The Prime Minister set out plans to create a “fairer and faster” adoption process recently in a bid to help more people adopt.
But because the aim is to introduce the changes “as soon as possible,” employers must to be ready to deal with a potential rise in the number of adoptive parents wanting to take leave and the impact it is likely to have on the business.
In April 2003, adoptive parents were granted statutory rights to adoption leave. Mirroring maternity leave, people who have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks are entitled to up to 52 weeks of time off.
However, whereas women who intend to take maternity leave have to inform their bosses in about their 15th week of pregnancy, effectively providing them with months of notice, adoptive parents are only obliged to tell employers of their plans seven days after being matched with a child.
This situation could result in a very sudden departure from the workplace and a big gap in the business if the process is not managed well.
But there are ways to ensure that the process is handled effectively. For instance, some employers have been offering maternity coaching to their staff for several years and have generally reaped the benefits in terms of improved retention levels and increased loyalty.
There are also many companies that lose female employees, however, particularly after they take maternity leave. But coaching can make all the difference by helping to ease their transition in and out of the workplace and ensure that, on return to work, they feel secure and supported.
Balancing different demands
It is also more likely to mean that they can pick up where they left off more quickly, continue with their career and not damage their promotion prospects.
Adoptive parents have the same rights as women taking maternity leave and face many of the same challenges. These include how best to hand work over to a replacement, ensure that the transition is seamless and pick up again where they left off on their return.
As a result, this situation implies that adoptive parents could benefit from some form of coaching too – not least because adoption is a long process that is usually full of ups-and-downs and frustrations. This means that people often require a lot of support.
Many women struggle to balance the demands of work and parenthood, but if the emotional upheaval generated by the adoption process is added to the mix, they are more likely not to return after adoption leave or resign shortly after coming back.
In the private sector, about one in five women already fail to return from maternity leave – and even those who do, don’t always stay. A second wave of exits takes place in the year or so after parents go back to work as they find themselves unable to manage work/life balance issues.
But it doesn’t make good business sense for employers simply to sit back and watch this situation happen given the huge amounts that they invest in hiring and training their workforces. Therefore, increasing numbers are looking at coaching as a means of helping to retain staff which, in the long-term, can make good financial sense.
So what does coaching involve? There are essentially three key stages when undertaking maternity and adoption coaching. The first phase kicks in when an employee announces that they are pregnant or about to adopt. At this point, it is all about the handover and dealing with their ‘personal brand’ before they go off on leave.
The coaching process
Sometimes, when women announce that they are having a baby, they worry that they might no longer be taken seriously at work. But coaching can also help them to create the right impression with their team and clients.
The second stage involves the coach staying in touch during maternity leave and helping the individual to prepare for a return to work. A lot of women lose confidence because they understand that a lot can change in the six to 12 months that they are on leave.
But coaching can help them to keep in touch with key people in the workplace in order to ensure that their knowledge remains up-to-date and they feel more confident when they come back.
The final sessions take place when the employee is due to return to work and they focus on the challenges involved in being a working parent. Useful topics here include how to remain visible in the business when working part-time.
Coaching should not be limited to the individual concerned, however, but also include their line manager. This involvement is important as managers often find it tricky to deal with working parents, especially if they are not parents themselves or it is not something that they have done before.
But with reforms to the adoption process due to come into force by 2015 at the latest, which could lead to a lot more uptake, it is important that employers start preparing for change now and have plans in place to provide prospective parents with the necessary support.
As the need for adoption leave can be announced at very short notice, they must be as prepared as possible for a swift departure. The secret to success here is to engage in open and regular dialogue with workers as soon as you find out about their plans to adopt.
This approach will enable you to provide the right level of support – which includes flexible working arrangements to accommodate necessary appointments and contingency plans to cover leave – however sudden the requirement may be.
Chris Parke is chief executive of Talking Talent, a coaching and consultancy firm focused on working women.
