mindful return

Show Notes

In this episode of HR on the Brain, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Brain eBox, interviews guest Noloyiso (Nolo) Tlali, the Mindful Return South Africa Chapter Co-Lead, about the topic of parental leave.

Nolo is an avid consumer of knowledge, she holds legal and business management qualifications from the University of the Witwatersrand and Henley Business school. She is a legal professional, diversity coach & facilitator, consultant, a wife and a mom to a very active and determined little girl. Nolo has spent time working as part of diverse HR teams as such has a keen understanding of the realities of transitioning from parental leave from different viewpoints.

In this episode we discuss the realities of being a working parent, from the experience of being a pregnant person in the workplace, right through to having your kids start going to school. We talk about how the experience of being a parent is different for everyone, and how as HR professionals we need to think of our roles beyond policy, and instead look at how can we support team members through their life cycle. We also talk about how you can equip managers to understand how to support and manage employees who are returning to work from parental leave.

For HR professionals, this episode is filled with golden nuggets which will help you think differently about parental leave. Yes, it’s important to get the basics right, but you can do so much more! Nolo provides numerous incredible insights and ideas to help you think creatively about how you can step up your thinking as an HR professional and encourage your company to better support working parents. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

2:28 Nolo introduces the organisation, Mindful Return.

5:31 Nolo’s experience and the experiences some mothers face when being pregnant at work, and how HR professionals can support people who are pregnant at work, and people who are parents.

13:23 Understand the transitional periods for parents when returning to work.

16:19 What your team members are going through when returning to work after parental leave, and how you as an HR professional can support them.

23:47 How HR professionals can partner with business to think creatively about how to support parents.

31:00 How can we equip leaders with tools to help them manage and support working parents, so that companies retain working parents.

37:35 The limitations traditional paternity leave places on fathers, and families; and how we can think more creatively and flexibly about this.

47:17 How to create with your teams, not for your teams for challenges you are trying to solve for in HR, and Noli’s tips for HR professionals.

Featured in the Show:

• To get in touch with Noloyiso Tlali, connect with her on LinkedIn.
• To learn more about Mindful Return visit their website: https://www.mindfulreturn.com/southafrica/ or on Instagram @mindfulreturnsouthafrica or on LinkedIn by connecting with their profile: Mindful Return South Africa (Noloyiso and Stormme)
• To get in touch with Sheree Comninellis, visit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

The first in our International Women's Impact Project series- exploring how women are positively impacting the world and the courage it takes to do so. Be inspired to appreciate the impact you are making in your own way.

This week’s guest is Lori Mihalich-Levin, healthcare lawyer & CEO of Mindful Return, which focuses on transition back to work after parental leave, work-life integration & mindfulness for busy professionals. She’s the author of Back to Work After Baby & host of Parents at Work podcast. 

Growing up in a family where domestic violence, alcohol & depression were the norm Lori found survival methods that took her well into a career as a healthcare lawyer. But on facing the truth about being raised around domestic violence, her focus shifted, as she began to think about starting a family of her own.

 She became interested supporting women going back to work after having babies, and started looking at what helps people create an enriching work/life integration; developing tools to help them bring down their anxiety levels.

When she rolled out her business and support programme Mindful Return, she gave people something tangible to hold onto so that it would be possible to intentionally craft a calm home, even in the crazy swirls of life.

 Her approach with the four life anchors of mindfulness, logistics, leadership and community is relevant to all of us, not just working parents.

Thank you so much Lori for successfully helping more than a thousand working parents navigate the back-to-work transition from parental leave so that especially working mums can advance their leadership role while raising a child. Thanks also for showing us that it is possible to be a mum and become a power leader in the workplace, whilst maintaining a mindful approach to work/life integration

You can find out more about Lori’s work at www.mindfulreturn.com

And follow her on Linkedin @LoriMihalichLevin

Join Lou on Linkedin, or sign up to her mailing list for her newsletter and a free bite-size short course on how to be a podcast guest. Follow her @brave_newgirl on Instagram and get her books Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless, FEAR LESS and her Internationally Bestselling book DARE TO SHARE on Amazon or Waterstones or Barnes & Noble. UK & US versions available.

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Music is licensed from Melody Loops 

Lou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media, helping put your expertise, vision & mission in the spotlight by helping you launch and grow your podcast. https://bravenewgirlmedia.com

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Lori Mihalich-Levin believes that parenthood can make a person a better employee.  Parenting entails time management, project management, multitasking, prioritizing and budgeting, to name a few things.  When Lori was on maternity leave from her role as a medical reimbursement attorney, Lori created Mindful Return out of sheer desperation. 

After being unable to find resources to assist a parent into being a new parent and this change in their identity, Lori created the program to assist the new parent with this transition.  Employers are able to offer the program to their employees as a benefit when they are on parental leave. 

Mindful Return is an online program that assists people in transitioning back into the workforce after parental leave.  Each program is a cohort of parents with different employers.  Mindful Return is available for those who identify as moms, dads, are parenting special needs children, adoptive parents, and surrogate parents. 

There is also a manager track of Mindful Return which prepares a manager for the biggest differences when a team member is on leave.  You may register for Mindful Return as an individual, or connect your Human Resources department with Mindful Return.  Visit mindfulreturn.com for additional details. 

Lori Mihalich-Levin is licensed in New York.  Connect with Lori on Twitter @mindfulreturn and Instagram @mindfulreturn.

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