Founded by someone who lived this from both sides: as a returning director and as a manager leading teams through leave. Pause 2 Power is built on what actually happens, not what policy documents suggest. We work across three levels simultaneously, track business KPIs, and stay until the transition holds.
Most companies don't lose talented women overnight.
They lose them in the months after parental leave, when the woman who returns is not the same woman who left, and nobody knows what to do with that. Pause 2 Power puts the structure in place before the cost shows up on the balance sheet.
Why choose us
What we do
Why it works
Why choose us
What we do
We work simultaneously with the returning woman, her manager, and the organisation. Because the transition doesn’t happen in isolation, and one without the other doesn’t hold.
Why it works
Parental leave transitions follow predictable patterns, and predictable patterns have structural solutions. Our approach is grounded in Dutch reintegration legislation, published research, and direct field experience, not generic HR best practice. We track retention, time-to-productivity, and stress-related absences. And we continuously refine our work through conversations with HR professionals, managers, returning women, and health specialists, because the field informs the solution, not the other way around.
Losing talent after parental leave is preventable. Let's talk about what that looks like for your organisation.
Want to understand your organisation's return risk before booking a call?
Leave your details and we’ll send you The 11-Point Return Check: a practical checklist covering where most organisations lose talent after parental leave.
The numbers that matter
The cost of getting this wrong is measurable. So is the cost of getting it right.
- 83% of Dutch employers have no formal policy for women returning after maternity leave (CNV / Panelwizard, 2026)
- 88% of returning mothers receive no practical support from their employer, and for 2 in 3 their working hours could not be adjusted (CNV / Panelwizard, 2026)
- In the first year back, around half of returning mothers report chronic fatigue, 12% develop depressive symptoms and 10% burn out (CNV / Panelwizard, 2026)
- Replacing a departing employee costs 30–200% of annual salary — for a senior returner, €50,000 or more per exit (Gallup / SHRM benchmark)
- Roughly 30% of Dutch sick-leave days are now attributable to psychological complaints (CBS / TNO, 2025)
Check out our free resources
The 11-Point Return Check
The 90-Day Reintegration Plan
The Pause 2 Power Overview
[more to come]