There’s a lot of noise when it comes to supporting parents in the workplace. The headlines sharing horror stories and tribunals are hard to look away from. It’s pretty common for me and my pals on the Power of the Parent® team to hear from line managers that they’re so worried about saying the wrong thing, so they say nothing – which actually ends up being just as damaging.
It can feel overwhelming and nerve wracking to be an employer when you’re starting out on the process of developing a parental support strategy, and all of the wonderful activity that goes with it.
But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be. And it’s fast becoming a non-negotiable. If you want to retain and attract amazing talent who happen to be parents, it’s time to get cracking.
If ever you’re in doubt of WHY you need a strategy, have a read of these reasons that will power up your workplace like never before…
1. It takes you from transactional to transformational
The low hanging fruit is activity. Think workshops, coaching, maybe even a couple of positive action programmes. They can be designed and delivered quick sticks and to begin with, you’ll see a change. Perhaps even a slight increase in engagement. But it will be temporary. And, it sends a message that you’re trying to ‘fix’ parents – and often it’s mums at the centre of things like this.
Instead, aligning everything from your commercial strategy to talent and reward strategies will be where the magic happens.
Engaging line managers. Ensuring talent conversations represent EVERYBODY in the business (not just the people right in front of you). Creating feedback loops so your team members can let you know what’s working well and what needs a polish need consideration.
Including things like support for childcare will put you ahead of the game. Right now in the UK it’s a sector that is crumbling and needs drastic change. Countries like Canada are striking ahead with how they’re investing in childcare (have a read here). They know the impact it’s going to have on the economy. Some of this is a country’s infrastructure usually led by governments. However, companies can be in a position to put pressure on and influence policy decisions.
2. A whole company conversation
It’s not uncommon for us to hear that supporting parents is a HR job, and issue ‘they’ need to sort. Except…it really isn’t. The average cost to recruit in the UK is eye watering, and whilst we don’t know your individual costs – the insights in this article are enough to have anybody reaching for their calculator.
When you take time to pour thinking and strategy conversations into supporting parents in the workplace, your leaders will sit up and take notice. It isn’t anybody’s side project, a nice to do or something you’ve dreamt up overnight. There is a business case to be had here, not to mention the impact on the economy.
Looking at it with a strategic mindset brings a company wide agenda and allows space for story telling with a difference. The pockets of examples where engagement and commercial performance have sky rocketed together. The sub-cultures of cracking line managers embracing flexible working for their whole team and successfully driving inclusivity. Your average cost to recruit being in (happy) decline. It’s all there to be created.
3. Quality measuring of success
When you put in the transactional stuff, that’s what will get measured. The stats have the potential to drive dodgy behaviours and practices (hello filling a quota for the sake of it). And what we often come across is measuring volume rather than quality. For example, increasing numbers of women being promoted but not actually giving the help and support to allow them survive let alone thrive in their new roles.
If you want the fancy headlines and market leading policies / activities, you need to back it up with culture. A culture and infrastructure that allows people to genuinely thrive when they’re a parent in the workplace. With a strategy you can do that – because it takes you in the direction of seeing the bigger picture. The whole company approach. The whole person approach.
So what next?
Parents are a huge talent pool that are facing increasing amounts of challenges – one of the biggest is most definitely childcare costs. Companies are not powerless to influence this. Everything from getting publicly vocal about the power of parents in business through to flexible working policies that help them re-enter the workplace are amongst growing lists of ideas that can make a difference.
There’s no doubt it’s a big job to craft a cracking parental support strategy. But there’s also no doubt it’s the difference between transactional and transformational.
You can always start small – this isn’t a pressure call to radically change your approach overnight. Being considered, getting some internal listening under your belt is actually one of the strongest start points here. It’s tempting to stick with the performative interventions because they do work for a time – we know that first hand.
But let me ask you this. Do you want to be the employer that puts on a bit of training every now and again? Or do you want to be the employer who is forging the way in your industry, building a reputation for equity, inclusivity and at the same time brilliant commercial performance?
Answers on a postcard please.