COURSE OVERVIEW

Maternity mentoring is one of the fastest growing applications of mentoring within employer organisations. After having taken months away for childbirth, the transition back into the workplace can be difficult and sometimes traumatic for a number of reasons including the emotional effect of separating from the child, and the fact that the organisation has moved on, so the returner has to re-establish her own value and contribution.

Maternity mentoring programmes link the returner with another Mum, who has been through and learned from a similar transition – and who has been trained in the practical skills of mentoring. The pair connect before the mentee goes on maternity leave and maintain contact informally until the mentee returns, at which point the mentor provides practical help in helping the mentee plan for re-entry and cope with the many challenges of fitting back in and getting back up to speed.

Maternity mentoring is highly cost-effective. It has a significant effect on the numbers of women who return to the same employment, helps them regain or exceed previous levels of productivity more quickly and contributes to the organisation’s reputation as a gender friendly place to work. The same approach can also be used with other groups of returners, such as carers, secondees and people returning from overseas assignments. Maternity mentoring compares favourably with externally resourced maternity coaching, which is generally expensive and does not bring with it an understanding of the organisation’s culture.

A typical programme consists of a period of planning and consultation with female staff and with managers in general, promotion of the programme to develop a pool of mentors, training for mentors, assignment to mothers before they take maternity leave, ongoing support for mentoring pairs, and evaluation.

COURSE STRUCTURE

Intensive one-day introduction to the role of mentors in supporting mums and dads returning to the workplace after parental leave

WHO IS THE COURSE FOR?

New mothers about to take maternity leave or about to return to work (mentees); Mums who have been through the re-entry process themselves (mentors)

BENEFITS:

• Higher retention of staff on maternity or paternity leave
• Returning staff reach previous levels of performance more quickly
• Positive impact on employer reputation

LEARNING:

• How to use your experience of return-to-work to support others in making the same transition

IS IT RECOGNISED BY ACCREDITED BODIES?

No