65. COMEBACK – Georgie Siddall – Risk Manager – burnout – choosing redundancy – SEN kids - Co-Chairing an ERG (& having a brilliant manager)

Hello Bright MInds, in this episode you're going to hear from Georgie Siddall, an operational risk manager who took voluntary redundancy in 2019 when she recognised she was burnt out trying to keep the show on the road at work and at home with three sons under 10. 

One of her sons is on the autistic spectrum and with no family around to help share the load, life was really challenging for her and her husband. She made her career comeback in July 2021 when she landed a job at Santander, one of three organisations she had on her “want to work for” target list. Alongside her day job she also co-Chairs Santander’s Enable network because she wants to make a difference to colleagues who have different needs.

Georgie and I met on LinkedIn on GCSE results day 2022 when I posted about my son, being permanently excluded from school for persistent disruptive behaviour four months ahead of his exams. He has ADHD and ASD and my golly it’s been quite a ride and in the end he smashed his GCSEs which was just brilliant and he’s now got his sights set on a Russell Group University to study economics and finance.…I am so proud! 

Anyway, back to Georgie. It’s a beautiful story of really coming through after a very difficult time and finding a job you love. You’re going to hear about:

•  the signs of burnout
• how Georgie came to the decision to take voluntary redundancy
• how she got herself ready to return to work
• how to ask for compressed hours and make it work
• the joy and meaning that can come from doing ‘off the side of your desk’ work – and how to make that work when you’re already working really hard in your day job
• what makes Santander a great employer

If you're reading this before Tuesday 26th September 2023 you're in time to come to our live Q&A with Dr Mandy Lehto on HOW TO SPOT THE SIGNS OF BURNOUT & TAME YOUR OVERACHIEVER GREMLIN.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace