🌟 Is Your Workplace a Haven for Returning Parents? with Lamisse Muhtaseb

Having a newborn is a beautiful and life-changing experience, but it also brings new challenges—one of the biggest being the transition back to work. It’s a time when stress levels can be high, and without proper support, it can feel overwhelming. In this latest episode of Thrive in the Workplace, I had the pleasure of speaking with Lamisse Muhtaseb, HR Director and Inclusion Lead at Deloitte Middle East, about the critical role wellbeing and inclusion play in supporting returning parents, especially mothers.

Returning to work should be a source of support, not added stress. Lamisse shares Deloitte's initiatives to create a smoother transition for new parents, specifically their 16-week transition program, designed to support mothers in the critical post-maternity leave phase. In this episode, we dive into the broader organizational benefits of focusing on wellbeing and inclusion, how flexible work policies improve mental health, and why mental health in the workplace should be a priority for all employees, including men.

If you're a leader seeking actionable insights on how to create a supportive workplace culture, especially for returning parents, this episode is for you!

Here’s what we cover:

🌸 Supporting Mothers after Maternity Leave: Deloitte’s 16-week transition program to ease the return to work for new parents.
🧠 Wellbeing as a Business Strategy: Why mental health and flexible work policies matter for long-term success.
🚹 Breaking Stigmas Around Mental Health: Addressing the importance of mental health support for men in the workplace.
🤝 Inclusion and Wellbeing: How these principles should be embedded within a broader organizational strategy.
🌱 Building a Wellbeing Ecosystem: Creating a culture of wellbeing that enhances engagement, retention, and productivity.
Be sure to follow Lamisse’s work here:
LinkedIn: Lamisse Muhtaseb
Deloitte Diversity & Inclusion: Diversity at Deloitte
Allyship Program: AllyMe DME

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Work-Life Balance
03:22 Wellbeing in the Workplace Now
07:14 Challenges of Wellbeing in the Workplace
11:30 Consistency in Wellbeing Programs
16:02 Where to Start as a Wellbeing Leader
25:10 Parents Returning to the Workplace
31:58 Wellbeing Ecosystem
43:05 Final Thoughts

ABOUT THE HOSTS:
We're Charlotte & Jonathan, Your Guides to Lasting Wellness!

We've both been in the health and wellness trenches for over 35 years combined. We're not just enthusiasts – we're established professionals with a deep understanding of the human body and mind. We've experienced burnout firsthand, hitting rock bottom and feeling like something was missing. But we also know the incredible power of healing and achieving high performance – we've lived it! That's why we're here. We want to empower YOU to become the happiest, healthiest version of yourself. We don't believe in quick fixes or fads – we focus on proven strategies that deliver lasting results.

ABOUT THE WELLNESS THEORY:
The Wellness Theory is a multi award-winning team based in UAE, specializing in stress-relief and collaborative workplace wellbeing solutions. Having spent the last 35+ years coaching high-performers to eliminate unhealthy stress, the Wellness Theory Team moves purpose driven leaders and organizations in the GCC from surviving to thriving by helping them overcome burnout, anxiety and overwhelm for themselves and their teams. They see a future where both individuals and organizations are healthy and well so they can be a force for good in the world. Stress is one of the most overlooked barriers to optimum wellbeing and high performance, both personally and professionally. Wellness Theory programmed are designed to uplift high-performers to relieve stress, burnout & overwhelm and instead live in high-performance, happiness & optimum health. Corporate clients who work with Wellness Theory, show a 70% reduction in unhealthy stress reported by employees, a 23% reduction in stress-related absences and an immeasurable boost in morale and overall performance amongst teams.

OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
🔊🎧 Stress Relief Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ae/podcast...
🔊🎧 Thrive in the Workplace Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

FOLLOW US:
👉 Website: https://www.thewellnesstheory.com/
👉 Instagram:   / wellnesstheory  
👉 LinkedIn:   / the-wellness-theory  

CHANNEL DISCLAIMER:
The videos on this channel and its content are not a substitute for the support & guidance of a qualified health professional. We are here to share information that may be useful to our viewers and we hope you enjoy and learn with us. Look after yourself and take a break from the videos if you need to.