Do your employees feel safe to speak up, even when what they have to say goes against the grain? 

Encouraging your employees to make themselves heard and speak up is one thing. But are they saying what they think you want to hear? Making individuals feel secure enough to voice their true opinions is much more difficult, and it’s a major component of successful inclusive leadership. More than that, it’s necessary to create a culture where employees feel empowered  to innovate and problem-solve, without the inhibiting fear of failure. 

When your teams feel psychologically safe, you can expect to see increased motivation in dealing with problems, higher levels of engagement, better performance, and more learning and development opportunities. It allows for risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and speaking out without fear of punishment - all the behaviours that lead to market breakthroughs.

Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina has...

Anna is a Teaching Assistant at a Learning Centre in the UK who recently returned from maternity leave and agreed to share her experiences with us.

Upon returning to work, Anna’s employer was flexible to her request for fewer hours and later start times to accommodate nursery drop-offs. But more than that, she was reassured that she would not be penalised for occasionally running late due to her parental responsibilities and told not to worry about it.

It’s brilliant to hear that Anna’s work culture is sensitive to the needs of working parents and has allowed and supported her to continue on her career path as before. Within a few months of returning to work she completed a training course, and she says that it feels like she was never away.

The main challenge for Anna has been the cost of childcare and the realities of separation for extended periods, but over time she has become more comfortable in the knowledge that her son is safe and happy at nursery.

Her...

Hopefully, as you read this, you are experiencing a healthy and happy pregnancy, having had the necessary conversations at work and organised yourself so that you are both energised and engaged professionally and personally.

Now fast forward to the time when you will be with your new baby, during your parental leave. This is a unique and special time which we want you to thrive in and not be worrying about “what’s next”. So, to help you maximise this period, it is worth planning ahead now. Let me share my own personal experience to demonstrate the importance of this.

I was working as a Project Manager at IBM, managing a remote team, when I fell pregnant with my first child, Olivia. It was a period when I worked on client sites, often away from home Monday to Thursday, working long hours and at times, under a lot of pressure! My team also worked on client sites, on similar change projects and I needed to be available to support them.

I realised that I would need to...

Once you’ve decided when to share the news about your pregnancy with your boss, there are steps you can take to ensure it is well received.

Now is the time to start reflecting on how long a maternity break you would like to take and your initial ideas on the handover of your role.

Before you sit down with your manager, here are some things to consider that may help you have a more productive discussion...

Research your company’s leave policies

Learn everything you can about your employer’s maternity leave policies. Some offer paid leave, some offer unpaid leave, and others allow sick days or vacation days to be put towards family leave. Read your employee handbook and consider setting up a confidential meeting with someone in HR.

Know your employment rights

Familiarise yourself with your local employment laws so you know what you’re entitled to. Most countries have public websites hosting this information and a simple Google search will offer a wealth of...

One of the things professional women struggle with when they learn they are pregnant, is figuring out the best time and way to share the news with their boss and managing communications from then on.

If you only follow one piece of advice, please don’t fall into the trap of telling anyone else at work before your boss!

News travels fast and you need to remain in control.

Sharing the good news can be nerve wracking. With no-one at work to lean on for advice and support, it’s common to feel a tsunami of emotion and fear about how to approach the conversion.

Some typical fears and doubts include:

“Will I be treated differently?” “Will I be passed over for leadership opportunities or long term projects?”

Don’t Be Afraid To Tell Your Manager

The good news is that most managers are very supportive and will be thrilled for you. It may also help you relax to know that you don’t need to have everything (or anything) figured out before...

First of all, congratulations!

For each parent, this is such a personal journey that there is no script to follow. Instead here are some tips to help you be mindful of and embrace the changes.

As the Professional woman:

You hopefully agreed boundaries before your maternity break and they are being adhered to. It may be that you have changed your mind and you want more or less contact – let people know so that you maximise this time. It is worth considering which colleagues are key influencers and always keep abreast of the political landscape – a coffee/lunch with them can quickly bring you up to speed with developments at work. 

• Remember that this can be a great opportunity to develop new skills and learn about topics you never have enough time for in a typical working week. There is an adundance of interesting articles, discussions, forums etc you can access or explore an on-line course as a possibility. Please be mindful that this may be unlikely in the early...

There has been much research and debate around what is the key to advancement for women in business. Much focus is on “fixing” the individual herself - increasing networking skills and visibility at work, finding a mentor, identifying a sponsor, becoming political ‘savvy’; to name a few. There is also great discussion around shifting the culture and tackling negatives biases in the workplace; to provide the best platform to allow for women to advance in their careers.

One common denominator in all these debates is the importance of ‘owning your voice’. 

What does that mean?

Irrelevant of whether you are an extrovert or an introvert, it means expressing yourself at work, having an opinion, vocalising your thoughts, being heard and seen; in your own authentic way.

In our work at Thriving Parents, we know that this is especially relevant when women return to work, following a maternity break. Often we return to work and find ourselves...

We recommend that you and your Manager meet or at least speak virtually, ideally on your first day back from your parental leave; so that you can quickly re-orient yourself to the world of professional working!

What is the purpose of this meeting? Ideally, it will cover the following points:

• Practical logistics 
• Update from your Manager on the department & business
• Handover of role & responsibilities

Let’s start with practical logistics

• Has there been any changes to the office, your workstation you need to be aware of, or are there any pending changes?
• If you are a returning mother who is breastfeeding, ensure that you know where all the facilities are, so that this does not create any anxiety. Use this meeting to advise or remind your Manager of your breastfeeding routine so that he or she understands when you will be away from the office space.
• Together, look at the diary for the next six weeks and understand if there are any key meetings planned where...