Juggling Priorities: 5 Things Employers Can Do to Help Working Parents
During the pandemic, many working parents found that a flexible, remote work life offers an opportunity to better balance competing family and career demands. If your organization is working toward having employees spend all or some percentage of their work time in the office, leaders should consider the ways they can support working parents through the transition back.
For a working parent, it's typical to constantly shift time, energy and effort between family and job responsibilities. Whether it's commuting to work, attending long meetings and hitting project deadlines or helping with homework, running to doctor appointments and lending an ear for a chat, working parents are always trying to show up and be mentally present where they're needed — even when it's different places at the same time.
In the years since the pandemic, parents have become accustomed to working their jobs remotely with schools and child care facilities open. Many working parents have found they can successfully integrate both career and home modes into their day.
However, as companies are increasingly requesting and requiring employees to return to the office, working parents again face dilemmas. Leadership who want employees back on-site may fare better all around if they leverage family-friendly return-to-work strategies that ease parents' struggles.
Returning to the office can be tricky for a working parent
In a December 2023 Resume Builder survey, 90 percent of companies said they would be returning to the office in 2024. The Department of Labor indicates that 80 percent of U.S. families have at least one person employed, so working parents represent a significant part of the workforce. Helping them want to return to the office and thrive once they do is essential.
But many working parents don't see the need to return to the office. Many think, "I'm productive at home. Why do I need to come back?"
Additionally, many working parents have become used to having extra time and access to their families during the workday. They can walk their kids to the bus and be home to get the kids settled into homework before returning to their own work. Now that parents have gotten a taste of this flexibility, it's hard to give that up. Companies ought to consider ways to encourage their teams to return to the office and helping them thrive once they do.
Child care is another consideration when a working parent returns to the office. In addition to finding reliable services, rising child care costs can outpace employees' salaries, forcing employees — especially working mothers — to quit.
Reaching middle ground with working parents
Organizations cite increased collaboration, productivity and revenue as drivers for asking employees to return to the office. Many employers are looking for ways to make the transition a win-win. Hybrid schedules with some days in the office and the rest at home are likely to be the sweet spot.
If you're asking your employees to do something they don't think they need to do, leaders must explain the benefit. Why do you want employees to return to the office? What will employees do at the office that they can't do at home? Why is the change worthwhile to the employee? Companies have an opportunity to clarify their intentions of recalling employees by considering the employees' perspective.
5 ways companies can help working parents thrive
When companies recognize that working parents — and all employees — work better when they're less stressed and can manage their home life and work life, they can do this by showing up for their employees in multiple ways.
1. Maintain an open and honest dialogue
Listen and engage with your team. Ask how they're feeling and find out what struggles they have that could be resolved with minor tweaks or assistance from you. Check in frequently to focus on human connection and awareness.
2. Ensure in-office work is meaningful
When employees are asked to make a trip into the office after doing their job virtually for months if not years, it helps to show them there's a good reason. Meaningful justifications can be simple to establish — the clarity of talking through challenges face-to-face or the opportunity for happenchance bonding. Team celebrations, project launches, town halls and brainstorming sessions can provide valuable in-person moments that employees won't want to miss. Another opportunity is coming together to give back to the community will create purpose and meaning.
3. Flexibility comes in different flavors
Flexibility can be work location, home or in the office, and can also mean varying work hours. One employee may prefer to avoid traffic by coming in and leaving early, while another may want to arrive after school drop-off and leave late.
In some cases, companies might be able to offer compressed workweeks, allowing employees to work longer hours but fewer days. Where possible, strive to give employees the autonomy to flex in ways that work best for them while still maintaining the business and job requirements.
4. Offer child care support and paid time off
These benefits help address the greatest stressors working parents experience. Consider child care support, including drop-in care. You could also expand paid time off to include mental health days or a few extra days as needed for caring for a sick relative or when regularly scheduled child care falls through.
5. Offer meaningful and specific recognition
Even if no money is involved, encouraging celebrations and acknowledgment of a job well done can make a huge impact. All employees benefit from that appreciation, but for working parents, who may be balancing work with a lot of additional stressors, those kudos are essential. Recognition has been proven to impact overall job satisfaction, engagement and retention.
Sustainably managing work and life
Working parents may have stressors that are additional or different from other employees. However, the need for understanding, connection, flexibility, resources and support is universal.
When organizations anticipate and address these needs with benefits, care and support that demonstrate transparency, empathy and thoughtfulness, leaders can help working parents — and all employees — successfully juggle their priorities for the long haul.
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