Our Solutions
- Executive Comeback Coaching
- Comeback Workshops
- Flexible Workplace Workshops
- Building HR Capability Consultancy
- Tailored ‘Comeback’ Communications
- Comeback Community
We’re on a mission to keep people feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Whether that’s maternity or shared parental leave, sickness or sabbatical, or any other extended period of leave. Our practical solutions are designed both to support the individual and to educate employers in this vital area.
Today’s workplace is waking up to the needs of an increasingly diverse and complex workforce. Many of us seek fulfilment in work, but in turn we need our employers to recognise that people have personal priorities too, and to help them find a healthy, sustainable balance between the two.
Returnees are a key issue here. Many people have to take an extended period of absence from work, for a whole range of reasons, but historically employers have not always addressed this need well. Returnees may feel lacking in confidence and out of the loop, and employers have not always provided adequate practical or emotional support for those feeling their way back into a role. Worse, returnees have sometimes been penalised for their absence, in the form of reduced opportunities for development or promotion.
Jessica Chivers, Founder and CEO
I’m the founder of The Talent Keeper Specialists and the author of Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work (Hay House, 2011). I’m on a mission to iron out the issues that stop women and returning talent taking up positions they’re capable of but don’t do the ironing at home. A science graduate who chose business over a PhD, I started my career in the City in learning and development at Barclays before pursuing a career as a coaching psychologist. I worked with The Mind Gym for nearly a decade, designing and delivering development programmes for managers from blue-chips to SMEs in a variety of industries. As a coaching psychologist, member of the British Psychological Society and Accredited Executive Coach (Association for Coaching) I take an evidence-based approach to assist people in improving their performance and wellbeing at work and beyond, often sharing relevant practical research insights too. I have two sparky children and one furkid (a whippet called Rocky). Beyond work I love to run (check out my Twitter hashtag #RunWithASmile) and recently did a four year term as an elected District Councillor. Find me on Twitter @jesschivers and us @TalentKeepersUK on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Shiobhaun Watt
My specialism is coaching individuals through maternity leave, redundancy and career change. As well as bringing my own personal experience of many of these challenges, I’m fully accredited with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development to MCIPD status. My background is in human resources, with 15 successful years working for Barclays Bank and BAE Systems in various roles from talent development to senior HR management. I qualified as a career coach in 2008, and have since worked extensively with senior management. My passion has always been coaching individuals to be the best they can be. I live with my husband and three young boys in West Sussex, where I love to spend free time running and cycling through the countryside.
Nicki Seignot
‘In my 25 years in HR, leadership development, coaching and mentoring, I’ve worked closely with senior leaders and executive board members to design and implement mentoring and coaching schemes, facilitate talent management and lead flagship leadership development programmes. I’m perhaps best-known for creating Asda’s MumtoMum internal mentoring scheme. ‘I’m the co-author of Mentoring New Parents at Work and hold an MSc in Coaching and Mentoring from Sheffield Hallam University Business School. ‘Beyond work, I absolutely love to spend time cooking “with colour” for the family (“go for the rainbow” is my motto!) and walking with friends in the inspirational Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Ian Dinwiddy
I have 10 years’ experience working as a Management Consultant specialising in Operational Change and have worked with major retailers such as Tesco, Sainsburys and B&Q, and food manufacturers including Uniq, United Biscuits and Samworth Brothers. After gaining a coaching qualification and becoming a ‘school run dad’ I went on to found Inspiring Dads, a coaching and mentoring business that specialises in helping men to find their own path to ‘Be a Great Dad AND Have a Great Career.’ I’m a contributor to Workingdads.co.uk, Daddyjobs.co.uk and the Talent Keeper Specialists’ Comeback Community™ platform. I’m also a mentor on the Daddilife co-sponsored #DadConnect pilot programme. I’m married to Lisa, a city-based funds lawyer and we have two primary school aged children. I’ve spent seven years combining freelance work with being a primary carer to the children and beyond work and family I umpire at the highest levels of domestic field hockey in England. Clarity of thought and the ability to manage conflict are valuable skills here!
Charlotte Speak
I’m Charlotte – a strengths coach, mum to two little girls, wife to one husband, failing book worm and a wannabe baker. My background is in Talent Management and Learning and Development. I love helping others be at their best (which is where the strengths coaching comes in) and I pride myself on having a creative but practical approach to support my clients unlock new ways of thinking. I love to see people connect with what energises them and help them figure out how to do more of what they love. I definitely fall into the ‘always curious’ category and any opportunities to bring greater depth to my knowledge are grabbed with both hands. I’m a champion of asking powerful questions and I always operate with the belief that we all have the answers we’re looking for within us, but sometimes we need a bit of support in finding them.
