COACHING FOR EMPLOYERS
Retain talented women and support their progression
Joyfully Honest provides confidential coaching for women returning from maternity or other family leave, taking on greater responsibility or deciding what comes next in their careers.
Return & progress
RETURN-TO-WORK COACHING AFTER MATERNITY & FAMILY LEAVE
When an experienced employee returns from family leave, there’s a lot to work through in the first few months. What has changed while she’s been away? How will work fit around new responsibilities? And what does she want from her career now?
Confidential one-to-one coaching supports women as they prepare to return from maternity or family leave, settle back into work and think about what’s next for their careers. An optional briefing helps line managers prepare for the return.
What we can work on in coaching
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Career aspirations and progression
Explore what she wants next and how to work towards a new responsibility or promotion.
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Childcare and working patterns
Plan around childcare, travel and late meetings, and explore flexible working options.
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Confidence and professional identity
Explore who she is at work now and rebuild her confidence in what she brings to her role.
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Reconnecting with colleagues and clients
Catch up on what’s changed and rebuild key relationships after time away.
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Workload, expectations and boundaries
Decide what to pick up first, what’s manageable and when she can be available.
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Conversations with managers and teams
Prepare to discuss the support she needs and agree when to check in again.
Other ways to work together
Career progression
Confidential one-to-one coaching for women preparing for a promotion, stepping into their first management role or taking on greater responsibility. Sessions give each woman space to work through the challenges of her role and make a clear plan for her next step.
Best for employers developing women for their next role or supporting them as they step into it.
Workplace coaching clinics
A half or full day of confidential one-to-one coaching sessions. Each woman brings a live work or career question, from preparing for a difficult conversation to deciding what comes next, and leaves with a practical step to take.
Best for employers who want to give several women access to coaching in a single day or pilot it with a team.
Individual support. Organisational value.
33%
of parents surveyed received no structured support to settle back into work after parental leave.
Source: LEIA UK Report 2026, via Working Families.
Keep experienced people in the business
A family leave policy sets out what employees can expect. Coaching helps them prepare for what happens in practice, from discussing workload and working arrangements to seeing how their career can develop after leave.
Develop talent from within
When women are ready to take on more responsibility, targeted coaching gives them space to prepare for the step up and work through the challenges of a new role. It gives employers a practical way to support the people they want to see progress.
I’m Becky Lacey, a certified coach and the founder of Joyfully Honest. I started the business to help women thrive in every chapter of life, including at work.
I bring nearly 20 years of commercial experience to my coaching. I spent more than 14 of those years at the John Lewis Partnership in commercial roles, including buying and trading.
When I worked in buying, an assortment review could run late. Nursery still closed at six. As a mum of three who has returned from maternity leave, I understand what that transition can ask of a woman and what’s at stake for the business. I believe it works best when women and their employers work together to make the return manageable and keep career progression in view.
Through Return & progress, I help women rebuild confidence, navigate changing expectations and pursue their career aspirations. It’s a practical way to retain and develop the brilliant, talented women already in your business and help them see a future there.
I’m also a trained Mental Health First Aider.
Meet Becky
“I understand both sides of the conversation: the realities organisations face and the full, complicated lives people are living alongside their work.”
Becky Lacey, Founder, Joyfully Honest
Let’s talk about what your team needs
If you have employees preparing to return from family leave or you’re exploring coaching to support women’s career progression, email me with a little about your organisation and what you’d like to improve.