A Chat with Amy Beacom, Ed.D, Founder and CEO of The Center for Parental Leave Leadership
Briefly, why is parental leave leadership and coaching important? What gap does it fill?
We are in a pivotal period of transition around parental leave in our country, both with changes in paid leave policy and in people’s evolving experiences and expectations. Currently, not enough people have the training, resources, and understanding to support both employers and employees through this complex time. This includes navigating paid leave policy and ensuring a positive, even joyful, three-phase leave experience as employees prepare for leave, move through leave, and sustainably return to work. Most people are unaware that such a vision is even possible. To transform this precarious season from one of risk to one of realized opportunity, we need parental leave leaders who deeply understand the full picture—work dynamics, home life, individual psychology and physiology, policy, long-term implications of decisions, and so much more.
For over a decade, the Center for Parental Leave Leadership has been dedicated to closing the gap in parental leave support. One way we achieve this is by certifying internal and external leave specialists, coaches, therapists, doulas, and other birth workers in our evidence-based, human-centered RETAIN Coaching method. RETAIN, an acronym describing our framework, highlights our dual goal: helping employers identify and address systemic gaps that can cause employees to feel forced to quit, and supporting employees in returning to work in sustainable and fulfilling ways that preserve the parts of themselves they cherish. We need a legion of parental leave leaders inside and outside organizations to champion this mission and support the nearly eight million new parents in our country each year – as well as their supervisors and employers.
Why is it important for employers to have a certified RETAIN Parental Leave employee on staff?
Most employers genuinely want to support and retain their employees. While there are some bad apples, most employers, especially in states with paid leave, are striving to keep up with changing laws and rising employee expectations. However, organizational responses to change are often slow and reactive, leaving companies focused on the enormous administrative and compliance challenges of paid leave policies. But policy is just the tip of the iceberg—the larger, hidden part is the human experience. Companies need certified parental leave experts who understand policy, people, and practice to guide a structured, replicable process that ensures employees feel valued and supported to grow and organizations feel like they finally have a roadmap.
RETAIN-certified in-house leave professionals serve as trusted points of contact and support for employees. For employers, they act as safety wardens, addressing minor issues quickly and proactively to prevent larger problems like disgruntled employees or costly lawsuits. They also function as the eyes and ears of the organization during this critical phase of the career lifecycle, helping to eliminate blind spots, fix leadership pipeline issues, and foster family-friendly workplace cultures. Our RETAIN Coaches who are not internal employees can also serve an important role for organizations grappling with confidentiality or who simply aren’t big enough to justify having an internal leave specialist.
How does a RETAIN Parental Leave coach help new and expecting parents?
RETAIN Parental Leave Coaching is built on seven academic research streams to create a unique support method that combines elements from executive coaching, counseling, consulting, and more. On an emotional level, coaches help by serving as expert guides, sounding boards, teachers, cheerleaders, accurate perspective holders, confidantes, etc. On a practical level coaches support the thoughtful off-boarding of work in ways that grow team skills and leave all feeling included and heard, the creation of a Keep-In-Touch strategy for while employees are on leave, and a realistic and aligned onboarding process on the return to help ensure it is sustainable and effective.
RETAIN Coaches are hired by companies or by clients directly to guide expecting and new parents (and their supervisors when applicable) through the practical and emotional aspects of leave – both at work and at home to help them move through the three phases of leave (preparing, during, and returning) with clarity and ease. What that looks like is different for every client but there are some constants. Each coaching engagement starts with the client filling out an evidence-based self-assessment tool called the Parental Leave Transition Assessment (PLTA) which identifies each client’s individual “Assets,” “Liabilities,” and “Pivot Points. At their first coaching session, they receive their customized 22-page PLTA Report, including their unique “Risk Score,” and work with their coach to turn insights into action. With a strengths-based focus, the coach and client work together to mitigate any liabilities and strengthen assets to help them reach their chosen goals. Clients use the information and focus their report provides to develop their 3 Phase Action Plans and work with their supervisor to ensure all stakeholder’s needs are considered.
We often hear things like, “I thought I knew what I was doing, but didn’t realize how much better it could be.” or “I hadn’t given myself any time to actually think through what I really needed to make this time work well. I was planning to just put my head down and get through it. I’m so glad I did the opposite – now my relationship with my boss and colleagues is stronger and I’m clear on my values, priorities, and goals as a working parent.”
What is a real-world example of how a certified RETAIN Coach would use their training?
We have certified over 100 RETAIN Coaches so far and they are doing work in 35 states and five countries and growing. The people who are the best fit for the RETAIN Coach certification program come to us with their personal experience with parental leave (though not always) and backgrounds in fields that either help parents or intersect with leave at work. Most frequently our cohorts are made up of executive coaches, leave navigators, HR and L&D professionals, therapists, doulas, birth workers, and perinatal mental health specialists.
