Rethinking the Return: What We Learned About Parental Transition

By Samia Sharmin

Over the past few months, I have been reviewing Leadenhall’s Parental Transition Coaching Programme, speaking with experienced coaches and organisations across the financial services sector about how they support employees before, during and after parental leave.

As part of the review, I spoke with three parental transition coaches and four organisations. While many familiar challenges emerged, confidence, changing priorities, balancing work and family life – one message came through particularly strongly: Parental transition does not end when someone returns to work. In many cases, this is when the transition really begins. 

Returning to work is only the beginning

Returning employees are not simply picking up where they left off. Teams may have changed, responsibilities may have shifted and relationships may need rebuilding, while the practical reality of combining work and family life often only becomes clear once they are back.

Every return is also different. Some parents may question their confidence or professional identity; others return with renewed energy and ambition. For some, the challenge is working out how their career ambitions fit alongside a life that now looks very different outside work.

Treating parental transition as a single event that ends on an employee’s first day back therefore risks overlooking the period when support may be most valuable.

Managers Matter

One of the strongest themes from both coaches and organisations was the importance of the manager.

Good policies matter, but an employee’s day to day experience is heavily influenced by the person managing their transition. Clear conversations before leave, agreeing appropriate contact while they are away and discussing expectations ahead of their return can make a considerable difference.

Managers also need to balance being supportive with avoiding assumptions about what a returning parent wants or can take on. This can lead to ‘benevolent bias’, where well intentioned decisions, such a reducing travel or reallocating demanding work are – made on their behalf. While intended to help, these decisions can unintentionally limit opportunities and career progression.

Parental transition is therefore not simply an HR or wellbeing issue. It is also a management capability.

What about fathers?

Fathers were significantly underrepresented in the parental transition coaching discussed during our review, with coaching still predominantly used by women.

Yet fathers may also be navigating changing identities, increased responsibilities at home, career ambitions and new boundaries between work and family life. Their experiences may not be identical to those of mothers, and support should recognise that.

This raises an important question for organisations: if fathers are not engaging with the support available, is it because they do not need it, or because that support has not traditionally been positioned in a way that feels relevant to them?

A longer term career transition

Our conversations also reinforced that parental transition can continue well beyond the first few months back. Questions around workload, boundaries, career progression and family responsibilities may emerge later as childcare arrangements change and careers continue to develop.

From an organisational perspective, this matters. Supporting parental transition can influence engagement, performance, career progression and retention. Organisations invest considerably in attracting and developing talented people; supporting them through significant periods of change should be seen as part of that investment.

Refining our approach at Leadenhall

Most importantly, these conversations have directly shaped how we support parental transition at Leadenhall. We have developed our Parental Transition Coaching Programme to better reflect the lived experiences shared by coaches, parents and organisations. Our approach continues to provide support before, during and after parental leave, while placing greater emphasis on the period following an employee’s return to work.

We have also introduced greater flexibility, including focused return to work coaching and dedicated coaching for fathers, alongside increased support for managers through coaching, workshops and practical guidance.

The aim is not to create a one size fits all process. Our review reinforced the opposite: every parent, manager and organisation is different. The right support combines enough structure to guide the transition with enough flexibility to respond to the individual.

Parental transition does not end on an employee’s first day back at work. For many, that is the beginning of the next stage, and the point at which the right support can make a lasting difference.