Breaking the baby news to your boss can be as hard as applying for a job in Microsoft company without a qualification. First of all, big congrats to you if you are pregnant. You have probably told everyone including your friends and family, but guess who you haven’t told yet? Your boss. The truth is that your boss, most times isn’t prepared to hear the baby news. The anxiety that is building up inside of you whenever you remember that you haven’t told your boss that you are pregnant is off the hook. That is because you don’t know how to break the news; don’t know when to break the news; and don’t how your boss will react to the news. It’s that scary!
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Despite the anxiety and fear of uncertainty, it’s necessary that you tell your boss that you are pregnant. After all, you can’t hide that baby bump forever. In no time, your boss and coworkers will watch you increase in size and they will be there to see you everyday till the time is right. However, it’s an incredible moment when you finally share the news with your boss and coworkers.
Now that you have decided to break the news to your boss, there are things that you must do first before you schedule a meeting with your boss. Chances are that your boss will be happy for you, but will decline your requests and applications. Let’s say maternity leave. You must make sure you do your homework before that one-on-one meeting with your boss.
Do these important things before breaking the baby news to your boss.
Know your benefits and rights
It’s never a crime to find out one or two things about your company’s maternity leave policy and your general maternity leave rights as stipulated by your state. You don’t need to be all knowledgeable, but we feel it’s important to know. It will inspire you to be confident incase you walk into your boss’s office.
Knowing about your maternity leave rights will give you a chance to examine your options. It all depends on how friendly your company is. If it isn’t, you may plan to negotiate a different job elsewhere. That is, decide whether you will be coming back or not. If you love working in the company, negotiating a different work that is less stressful is likely your option after your maternity leave is over.
Don’t break the news to your coworkers or make pregnancy posts on social media
As you know, privacy is rare these days in our digital world and secrets are difficult to keep. News spread so fast that you can’t possibly imagine. Before you know it, your boss hears of it from a different source that isn’t you and that’s bad because it means you don’t hold your boss at a high esteem.
The nerves and excitement can be uncontrollable and push you into doing somethings like posting your pregnancy news on social media and telling all your friends about it. However, it’s important that you control your emotion and don’t let the news fall into the wrong hands.
Once you are expectant, deliver the news to your boss first before any other person. His reaction will tell a lot and determine whether you two will be able to work out a lot of things including negotiating for a maternity leave.
Determine when to tell your boss
If you leave your pregnancy till your second trimester without telling your boss you are pregnant, he is likely to know from your showing. That is you risking your career and job in his company.
Timing is crucial. If you intend on telling him that you are pregnant, do it before you start showing. The best time to tell him this is when you are close to the end of your first trimester or the beginning of your second trimester as it will correspond the time of your showing.
However, if you do have an upcoming performance review, you may consider telling your boss after. Telling him just before the review may jeopardize some things as you don’t know how he will react to the news. That said, ensure you don’t stay too long before you break the news.
Avoid negative perceptions
You know the general sayings about pregnant women or working moms not taking their career seriously; about working moms uncommitted to their careers, you should try to intercept those sayings from getting to your head. If you waste so much time deliberating on the issue, it may change the way you feel about pregnancy and may affect how you convey your baby news to your boss.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding your giving birth, you should try to aspire confidence in yourself. Have the notion that being pregnant is another phase in your live that you have to overcome and blend into your normal life. Drop the working moms biases and keep your head up high.
If you are short of confidence, try talking to other working moms in the office or in your neighborhood if there is none in your office. It will help you grow and improve your self-esteem. You will be a mom soon and you can do pretty incredible things that will wow your colleagues.
Plan your replacement while you plan your leave
Breaking the news to your boss is not the problem. What bothers your boss is how fast he can get a replacement for you while you are on leave. It’s normal for all bosses to feel this way because he will be short of hands.
So, think about who will get the job done in your absence. It shows your dedication to the job and also leaves a positive impression on you. So before you head to the office to break the bay news, make sure you have come up with possible solutions and ideas on how to get your job done in your absence.
If you have carefully analyzed and done these five important things, then you are ready to break the baby news to your boss. Schedule a convenient one-on-one meeting with him and share the news with him. Remember to gather all the information you need for the conversation and give him a detailed plan to make up for your absence. He will feel more at ease with this.