I developed the RETAIN Method over 17 years ago when I had my first child and became a mother while working on my doctorate at Columbia University and working as an organizational consultant and coach to some of our country’s biggest brands. When I had my first child, I was knocked down by severe postpartum depression that veered into postpartum psychosis. My journey of recovery was only possible because I was given the support and resources I needed at critical moments which allowed me to begin building the RETAIN Method and the Parental Leave Consulting and Coaching field more broadly. Each part I built was to help make sure that no one else ever had to experience the horror that I had not knowing which way was up and needing to work. I am very proud to have built perinatal mental health screening and resources into each coaching session and been the first to bring perinatal mood and anxiety disorder screenings into the workplace setting through our coaching with resourcing through our dear partner, Postpartum Support International. It was in the building of the parental leave coaching and consulting field that I was able to put the rungs on my ladder that I eventually used to climb out of that darkness, and I know every single RETAIN Coach is passionate about being a ladder themselves should anyone need it.
From Coaches in Training about their Practice Client Coaching in the Certification Program:
“From the coach perspective, I was amazed how comprehensive the questions [in the Parental Leave Transition Assessment] were and how quickly it could dive into the heart of the matter. I can see how this would save so much time and allow the coaching conversations to be impactful right from day 1.”
“As nervous as I was to do it, the practice client sessions were so valuable and impactful. In my day-to-day job working with expectant parents I am there to instruct them on their compensation/ benefits and I am the person giving the answers and talking the most. The practice sessions challenged me to listen, ask thought-provoking questions and guide rather than answer. I felt good after my second session just having the client tell me they were grateful to have someone to talk to and bounce ideas and thoughts off of.”
From Practice Clients about their Coaching by Coaches in Training in the Cert Program:
“It was just really wonderful to have the space to think through all of this. Anticipating my second child, I realized I hadn’t had as much time and space to think about this as I did with my first, so it was helpful to have the time and support.”
“I’m amazed at how rich the content is, how succinct the [Parental Leave Transition Assessment] reports are, and that the tone struck a balance between friendly, academic, and professional.”
“It was more insightful than I was expecting. I was looking forward to the practical material, but was a bit surprised to learn more about myself and family.”
How can RETAIN Parental Leave Coaching affect the mental health of new and expecting parents?
When most parents welcome a new child into their lives, whether it’s their first or fifth, they often feel overwhelmed, even shocked by the experience. This holds true for parents of all genders regardless of how their child joined their family—through birth, surrogacy, adoption, or foster care. Without guidance, parents can assume that the difficulties they face mean they are doing something wrong or that something is wrong with them, which can deeply impact their mental health and well-being.
When their RETAIN Coach can tell them, with authority, that what they are experiencing is normal and is simply a season that will pass, or that yes, there is something wrong and it can be fixed and they will be there to support them through it all, it can dramatically improve mental health. It can even be lifesaving. We have had people tell our coaches that they didn’t think they would have survived without them, that they would have gotten divorced, that they would have quit their jobs, that they would have yelled at their older children more, and the list goes on.
Parents and supervisors who receive support and coaching over this roughly year surrounding parental leave learn invaluable skills for navigating the transition to working parenthood–at work and home. RETAIN Coaches work with them so that they learn how to off-board and on-board work effectively, communicate appropriately about leave logistics and emotions, and involve colleagues to build a supportive network and reduce resentment. Additionally, RETAIN Coaches help them gain the ability to have difficult conversations respectfully, advocate for themselves at work and in their personal lives, set boundaries, and speak with clarity grounded in their unique identified values. RETAIN Coaching takes this often-difficult time and harnesses it as the journey into self-awareness and growth that it is. This experiential learning process is incredibly meaningful and has a measurable and transformative impact on the lives of real parents and their loved ones, as well as those they work with.
What types of people/professions would benefit from this training?
My most straightforward answer is anyone who has had an experience that has taught them that the parental leave timeframe needs more support than what is commonly offered, and they want to be someone who helps others through it. For those who work within an organization and are considering if the RETAIN Coach certification program is right for them, it can be helpful to assess your role and where you want to go in your career. If you are in HR, learning and development, or a leave specialist in some way, this certification will help you round out your understanding of this timeframe. If you work outside an organization we have found that executive and life coaches, organizational psychologists or consultants, therapists, social workers, doulas, perinatal mental and physical health professionals, dad specialists, and other birth workers can be incredibly effective RETAIN Coaches, either as a stand-alone service or by integrating the methods and knowledge you gain through the certification into work you are already doing with expecting and new parent clients. For those already engaged in supporting parents in some way or looking to do so, this training can expand their already existing toolkit and make them a member of the community defining this rapidly expanding field.
Have more questions? Contact Dr. Amy Beacom and the CPLL team at info@cplleadership.com to discuss the program and scholarships.
