A proven framework and method for a transition no one prepares you for.
RETAIN Parental Leave Coaching is built on the 3 Phases of Leave™, the 10A Transition Touchpoints™ framework, and over 35 years of research and experience, so nothing about your transition is left to guesswork.
Parental leave isn’t a date on the calendar. It’s a 1-2 year transition.
Most people think of parental leave as the weeks or months away from work. Since 2006, our founder, Dr. Amy Beacom, has defined it differently: as a transition spanning roughly one to two years, across three phases, preparing for leave, during leave, and returning from leave.
This reframe matters. What happens before and after leave is just as critical as the leave itself. The parents and managers who navigate this well aren’t luckier or more capable than the ones who struggle. They just had better support and a map.
Three phases. One continuous transition.
Preparing for Leave
Before leave begins, the groundwork gets laid. Parents and managers align on expectations, build a coverage plan, and use the PLTA and PLTA-MQ™ to understand each other’s needs and communication preferences going in. This phase is about arriving at your leave date prepared — not scrambling.
During Leave
Lead your team through every phase of the parental leave transition with the tools, training, and coaching to do it confidently.
Returning from Leave
Return is where the most talent quietly walks out the door — not because the organization meant to lose them, but because no one treated reentry as the prolonged transition it actually is. Returning from Leave support gives both the parent and the manager the tools to navigate this phase together, so the investment in the first two phases actually holds.
Ten moments that matter more than the rest.
Within those three phases, we’ve identified ten critical moments, our 10A Transition Touchpoints™, that research shows have an outsized impact on outcomes. Navigated well, they improve the experience of all stakeholders, their communication with the people around them, and help ensure a successful return. Navigated poorly, they’re where things start to fall apart.
Inside each touchpoint, here’s what a coaching session actually looks like.
Every touchpoint conversation with a certified RETAIN Coach follows the same trusted process: Relate, Explore, Tailor, Assess, Instruct, and Next Steps.
Your coach starts by building a real, trusting relationship — then explores what’s actually going on for you, tailors the conversation to your specific situation, conducts a needs assessment where it’s relevant, shares expertise and concrete skills, and ends with a clear, actionable plan for your next phase.
It’s the same proven process at every touchpoint, so you always know what to expect from a session — even as the content changes with where you are in your transition.
Grounded in research. Built by the person who created the field.
Dr. Amy Beacom, Founder and CEO of the Center for Parental Leave Leadership, began creating the field of parental leave coaching and consulting in 2006 after becoming a parent herself and experiencing how truly unsupported, even harmful, it was. Her RETAIN Coaching methodology and 10A Transition Touchpoints™ framework are grounded in 35+ years of research in related fields, and nearly two decades of experience, which means which means every coaching session, every resource, and every conversation in this community is built on something real and human-centered.
This isn’t simply a wellness perk (though it does help with wellness too). It’s a proven approach trusted by 27,000+ companies and the parents and managers who work for them.
Ready to stop guessing and implement a plan that works?
Join the RETAIN Coaching Hub and put a proven framework behind every phase of the parental leave transition.