Getting Back On Track

Global management consultancy McKinsey boasts numerous top women who've taken "nonlinear" career paths that include long breaks. Besides helping the women, says Vivian Hunt, a partner in McKinsey's London office, maintaining these ties gives the company far more recruiting options. Elaine Stock, for example, recently rejoined McKinsey after a four-year break (which she took in part to spend more time with her three children) in order to head its Ireland office. The move was possible only because Stock kept in close contact with ex-colleagues during her absence. In the same vein, McKinsey's recent 80th-anniversary ball in an elite London hotel welcomed not only current employees but also dozens of alums. "This notion of on and off ramps is very dated," says Hunt, who recently returned from a six-month maternity leave. "It's not about exiting and entering--it's about staying in the dialogue all along."

Other firms are launching programs that keep employees who wish to dial back more formally onboard. At international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, more than 100 women who were once full-time employees now work in an "adjunct" program. The firm slices off discrete pieces of work--often research or proposal writing--for its adjuncts (including some men), who can negotiate not only pay for each project but also the terms: How many days a week must they work? Will the job involve travel? Ani Singh, a 1997 Wharton M.B.A. who left the firm in 2002 and now works as an adjunct in the United States, routinely turns down assignments that will keep her away from her family. Even so, she says, "I still feel like I'm making progress in my career, whether I'm within the formal organization or not." And the firm hopes that when she's ready to return to full-time work, she won't bother sending out résumés. "We want them to think only about coming back to us," says senior VP DeAnne Aguirre. "That's why we put this in place."

When Husain returns to the BBC in January, she's already slated to host its popular "Prime-Time Asia" news program. By staying connected to her colleagues, keeping abreast of breaking news and maintaining a public profile while on maternity leave, Husain ensured that her industry never lost sight of her. "I didn't want to be that person [about whom] people ask: 'Whatever happened to so-and-so?' " she says. Few women do. And thanks to changing attitudes toward family leave, now they don't have to.

With Megan Cokely

© 2006