess your program both quantitatively and qualitatively.

There are two key quantitative measures of success: 

• Did you hit your target for the total number of returners hired into the program?
• What percentage of your returners were converted to full time positions (if using the temp to perm model.) 

You may also want to track the number of applications received per role (to serve as a benchmark for future cohorts) and the retention rate of your returners relative to other employees over time. In our experience, increased retention is often a downstream benefit of returnship programs. 

You’ll also want to get some qualitative feedback from managers, recruiters, and the returners themselves. Try to learn about both the experience and the processes around your returnship from every angle.

• Ask recruiters about unexpected things they encountered, how closely they kept to the recruitment timeline and why, and what suggestions they have to make the process better in the future. 
• Ask managers about the quality of the candidates and hires, what surprised them about their returner, and what could have made the program better for them as managers. Their impressions will not only help you improve for your next cohort, but will also give you testimonials that will help you recruit the next group of managers.
• Get feedback from your returners about their experience during the interview process, onboarding, ongoing program support, and the conversion process. Returners provide a unique perspective on what could be done differently for those who will follow in their footsteps.

All of this feedback will help you adapt the program to better fit the needs of these key stakeholders and to more closely align with your company operations and culture.

Make improvements and scale

Throughout this experience, you will have learned A LOT about how a returnship program fits in at your company. You will know which teams and roles are best for returners (or ones to avoid), who your internal champions are, and which structural changes you might want to make going forward. 

Over time, you might consider any number of structural changes, including switching from cohorts to rolling hires or shifting from temp-to-perm to direct hire. You may discover that your teams have interest in scaling the program, or you may simply want to repeat the program at the same size or slightly larger next year with a few refinements.

Companies have taken different approaches to achieving scale, including:

• Expanding a single-team pilot out to multiple teams or the whole organization
• Bringing in multiple cohorts per year
• Shifting to rolling hiring to enable onboarding of returners year-round
• Expanding to include non-US geographies (particularly the UK and India)

What “scale” looks like is entirely up to you. At the high end, the largest companies with the biggest programs are bringing in 100-150 returners per year. At the other end, some start-ups and small companies that are focused on diverse talent pools are using their returnships to hire 3-5 returners per year. Both approaches — and everything in between — are necessary if we’re going to collectively tackle the biases that returners face and enable them to participate fully in our workforce.

Our thanks and certification

From everyone here at Path Forward, thank you for using our Returnship Builder to create a returnship program at your company. We see so much potential and value in people who are returning from career breaks and are glad you see it too. These programs represent a huge opportunity for companies who are willing to evaluate candidates through a different lens and think differently about who can be successful on their teams. 

The Path Forward community of prospective returners is always looking for opportunities at companies that welcome returners and whose programs offer great transition support. If you’ve built your program using this guide, be sure to let returners know that your program has “Path Forward inside”. Download our badge below and add it to your program page on your careers site as a symbol of the thought and resources you’ve put into your program. Let us know you’ve launched at [email protected] and we’ll add your program to our Returnship Matcher, with prioritized listing.

Thank you for welcoming returners into your ranks. Your efforts are changing lives — theirs and hopefully yours as well. Onward!