Six ways small businesses will benefit from return-to-work coaching

A recent report by Working Families has made one thing clear. Smaller businesses still feel underprepared and under-resourced when it comes to supporting parents. The backbone of my two-decade career has been helping SMEs (if you didn’t already know, an SME has between 1 – 249 staff); SMEs are the backbone of the UK economy, with over 5.5 million (as of the start of 2025), which represents over 99% of the business population in the country. If you are one of these organisations, I want to share six ways small businesses will benefit from return-to-work coaching.

With SMEs accounting for 3/5^ths of the country’s employment and over half of the business turnover, it is likely you are working for one, or running one! Why are so many leaders of SMEs feeling uncertain in the ways to support parents in their teams? Often, it’s down to the assumptions about the costs, timing, and impact of support, such as coaching, along with the belief that their organisation doesn’t have sufficient need to justify the investment. Well, I’m here today to change your mind.

Let me share with you the six ways a small business will benefit from coaching!

Connection with additional skills. 
You may be like many SMEs, who outsource HR & Training; you focus on delivering your products and services! Bringing in a Coach to join the team as a partner, in the same way that you may partner with other providers, to strengthen the support you can give your staff when they return from parental leave (and other life circumstances that may need a short time away). You may already be drawing on information (through blogs like mine), but sometimes it helps to bring in external expertise.

Help staff retention.
When parents return to work after parental leave, whether it’s their first or last child, there’s a lot of change. New responsibilities, balance, boundaries and identity shifts. I know first-hand that even when someone feels exceptionally supported by their manager or peers, they may not always share their feelings. Tying to manage on their own can lead to miscommunication, increased overwhelm and stress, and a loss of productivity and confidence. Offering a coach provides each parent with a confidential, qualified person to work towards their goals and confront any challenges, increasing their commitment to their role and the organisation.

Enhance your staff attraction/ recruitment package. 
Coaching is an approach and a tool “unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance”. Having coaching as part of your staff support package for all sends a clear message: you want the best for each of your team and will not only invest but also provide the time to do so. This leads to better self-awareness, focus, resilience, balance, communication and boundaries. This is particularly useful during annual reviews!

Give time back to managers.
I know that you care; that you want the best for your team. But how many Managers have spent years, and thousands of pounds, on coaching training? Having been a leader in my past corporate life, I know how hard it is to detach yourself from the outcome of the work. Having been managed, I know I didn’t share my greatest struggles with my own manager when I returned to work.  Having a separate person to support your team member means you can make the most of your time, and staff can come to you with solutions that have been worked through with their coach.

Protects staff confidentiality. 
I know many companies are working to create a coaching culture within an organisation through training their own staff. Whilst this has its place, it risks a watered-down version of coaching. As I always remind my clients, I am bound by ethics and confidentiality, which allow individuals to share and reflect without concern about where that information may end up!

Works within your budget 
Finally, many organisations steer away from coaching due to their assumption about the costs. When you are a small business, especially if you are a micro-business, you may assume that you don’t have enough need. I personally love working with small businesses; whilst you may only have single-digit numbers of parental returns or coaching clients over a year, you can still receive a personalised service tailored to your needs. Personally, I have no minimum number of clients I expect to work with, so you should never assume you can’t be supported in this way.

Now, hopefully you can see some clear reasons why small businesses, even the micro-ones, can benefit from career and return to work coaching. So let me share some more useful articles, so you are better prepared before we talk!

Ten reasons why I am the coach for you!
How to build your business case for coaching
What areas can coaching help with?
Read my profile on the Expert Services Directory