What we do

We believe mentoring for new parents is an essential mechanism within effective Talent Management and Diversity and Inclusion strategies.

We encourage all organisations to make the strategic shift from being passive hosts (reliant on a self-help approach) to active supporters (engaged in positive action through mentoring or coaching), recognising the value of the investment at this pivotal time for the individual and ultimately for the business itself.

With a long-term ambition of supporting steps towards more gender balanced organisations, we make the assumption that the vast majority of mentees in this context are mothers taking maternity leave, however, in recognition of the social and political ambitions for inclusion and value of shared parenting, mentoring is equally important for new fathers taking shared parental leave and adoptive parents.

With appropriate development and preparation, some of the best people to offer mentoring support to returning parents are your own people - working mothers, fathers, adoptive parents, mentors from within your own organisation who understand the cultural context and have currency of knowledge and experience to share.

Having a mentor is just one part of the picture however. For many returners, the relationship with their line manager is often cited as the deal breaker for a positive – or difficult return to work. On sensitive and legally protected ground, line managers may themselves encounter difficult conversations and experience moral and emotional dilemmas balancing organisational demands with individual requests. Ensuring line managers are informed and manage returns well, forms a key part of what we do.

We offer a range of services including;

  • Support for development of your internal mentoring programme from building a compelling business case through to senior sponsorship, marketing, matching, evaluation and ROI
  • Engaging workshops and webinars to prepare both mentors and mentees
  • Good practice materials and workshops to prepare Line Managers
  • Tailored materials, tools, techniques and frameworks to support effective mentoring conversations
  • Mentoring supervision and development for internal mentors (Supervision reviews, development sessions on related topics e.g. Remote Mentoring, Building Confidence, Balancing Work and Family)
  • Support for Programme Managers to get started and keep going
  • 1-1 executive coaching for senior leaders (e.g. Where there may be less availability of same or next level mentors)

Let’s talk

If you have questions or you’d like to have a conversation about how mentoring new parents might make a difference to your organisation, please get in touch.

We’d love to hear from you!

Phone: +44 (0) 7557 399732

Email: info@theparentmentor.co.uk