For mums returning to work

Coaching advice on returning to work
from Rachel Martin, left, and Michaela Oldfield

Going back to work after having a baby is never easy. Here, I speak to two women with plenty of good advice...

MICHEALA Oldfield was wracked with guilt every morning when she dropped her toddler at nursery.

After the birth, she had 18 months off with Amelie before returning to full-time work.

“I’d drag my daughter out every morning at 6.30, put her in nursery and not pick her up until 6pm at night. She was away from home almost 12 hours a day. She was perfectly happy; she was fine – but I wasn’t.”

Rachel Martin has a similar story. She gave up work after the birth of her first child, Eleanor, but went back to a part-time post when her second daughter, Elizabeth, was just six months old.

“It was the wrong decision,” says Rachel. “I had not thought it through properly. They were ill all the time and it was really stressful and I wish I’d waited a couple of years.”

But it took making that mistake to lead Rachel into the career she has today – as a business coach who also lectures in the subject.

“I decided to retrain and build my career around the children,” says Rachel.

Micheala made a similar decision, and set up her own business, Green Shoots Coaching.

Now friends, both women are combining their talents in running a series of workshops aimed at women, particularly mothers, considering a return to the workplace.

“We start with the emotional aspects,” says Michaela, whose daughter is now six. “That is what makes us different from other training courses – and that we have experience of it all ourselves.”

Rachel, who wrote her coaching dissertation on women returning to work, adds: “The key thing you find is a lack of confidence. In mums who have been away from the workplace and been at home, one of the key things you hear is “I can’t do this”. What we get them to do is focus on their strengths and their self belief and get them to explore what they want and to say: “yes, I can do this!”

Deciding on your values are central to making the right career decision, believes Rachel.

“I rushed back to work too soon yet my family values were equally as important as my work ones,” she reveals.

For many women, returning to full-time work may not compliment their desire to spend quality time with their children.

In this case, Michaela and Rachel can help women examine their options. Perhaps they could negotiate flexible or part-time working with their employer; retrain to a different job or career, or to give up work all together and become a full-time mum?

Through a series of four weekly workshops – staged at the David Lloyd leisure club, Hull Road, York next month – the coaches plan to cover many aspects of making that decision and, if needs be, managing a return to work.

Included will be guest speakers sharing their warts-and-all stories about managing the work-life balance, as well as a visit from an image consultant.

“Sometimes you feel a little bit dowdy and not the person you used to be,” says Michaela. “So we will have someone come and show how to make the best of yourself for going back to work or attending interviews.”

In the economic climate and with rising unemployment, Rachel said it was more important than ever that women were well prepared for the challenges of getting a job.

The block of four workshops will be held on Thursdays and Saturdays, allowing women to choose the date that suits them best. They will run from 9.30am to 12.30am at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre, starting on Thursday February 23 or Saturday February 25. It costs £149 to attend all four workshops and all bookings before January 31 will receive a free personal coaching session worth £60. To find out more or book a place, contact Michaela on 07847 300 914 or Rachel on 07717 436 674.