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Staying in touch with the boss while away is key to a successful career

As the Christmas party season approaches, it seems fair to say that there must be tens of thousands of workers who are now busy thinking up excuses to avoid their work shindig.

For, though the prospect of free food and drink may win some over, many workers like to limit the time they spend with their colleagues and boss to an absolute minimum.

Given this, it's likely that, just as only the keenest jobsworths would check their work emails or voice messages while sunning themselves on a beach on their summer holidays, many women may be tempted to cut off all communication with their place of work for the total duration of their maternity leave.

Such an attitude is clearly understandable, not only since even the most career-minded of women has things other than her job to be thinking off while expecting, but also since few women are blessed with a job as glamorous as that of Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox.

Despite being well into the pregnancy of her third child, the 34-year-old has not given up her day job and looks determined to be on the national airwaves right up until the last minute.

What's more, given the extent to which her colleagues and showbiz pals overlap, it's pretty safe to assume she'll be in constant touch with them within just a few hours of giving birth.

According to experts, such an attitude is only likely to help Ms Cox's career prospects as women who stay in touch with their employers while on maternity leave are said to be more likely to walk back into their old positions upon their return, rather than finding themselves lumped in a dark corner of the office with fewer responsibilities and significantly reduced chances of securing a promotion in the near future.

Catherine Hanly, a parenting expert, said: "In terms of advice, I would say that for the whole period you are off on maternity leave to really stay in touch with the office.

"If mothers who are returning to work show willing in that respect they'll probably find [that] employers [will also] remember that they are going to be coming back. It is a two way street."

Such advice is all the more relevant given that new research from the National Childbirth Trust has revealed that just one in three mothers feel their re-entry into the world of work was 'easy'.

In comparison, two in three said that they found their return to their place of work to be difficult and stressful, with around a third believing that their career prospects had been harmed and one fifth resigned to having to switch to a lower pro-rata salary.

So, like it or not, it clearly pays to at least occasionally touch base with the boss and the workmates, however little they are missed.

After all, the weeks following a new baby's arrival are usually filled with sending off cards to well-wishers, so sending an extra one that could keep a career on track seems a small price to pay indeed.


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