Are you nervous to join the work back? Are the responsibilities too much to make a comeback? Do you feel less welcomed?
HSBC’s latest campaign “I Recommend Mum”, designed by J. Walter Thompson Dubai tackles the very truth of helping stay-at-home mums make a career comeback.
When it comes to making a comeback in the corporate arena there is no doubt that women, till date, feel a sense of nerves along with the guilt that they carry throughout their lives. It is inspirational to know that somebody took the responsibility in taking this burden off their shoulders and that too in a very humane manner!
The Executive Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson Dubai, Marco Bezerra articulated a very important point about the brainwave behind such a campaign: She said “While most celebrate Mother’s Day for the various roles the mother plays, we often forget that a mother, as a woman, has her own ambitions. She often has to forfeit them or put those ambitions on the back burner, in order to best serve her role as a mother.
But if we probe further, a lot of women admit to wishing to still be able to fully realize their potential in the professional arena.
The longer they stay away from this aspect of their lives, the more difficult it becomes for them to re-enter it. It’s often perceived that they lose their edge during the child-caring-break phase, but the truth is in fact the opposite.
A few studies have gone as far as to state that, in fact, the experience a woman gains in her role as a mother make her a more focused and effective person at the workplace. This was a very important insight from the corporate world’s perspective, which we felt was vital to bring out in the campaign message.”
But do we really recognize motherhood as the positive peak in a female’s professional life and not a professional liability? However, business realities and economic development favor the brave and two out of five managers believe mothers work faster, are more motivated and can multi-task effectively and efficiently.
Then why release a video or a campaign to proliferate the same? Marco stated that the answer to this is twofold : “Firstly : we believe that the key success of the video was in changing the perception of
the wider audience to understand that mothers who stay at home to raise a
family, actually acquire valuable life and work skills. Their time away from corporate life should never be viewed as “gap years”, or lost opportunities. Secondly: the workshops on resume making and interview skills for mothers wishing to return to the work place – these have gone a long way to rebuild the women’s confidence and resolve in joining the corporate world again.”
The campaign video uses children as spokespeople for mothers who were ‘on a break’ from their careers, and HSBC turns the concept of the recommendation letter on its head with children vouching for their moms, casting a spotlight on all they have achieved during their time away.
The campaign’s essence hits home thanks to its simplest aspect – the recommendation letter for these moms is written by their children, the true judges of how they were never really on a break in the first place. To the contrary, it’s probably the time they develop even further, demonstrating initiative, creativity, resilience and determination.
Why kids and not the husbands?
“Because the honesty that comes across when a child talks about a mother, is unparalleled. It’s only once they become a mother that women consider quitting their jobs to take on a responsibility that is much larger; raising a family. She’s the centerpiece of the whole equation. She dedicates years of her life to the family, and a large part of this is for raising the children.” explained Marco.
A wonderful opportunity is up for grab ladies! A major question that surfaces is whether or not women really think they have a chance to get back fully and in reality start from where they had left off? Giving a release and solution to this very fact, Marco suggested that with this campaign “We wanted to nudge those mothers, who have been on the fence about whether or not they should consider making a career comeback. We wanted to appreciate their sacrifices; we wanted to showcase their growth; we wanted to empower them. With the ten’s and thousands of interactions we have generated on social media, we believe we have achieved that. And we wanted women to be able to access the opportunity HSBC UAE was providing, the free workshops for perfecting CV and interview skills – which we achieved, with more than 450 applications to attend to workshops.
But beyond this, we also had hundreds of women writing in to the HSBC Facebook page the very same day the campaign was launched, interested in signing up for the workshops.”
So you must be wondering that, do such efforts really appreciated? To which her conclusion was “The video has gone viral on social media – but more importantly, we judge the video from the comments that people leave after watching it. Rarely does one see such a positive and earnest response from viewers.
It has helped start various conversations within the Facebook group. In fact, the response to the workshops has been so tremendous, that we are looking at conducting more of these – other than the three packed events already held.”
It is an initiative that needs various voices and a sustainable approach to take this mundane yet decisive issue through. All thanks to HSBC and J. Walter Thompson Dubai for bring this issue to light and working to get a feasible way out of this ever growing dilemma.
So ladies gear up and restart!