Parental Transition Coaching

‘It’s important to provide high quality support to female employees who wish to return to work following maternity leave both before and after the baby is born’ 

(Government Equalities Office)

Parental transition coaching wraps around the expectant parent before, during and after their leave to achieve a confident and successful transition back to work and has a number of benefits:-

- It provides an inclusive space for parents to have their own, individual mapped out route back to work which they feel confident they can achieve.

- It attracts and retains talent, together with their valuable corporate knowledge and experience.

- Sets an example to younger employees contemplating this journey.

- Builds a community of role models that can help and provide support to others.

Coaching before leave begins allows us to prepare a detailed maternity plan including your handover and how you want to be communicated with whilst on leave (and your KIT days). This also provides a safe space to discuss any fears or concerns about becoming a parent, contingency planning (e.g. required bedrest) and the impact of an extended period off work on your career. 

As well as practical preparation and logistics we'll ensure you get up to speed with work and colleagues to feel confident about your return. We will establish your boundaries and ‘golden rules’, and how to protect the time that’s really important to you so you can start as you mean to go on.

Areas covered on the return to work will be determined by the coachee but often include time management, balancing priorities, boundary setting, managing expectations and confidence (imposter syndrome).  These will be determined by your individual experience.

Coaching beyond the initial return to work will ensure working patterns are sustained and that your longer term career goals are still on track.

Every coaching engagement is bespoke, people want different things from their career and parent life. In our initial chemistry call we will discuss when you feel coaching will be most beneficial for you and will weight your sessions accordingly across the 4 areas outlined above. For example, some clients may prefer to have all their coaching on their return to work.

‘My coaching and sessions with Melinda enabled me to think ahead and ensure I set up processes to manage the endless calendar changes and juggling’. FR. (2023)

If you are an HR or Talent leader seeking maternity coaching support within your organisation, or an individual who would benefit from investing in your maternity support, I will create a bespoke coaching programme tailored to your needs.