Preparing for Leave A Guide for Expecting Parent Employees

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1 Preparing for Leave A Guide for Expecting Parent Employees Expecting a new child is exciting, but it can also be a daunting process to plan for your leave. You play a critical role in ensuring a smooth transition for yourself and your team. This guide will help you: Prepare for and navigate communication between you and your manager. Create a plan that allows you and your manager to feel confident about the transition ahead. Critical conversations and planning Unconscious bias & parents Inclusion and belonging

2 Checklist #1 Announcing You re Expecting You know you need to inform your manager that you re expecting. But how? Particularly if this is your first child you may experience some anxiety and overwhelm when thinking about talking to your manager. Or you may just be very excited to share the news. It s completely normal to feel a little of both. Use the following checklist and tips to plan an effective conversation with your manager and to ensure that you cover key issues. Come with the (tentative) plan Of course there will be lots of unknowns, and plans change, but if you can, you should be ready to discuss your plan with your manager. Do you intend to work until you go into labor? Or do you intend to start your leave a few weeks before your due date? How long do you intend to take after the baby arrives? You don t have to know all the answers now, but you should at least be thinking about it. Bonus tip: Your manager may experience a variety of emotions when you tell them your news. Your manager might be worried about how to handle your duties while you are on leave, and may not be able to express excitement in the moment as you might wish/expect. If that happens, don t take it personally. You ve had time to digest your news, but for your manager this is all fresh Communicate with the wider team Make sure your manager is the first to hear your news at work. You don t want them to find out about it through the grapevine. Then, let your manager know how you d like to communicate your news to the team at large. Will you tell people individually, or make an announcement during a meeting? Whatever you choose, make sure you and your manager are on the same page. Review your company s parental policies and benefits Be prepared! Check your company s handbook to make sure you understand the leave and benefits that are available to you. This will ensure that the plan that you present to your manager is concordant with the company s policies. If there s something unclear, bring it up as a question with you manager. Policies and benefits can be complicated! Bonus tip: Once your news is public, reach out other employees you know who have taken parental leave. Ask them for any insight or tips that helped them through their leave process. Schedule a first planning meeting Show your manager that you are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for yourself and the team. Leave the announcement meeting with a date on the calendar for your first planning meeting with your manager. You may have some ideas about how your job should be covered, and what the transition looks like, but ultimately, it is up to your manager to ensure that your job is covered while you are on leave, so they may have some ideas of their own. Make sure you have time on your calendar for at least 2+ check-ins with your manager before your expected leave date.

3 Checklist #2 Preparing for Leave After the Announcement Your news is public and now it s time to make a plan! Of course, it s important to remember that even the best laid plans might change. Ongoing open and honest communication in the months leading up to a new child s arrival is critical. Use the following checklist and tips to cover all your bases and make sure you and your manager are on the same page Be open and honest about your wishes and concerns Let your manager know what your intentions are and if there are any areas of concern for you related to preparing for or returning from leave. Let you manager be your partner through the process. If your manager doesn t have all the answers, that s OK! Leave planning is complicated and every leave is different. Your manager might need to involve other resources (for example, an HRBP contact, parent group information) to help answer all of your questions. Prepare and communicate your (tentative) plan Your manager s primary concern will likely be how your job duties will be covered while you are on leave. As such, the more details you can provide, the better. If you have a plan for tentative leave start date and return date this will help your manager to better plan for your leave. Of course, be sure to communicate to your manager that you are aware that plans may change, but that you are committed to keeping your manager in the loop on any changes as they happen. Communicate time off you may need prior to your leave Before you head off on your official leave date, you ll likely have other related appointments that you may need to handle during the work day (i.e. doctor s appointments, meetings with an adoption counselor, etc.). Let your manager know what they can expect, and also your plan to get your work done (i.e., if you have a doctor s appointment during the day, you ll work a bit later that day to ensure you get all your work done, etc.). Bonus tip: Make sure to clearly block off times on your calendar when you re not available during normal working hours. Document your responsibilities The best way to ensure that your team continues to thrive even while you are on leave is to ensure that you thoroughly document all of your responsibilities. If there are processes you know in your head, but are not written down, make sure to document them in writing. Ensure that you have documented what each responsibility entails, how often it needs to be dealt with, the level of priority, and any potential recommendations you have for who should cover this responsibility. Review this list in detail with your manager to make sure they understand the full scope of your work, and so that they can make a plan to ensure no balls are dropped while you are on leave.

4 Prepare a transition plan Once you ve agreed with your manager on who will cover your responsibilities while you are on leave, make a plan to train each person. With your manager s blessing, take the lead on scheduling the training meetings and agree with the coworker(s) on the transition date for your duties. Ensure that the coworkers covering your duties know that they can come to you with questions at any time before your leave start date Bonus tip: Even though your responsibilities might be divided between team members, keep a master document that includes all the documentation about your duties, and who will be covering each, and share this with your manager. Doing so will ensure that your manager has a quick reference for who s covering what, and that changes can be made if needed. Transition duties BEFORE your leave date Work with your manager to decide on a transition date of your duties. Ideally this date is 2-3 weeks prior to your anticipated leave date so that there is time for questions and just in case your leave starts earlier than planned. Stay productive through your last day at work Once you ve transitioned your duties to your coworkers, you may still be at work for another couple\ of weeks. Make sure you are productive during this time. Handle all your filing (physical and electronic), clean out your inbox, make sure your OoO response and voic are set up and ready to go, clean/declutter your desk and office, etc.. Ensure coworkers know you are available for questions and extra training sessions with respect to your responsibilities. If you still have time, ask your coworkers if there are any small tasks/projects that you can help with to make their lives easier before you go. Touch base about your return plans You may have a strong sense of when you want or need to return to work pre-baby, you may be unsure, or you may be somewhere in the middle. It s important to realize that whatever you think pre-baby might change post-baby. And that s OK. To the best of your ability, let your manager know your intentions regarding your return to work date, and let them know that if that changes for any reason, you will inform them immediately. Put a tentative return date on the calendar and have a plan to to reconfirm your return date with your manager a few weeks before you return. Bonus tip: Your coworkers will likely be eager for news about your new baby. Think about how you d like to communicate to the team about your baby, if at all. Do you plan to send out an announcement with a photo? Do you plan to bring your baby by the office to meet your co-workers? Do you plan to stay out of touch for the duration of your leave?

5 I must have missed class when they taught this. Oh yeah, they don t teach this. Grow the team you love Love the career you grow