Maternity and parental leave coaching:
Maternity and parental leave coaching helps your people to identify, and prepare for, the practical and emotional aspects of being a working parent. It enables them to plan for their return to work in the short to medium term, and further develop their career in the long term.
Every person considering coaching is unique. Each person comes to the coaching with different underlying skills, and facing different issues. We provide bespoke tools and techniques and help the person to formulate their own personal action plan.
Coaching sessions take place before, during and post maternity leave. Our approach is flexible and tailored to each person’s needs. We give targeted support when it’s needed and usually do between three and six sessions, depending upon need and seniority.
Pre maternity leave we look at the potential impact of having children and what the person would like to happen on their return. For your more senior people, this plan will also include issues such as how their teams and clients will be managed in their absence and on their return to work.
The person speaks or meets with their coach once during maternity leave. This is typically three to four weeks before their return to work. In this session we refocus on the move back to work and review the plan put in place before maternity leave. We help the person prepare for a confident return to work and identify what support they need. We might also discuss childcare options and working patterns.
Post maternity leave, the person speaks or meets with their coach one to three times once they have returned to work. The individual’s manager may also join for part of a session. We work on re-engagement with stakeholders and clients, establishing patterns of work and effective prioritisation, building support and networks, positive impact and influence and communicating future career aspirations.
We also adapt our approach to work with men taking parental leave.