Strong Returns from Parental Leave – a guest blog by Charlotte Speak, from Power of the Parent

Strong Returns from Parental Leave – a guest blog by Charlotte Speak, from Power of the Parent

 

I believe that you don’t stop developing or adding value when you become a parent, in fact, I think it can have a hugely positive impact – both for parents and employers.

Of course, we’ve all heard the negative narrative and limiting beliefs about being exhausted, unable to ‘commit’, losing ambition and often crusted in Weetabix (other cereals are available), and whilst some of those things might carry a bit of truth at times, it doesn’t define or limit what parents in the workplace can do.

I set up Power of the Parent in March 2018 because I’d had my own questionable experiences of being a parent in the workplace (particularly the way my return was handled) and I felt like I wanted to do all I could for others so that they didn’t feel let down like I had been.

At a time when I felt at my most vulnerable, like a total cliché of losing my identity and being nothing but sleep deprived, I also felt at my strongest. Having had time away from the workplace I was seeing things with fresh eyes, with renewed empathy and compassion, and my ways of working were about to hitch up a level of efficiency I’d never had before. I wanted to love what I was doing, pour my attention into everything I could while I was at work and to value my self-worth so that I was being the role model I wanted for my children. I make no secret of saying it was a tough time, my ‘why’ doesn’t include sugar coating anything, but

I do think it’s important that we stay in touch with what we can control and dedicate energy to defining our own version of success.

I’m writing this in February 2021, so I’m coming up to my third business birthday and whilst how I work has shifted over the years, my mission has stayed the same – to work with employers who are serious about supporting parents in the workplace so that we can help parents be at their best more of the time. What that looks like is an engaged and productive workforce and businesses that don’t have spiralling recruitment costs because they can’t retain the best talent. I love working with businesses for so many reasons and it’s a conscious decision to work this way, but this year I want to open my diary and my experiences for those people who can’t access my services through their employer – so Strong Returns Mentoring has been created!

Strong Returns Mentoring starts with a 90-minute small group workshop – there will only ever be a maximum of five people in a group. We cover off a lot – the importance of defining what success means to you, identifying boundaries, managing expectations and of course what it means to be returning in a virtual world. After the workshop comes a week of virtual support – emails, WhatsApp’s and voice notes are at the disposal of my clients so they can get into the nitty gritty of their return.

During the testing of Strong Returns Mentoring this week was used for crafting CVs, preparing for interviews, writing flexible working applications, getting a return strategy together and support for conversations at home. There was a huge range! At the end of the week, we get back together to see how everybody is getting on, do some celebrating and generally make sure everybody is feeling clear on their goals and next steps.

Some of these topics come under the banner of ‘common sense’ but I’m all too aware that common sense isn’t always common practice. What Strong Returns Mentoring is designed to do is to create a safe space where you get the breadth of content from a workshop, but the depth of discussion from the mentoring that follows. Workshops are great, I’ve run many of them, but I know that action comes from the follow up, so I’m really dedicated to this format and giving my clients the attention they deserve.

I won’t lie, this feels like a big deal for me. I work with some amazing companies with a huge reach but putting myself in front of individuals who specifically choose me is something else. It’s their hard-earned cash that they’re parting with, and it’s me and my brain that they’re putting their trust in to help them – and I’m so excited for each and every date this is running. I believe that we can craft a return that works for everybody – parents and employers, but it starts with strong foundations.

Sticking to a policy isn’t enough (you can quote me) – we must go deeper and look at the wellbeing, self-belief and value that parents bring to the workplace to truly let the magic happen.

If you’d like to find out more about Power of the Parent, please head over to my website www.power-of-the-parent.com or drop me an email to charlotte.speak@power-of-the-parent.com