The Balancing Act: How to Support Working Parents in your Workplace
Those first few years of being a working parent are tough.
Even more so for mothers, both physically and emotionally. Not everyone can afford nannies or have parental or family support to rely upon.
It's often waking very early, organising your children for either daycare or school, breakfast and coffee (if you’re lucky) and running out the door, dropping kids off at daycare or before school care, hitting the traffic, parking the car (in an expensive parking building) and running into an office to start your day, but wait……why do you feel like you’ve put in eight hours already this morning?
Then it’s rinse and repeat times four, before hitting the weekend washing and cleaning - oh the joys!
I remember those days as being a tiring blur and willing it to end.
You feel like you are only working to pay the bills and get ahead, but are you?
No flexibility, docked pay if you want to leave work early to do the school run, sick leave chewed up and subsequently not available for you when you get sick.
It can be a vicious circle that doesn’t support working parents.
So, what can we do about it?
I had a chat with a few hard-working parents I know (men and women) and they made the following suggestions:
Having the chance to attend child-related activities, like school assemblies for example, without judgement and for your team to cover any work-related activity that would be a distraction whilst doing this.
Having a focus on outcomes and results, and being given the chance to be involved and not overlooked for career development opportunities.
If billable hours are a factor, instead of reducing wages, allow employees to focus on monthly rather than weekly targets. This allows for flexibility to be factored in without loss of income.
Don’t expect full-time results from parents who are working reduced hours, especially when they’re not being compensated for their extra time.
Aim for meetings and emails to be scheduled within working hours. This naturally can be hard on occasion, however, being mindful of parental time creates less stress and the situation of having to choose.
Keeping in touch with employees on maternity or parental leave is important. They may not be working or physically present, but they’re still part of the team. Hearing from managers at appropriate times about how things are going at the office and being invited to any employee functions makes people feel part of the team. They may say no to the odd function but will feel that they aren’t forgotten.
Don’t exclude those on maternity leave from promotion opportunities or having their salary reviewed. Being on maternity leave doesn’t mean they aren’t employees like everyone else. They also don’t lose their skills when they have a baby and would like to feel their experience is still valued.
Communication, trust and feeling valued are important to all employees and even more so when juggling work and parenting or when on maternity/paternity leave.
Having a lack of these aspects can risk a relationship disconnect with valuable employees.
I partner with professional services organisations as an HR Consultant and Recruiter, working closely with their management teams to meet their people-related needs. My focus goes beyond just strategy, policy, and procedures. I’m passionate about fostering employee happiness, growth, and retention. By aligning HR practices with the goals and culture of the business, I help create environments where people can thrive.
Get in touch with me if you would like to discuss how I could support your business or connect with me on LinkedIn to learn more about my services.