BY JESSICA DUNKER | President and CEO, Iowa Restaurant Association 

I love hiring mothers.

 

Why?  Because “mom skills” are work skills on steroids.

 

Want team players who understand that everyone’s best interest has to be taken into consideration? There’s no better experience than raising a teenager to remind you that “it’s not about you.” Want employees who can multitask and problem solve on the fly? Who better than someone who has traveled across the country or even to the grocery store with a cranky toddler?

 

I’m not alone in thinking that mom skills translate well into business. A CareerBuilder poll last spring found that 69 percent of employers believe the skills acquired by being a parent can qualify as relevant experience in the corporate world.

 

The most valued skills were:

So why are mothers slow to point to their parenting experiences as examples of potential workplace value add?

 

I think it’s because we are trained not to share these experiences and potential employers know they can’t ask, so ultimately no one values mom skills enough to explore their applicability in a work context.

 

That’s unfortunate, because when I look at the list of skills in that CareerBuilder poll, especially time management, negotiation and mentoring, it occurs to me that companies spend thousands of dollars each year training people to learn how to do these exact things.

 

Oddly, my No. 1 reason for thinking moms rock in the workplace didn’t make the CareerBuilder list: loyalty.

 

I have found that if you hire a mom and let her be a mom who is part of your team, rather than a team member who happens to be a mom, something really special happens — loyalty.

 

Let me be clear, I’m not talking about blind loyalty. I’m talking about loyalty that grows out of a culture that allows moms to leverage their special skills to maximize an organization’s potential and also prioritize their personal and professional obligations in one big pot. Such a culture encourages and embraces the idea that mothers, and everyone else, have a bigger purpose beyond the office.

 

Technology opened the door for the logistics of this type of work culture, but having the means to offer telecommuting is totally different than being an employer with a mindset that mom skills are valuable and should developed and leveraged.

 

Employers can’t just say that they have a “your results are all that matter” culture. You have to show it, and this often requires a shift in thinking. First, you have to trust your team (the moms and everyone else), and that doesn’t always come naturally. Then you have to be ready to relinquish some process control and accept that things might be done a little unconventionally (again, not a manager’s first inclination).

 

But for those of us who value the multitasking, time management, and project oversight skills that many working mothers bring to the table, albeit in sometimes nontraditional ways and via unorthodox work schedules, it’s worth it. If you trust and empower, which might mean you allow people to work around day care issues and select team sports schedules, you will likely find a level of workforce productivity and loyalty that a better-paying job rarely steals away.

 

Looking for dedicated, skilled, problem solvers? Create a work environment that lets moms be moms first, and then recognizes, values and leverages the “mom skills” their sometimes unconventional schedules and “home comes first” priorities bring to your organization. You will likely unleash a workforce that’s willing to give you everything they’ve got and then some.

 

Connect with Dunker on LinkedIn or via email.