Sarah Coleman		Petra Pinger
Leadershop coach Business consultant Business transition and performance Special interests: Women in Technology,  Developing the next generation of female leaders   "Begin with the end in mind..." (principles of personal leadership), Habit 2, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People",  Stephen R Covey		Business coach and consultant Leadership development  Transformation of organisational culture Special interests: Diversity management Managing intercultural teams   "The only way to react to change is to create it" Jean Marie Drue

Why we want to undertake research on "Back to Business"

We met at a seminar on leadership in Scotland in August 2011. Coming from diverse backgrounds, both in terms of culture and professional experience, we soon realised that we shared an interest in women at senior levels successfully moving back into the workplace, having experienced breaks in our own careers due to different circumstances.

A number of questions arose during our discussions into the small hours:

- What are the obstacles that women at senior levels face if they want to re-enter the career ladder, and at a level equivalent to that at which they left it?

- What are the work and life choices that women at senior levels are faced with when they start to consider re-entering their career?

- What are the success stories of women at senior levels who have made the transition, and what can we learn from them?

- What kind of support would be useful for women at senior levels in making this transition?

Why this research is important

Many of us have experienced a career break for different reasons:  a carefully chosen and very important role in raising a family, or fulfilling a family caring commitment; an exciting overseas posting, volunteer break, voluntary redundancy or sabbatical; or perhaps the break was enforced through involuntary redundancy, serious accident or illness.

The timing of a significant break in employment and career continuity can be significant.  Sometimes, it can have serious consequences impacting career and promotion prospects, and potential lifetime earnings.  Sometimes, it may be carefully planned by you and supported by your employer. 

Regardless of the context, it is often the case that senior women who want to re-enter the career ladder either full or part-time find it easier said than done. What is it that keeps senior women from re-entering the career ladder successfully and seamlessly, or from re-entering it at the same level from that at which they left?  What are the logistical or emotional challenges facing these senior women? 

How you can help and support this research

We would like to extend our conversations and talk to women who:

- have successfully managed to return to senior executive positions in UK and European corporate working environments

- are looking to make the move back into senior executive positions in UK and European corporate working environments within 12 month after a career break perhaps due to family commitments, overseas posting or sabbatical, long term illness or redundancy.

If this is you, we look forward to your contribution to this research.  We would like to interview you on a 1 to 1 basis on the telephone (or Skype!), and will take no more than 60 minutes of your time. Interviews can be conducted in English or German as you prefer. All discussions and information you provide will be in absolute confidence and non-attributable. In return, we will make the results from our research available to those who have kindly given freely of their time and thoughts.

If you would like to be part of this research and help other senior women deal with the challenges they are facing, or if you have any further questions, please get in touch with us at info@scpresearch.com, or phone Sarah Coleman on +44(0)1636 893716 in the UK or Petra Pinger on +49(0)22199394294 in Germany.

Together we have decades of experience in global corporate environments and academia, and even more decades of life experience!   We are still perplexed as to why it can often be so difficult for women at senior levels to move back into the workplace seamlessly and efficiently.  We look forward to understanding more about this, and about what type of help and support these women would value. 

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best wishes, Sarah and Petra