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First academic research published to look at maternity coaching and whether it is effective in the battle to retain key women.
Three years on from the launch of maternity coaching - a new and growing area of coaching that works with employers to support women returning to work following childbirth.
Soon-to-be published research looks at the effectiveness of maternity coaching in the battle to retain top women. Maternity Coaching was launched in 2005 by the Executive Coaching Consultancy. This London-based consultancy has been the first to facilitate academic research that examines the role of coaching in the fight to retain high-flying women.
“We decided to support some academic research into the impact of maternity coaching – it is really important to us that maternity coaching results in a business benefit i.e. more highly qualified women returning to work to continue their careers, says Geraldine Gallacher, managing director of the Executive Coaching Consultancy. She continues, “We knew, from our own experiences, of many cases where we were instrumental in helping women to successfully return to work but we were keen to add some empirical findings to our anecdotal experience. Obviously we were delighted to find that the independent research establishes the fact that we are supporting women to return to work.”
The research study (implemented as part of Oxford Brookes MA in Coaching Programme) interviewed senior professional women about their experience of returning to work in high-flying roles. Half of the participants had taken part in maternity coaching. The findings also looked at the factors that influenced women’s decisions to leave highly-paid roles at the height of very successful careers.
Researcher and coach, Joy Bussell, looked at the experience of high-flying women returning to work. Participants included women from a variety of sectors including publishers, management consultants and lawyers from the top law firm, Herbert Smith. Herbert Smith launched maternity coaching with their senior women in 2006. "Having a baby is a momentous and life-changing experience. Both starting and returning from maternity leave are very stressful,” said Herbert Smith’s Director of Diversity, Carolyn Lee. “Maternity coaching is one way we can provide support at this time."
Key issues emerging from the research included the widely varying experiences of women returning to work – but an experience that was frequently closely linked with the quality of their line management. Where line managers were open and clear communicators, women exhibited a significantly higher degree of commitment. There was a close correlation between the quality of their relationship with their line manager and their commitment to their role.
Women saw maternity coaching as a very positive intervention: “The coach obviously cottoned on to the fact that I was trying to prove all these things and be better than everyone else. She encouraged me to clarify and work out how I wanted to be going forward. It was a relief to set limits” Coachee, Herbert Smith.
Other key findings included a renewed focus on career development. At a point when employers may be concerned at not overly taxing their employees, women clearly communicated a strong desire to be able to see a clear career path on their return to work. “I had all this energy and drive and wanted to channel it into something positive,” Coachee, Herbert Smith.
As part of the research, Bussell also interviewed three experienced maternity coaches (from different organisations) who offered valuable insights. All of them highlighted “a very critical period” around twelve months following return to work. Whilst employers focus on the initial return to work, women focus more on how their job performs for them in the first 12-24 months back at work. Where employers may heave a sigh of relief that key women have returned, research shows that the crisis point comes much later on when key factors - such as the loss of a nanny or lack of a clear career path – may combine to prompt a decision to opt out.
Government funded research also points to children starting school as a major exit point for women. The research argues for longer-term transition and career development coaching amongst high-achieving women.
The research will be published in the Journal of Evidence-based Coaching and Mentoring Practice in September 2008.