Angela Webb
I have over 25 years’ experience within FTSE 250 companies including Next, Arcadia Group and PageGroup. I have successfully grown operational businesses with full P&L responsibility for over half my career and then moved into the Talent arena culminating in a newly created Global Talent Director role, working with an Executive Board. I have designed, developed and implemented manager to senior leadership development programmes including mentoring and coaching for managers/directors/senior leaders, in particular supporting and building the female leadership pipeline. Using my own experiences of overcoming a spinal injury 19 years ago, learning to walk again and rebuilding my life and career; I can empathise with the challenge of returning to the workplace and understanding a ‘same but different’ version of yourself, feeling off kilter at home and work, and grappling with how to evolve and feel comfortable in a different place in your life. I’m curious by nature and have recently ‘gone back to school’ studying a professional coaching qualification at Henley Business School. I enjoy entertaining and cooking for friends – as well as being cooked for! I have one brother who has two teenage daughters – so I’m trying to rise to the challenge of being a ‘cool’ auntie! I love being outdoors and have recently tried horse riding with dubious results!
Eleanor Denton
I am a Barefoot Coaching trained coach, member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and I am a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD). I have a 20 year senior HR background where I’ve managed cultural change programmes and experienced first-hand the importance of ensuring employees are valued, engaged and set up for success during periods of transition. I am a flexible working champion, having managed high performing remote flexible teams, successfully worked flexibly myself and more recently I now use my flexible working experience and agile working insights to support my local community as in 2017 I founded ‘Flexible Working Mums Hertford’ which is a social media community campaign to champion and showcase flexible working success. I also volunteer monthly to support local mums who are on maternity leave and in need of guidance and support with regards to their return to work options and decisions. Always cheering me on are my biggest supporters, Harry (6) and Beatrice (3) without them I would not have had my eyes opened to what a wonderful privilege it is to be raising the next generation and the challenges and opportunities this affords.
Sarah-Jane Nelson
I have more than 15 years’ experience as a leader in international conglomerates, at the Guardian Newspaper, and as a management consultant with Ernst & Young, plus spent a 9-year stint living and working in the far-flung corners of the Middle East, and I’ve been lucky enough to be a school governor in four different countries. These days I coach at both Henley and London Business School – on their executive education programmes (including a number of women’s programmes), and run my own private coaching practice. I have a grounded approach to coaching, based on values and strengths; people who work with me refer to my ‘can do’ energy and warmth.
I coach women at all stages in their career – up and down organisations, and across cultures. One of the themes I’m particularly drawn to is the transition to parenthood. Too often women don’t have access to the professional support that can transform this transition from a career pinch point to an opportunity for growth. It’s an area close to my heart. I was living in a desert (literally and metaphorically!) experimenting with new careers when my kids were born. Setting myself up with decent support is the one thing I’d change if I did it all again.
Outside of coaching, my two children and an effervescent puppy (Zephyr – a whippet) keep me playful and learning every day.
Trish Anderson, Chief Organiser and Team Support
Trish is our Chief Organisational Officer; the ‘invisible woman’ most clients don’t meet and without whom we’d be up the creek without a paddle. From scheduling coaching sessions and analysing workshop feedback to fixing technical glitches, she’s a vital part of the team. One of Trish’s best qualities is her anticipation of what’s coming next (or what should be) and cracking on accordingly. Trish has a BA Hons in Business Management and International Business. She has three daughters and is often found cheering them on at Irish dancing, swimming and cross-country. Any spare minutes are spent experimenting in the kitchen (with mixed results she says) and can touch her nose with her tongue.
Yet returnees represent a massive potential resource that UK plc has yet to fully tap into. Maximising the impact of their return benefits everyone: returnees are typically keen to get on, productive, pragmatic and loyal. They are highly likely to reward an enlightened, supportive employer with motivation, high performance, and the benefits of their experience and expertise.
The Talent Keeper Specialists was founded in 2012 by Jessica Chivers to address this issue from every angle, at every level. Individual change sometimes isn’t possible without cultural transformation, so we provide support, advice and expertise to all those involved in the return-to-work process – from 1:1 coaching for returnees, to workshops for line managers, to business-case and policy advice for HR leaders and executive sponsors.
All our work is customised to the needs of the individual and the organisation, and is informed by the latest research and best-practice case studies. We work hard to understand our clients, whether that’s being sensitive to who’s in the room or being realistic about a business’ commercial challenges. Our experience ranges widely across industries, sectors, disciplines and pay grades.
Above all, we are passionate about what we do: making sure that the talent an organisation already has doesn’t go overlooked or unused, but is fully recognised and encouraged to flourish and deliver.