I am passionate about coaching people at any stage of their career, and having the opportunity to support parents to work through the physical, psychological and practical aspects of child leave and return to work provides a unique experience.
Much of my coaching has been working with women in business and it was therefore inevitable that I gained many insights into the particular challenges around child leave, being a working parent and balancing career and parenting as integral parts of their work life balance. Here is a brief summary of a successful coaching programme which took place during the last 12 months. Let’s call the birth parent Chris for the sake of anonymity. Chris is a senior project manager for a blue chip fmcg organisation.
Before they started their parental leave, I began coaching conversations with Chris so that we could discuss the practicalities of a smooth handover to the person covering Chris’ leave. We also discussed the transition which Chris was about to undergo and what their pre-birth thoughts and expectations might be. This type of early intervention allows a greater focus on opportunities and choices around parental leave and ensures that an effective handover to interim job holders takes place. Chris had decided with their manager that they would take nine months leave and would then return to their existing role.
I spoke to Chris shortly before their baby arrived and agreed that our next coaching conversation would be some four months later. At this point it was clear that the new baby had some significant health issues and Chris was worried not just about baby, but also about the impact this would have on their planned return to work. Over a number of coaching conversations, I helped Chris to clarify their priorities and interdependencies – Chris wanted very much to return to a job they loved, but were struggling with the perceived guilt of appearing to be a poor parent and the practicalities of looking after a baby with an illness.
At the same time, Chris’ employer announced a reorganisation which meant that Chris’ former role would change significantly. It would have been easy for Chris to take redundancy, but this would have meant that the organisation would have lost a committed, talented manager with a wealth of expertise in a highly specialised area.
Further coaching conversations allowed me to support Chris in evaluating a range of options and then to negotiate a phased return to work. This allowed Chris to put in place the practicalities of child care and to identify and manage the impact of their return to work on both their work and home life.
Chris was delighted to begin a new role in a high-profile project when they returned to work. The phased return allowed Chris to work around their baby’s needs and for them to set out clear parameters around how they would work with their colleagues to deliver the project. By our final conversation, Chris was enjoying both parenthood and their new role and their manager was delighted with the progress being made on the project.
“Julia was such a great help to me during an emotional and challenging time. She helped me to get my brain in order and work out what would work best for me, my family and my job. It was great to be able to talk to someone outside of work and family and helped me gain perspective. It’s still a challenge juggling a baby, my job and life in general, but I’m so pleased that I have been able to get back to work without feeling too guilty about not being with my baby 24/7!”