Mom

Q1: Preparing for maternity leave and childcare leave

A workplace filled with warm consideration

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  Hosokawa

  What was the reaction like when you both went on maternity leave?

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  old gate

  My team is made up of many male employees, but many of them are fathers who have experience raising children, so they were very understanding and supportive of my pregnancy and child-rearing. I'm grateful that everyone was so supportive of raising my child! I often had to go on business trips, but after I became pregnant, some of the members were concerned about me, saying things like, "Are you okay? If it's hard, I'll go in your place, so please don't hesitate to let me know!"

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  Hosokawa

  This department is filled with a lot of kindness! What about you, Kiuchi-san?

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  Kiuchi

  In my case, when I got married, my boss was there to help me with my life plans, so when I found out I was pregnant he was very happy and quickly put in place a system for me to take over my work!

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  old gate

  So you were always discussing your personal matters with her! How did you handle the handover of your work when you went on maternity leave?

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  Kiuchi

  In my department, instead of handing over all work to one person, we divided up the work among about ten people and had them take over temporarily. I was happy to feel like "I had a place left for me to return to," and I'm very grateful that so many people took over my work! Thanks to this, I was able to go on maternity leave with the vision of doing the same work after I returned.

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  Hosokawa

  It's great to be able to continue doing the same work as before or even take on new challenges after returning from maternity or childcare leave. Maternity and childcare leave systems are very important for women to continue working. The department I oversee has a large female workforce, and I want my subordinates to feel free to take maternity or childcare leave and feel at ease when returning to the company.

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  old gate

  I'm grateful that my boss thinks like that.

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  Hosokawa

  By the way, I have taken maternity leave and childcare leave three times. During my first leave, there were not as many working mothers in society as there are now, and Macnica, like other companies, did not have as well-established systems as it does now. However, I am truly grateful to the company and my superiors for creating a path that allowed me to successfully return to work even under such circumstances. I would like to provide an environment where my subordinates can live a life where they can balance their work and family lives, just like my superiors did back then.

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  Hosokawa

  At the time, there were many mothers in my department whose children were about to enter elementary school. They hit the "first grade wall" and many mothers began saying that even if they wanted to work, it was difficult to balance work and family life.

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  Kiuchi

  I've heard of the "first grade wall," but what kind of problem is it?

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  Hosokawa

  Once my child started elementary school, it became even more difficult to balance work and family life. Compared to when I had my child in nursery school, there were more events that parents had to attend, such as school visits and PTA activities. So I asked my boss at the time to make time for me to talk to him about my concerns about balancing work and family life. Then, when the company was considering introducing a telecommuting system, my boss shared our opinions with the company and worked with the HR department to get things done. Of course, the main purpose of introducing the telecommuting system was to improve productivity, but they took our opinions into consideration and ultimately introduced the system, so I'm very grateful to my boss and the company for listening to our wishes.

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  Kiuchi

  One of the great things about Macnica is that if you speak up, they'll take your concerns seriously!

Q3: An environment that is easy for mothers to work in

Being able to work with peace of mind leads to further motivation

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  Hosokawa

  Did they both return to work full-time after their maternity leave?

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  Kiuchi

  I was able to work from home and take time off, so I returned to work full-time.

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  old gate

  I am also able to work full-time! After returning to work, I told my boss, "I want to challenge myself with new work in addition to the work I'm currently in charge of!" and he even increased the number of clients I was responsible for (laughs).

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  Kiuchi

  Furumon-san's aggressiveness is amazing!

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  Hosokawa

  By the way, at Macnica the return rate for female employees who have taken maternity or childcare leave is over 95%!

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  Kiuchi

  It's true that everyone is returning! When they do, their team members are very welcoming, there are systems in place that make it easy to work, and most importantly, they are given rewarding work. I think everyone wants to come back!

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  old gate

  Seeing that the other members around me are still active even after returning to work, I can return to the company without worrying. I think it creates a good circulation.

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  Kiuchi

  It's good to have a boss who is understanding of child-rearing, who is willing to listen to your concerns, and who has an atmosphere within the company where information can be shared.

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  old gate

  I really think so. Of course, it's not just the company's good working environment, but each and every one of Macnica 's mother employees is creative and inventive in their work, which is one of the reasons why mother employees are able to thrive even after returning to work.

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  Hosokawa

  Since you start raising children, the amount of time you can work becomes limited, so it's very important to streamline your work. In fact, I think I've become even more diligent about time management since my child was born.

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  Kiuchi

  Although the company has well-established systems and our team members are there to support us, we still need to make an effort to balance our work and family lives! I will continue to do my best so that I can be a role model for the female employees who will join the company in the future!