How can employers support working parents?

Keeping existing employees is less costly than hiring new ones, one of the effective ways to help better the employee retention rate is to support working parent employees. It is undeniable that supporting working parents can sometimes be pricey, however, working parents who receive proper support can be some of the most productive staff you could look for. Here we have compiled some practical tips that small businesses can support their working parent employees and get better at retaining their existing employees. 

1. Remain Flexible 

When your employees have children, they need to look after them and solve their problems, including dealing with doctor and dentist appointments and discussing tuition matters with their children’s teachers apart from the workload at your company.  

Restricting working time from 9 to 6 might be a little too close-minded and allowing your working parent employees flexible time and working from home are likely to make them work more productively with their busy schedule. They are probably more productive by working a little different shift every day.  

Although there is no need to allow your working parent employees work from home regularly, letting them work from home when they have children home sick from school is able to boost their productivity. 

2. Encourage Empathy  

Employees with no children may feel dissatisfied about what they think of as special favors for new parent employees. As an employer, perhaps urge them to listen to their colleagues with kids and understand how much effort, time and money have been put into raising children. Typically, people without children are unable to understand what a huge task parenthood can become. Build a corporate culture of empathy and share with them some of the issues that being a parent can bring about.  

3. Set up Generous Maternity and Paternity Leave Policies 

If employees who are mothers have a maternity leave policy that pays them well, then they are more inclined towards getting back to work after having a kid. On the one hand, setting up maternity leave for mother employees in your company is brilliant. On the other hand, you are advised to provide fathers in your company with paternity leave as well so they can spend valuable time getting more intimate with their kids.  

It is true that paid paternity and paid maternity leave can get costly but keep in mind that as an employer, you will be able to save the cost in the long run by keeping existing employees happy. In fact, replacing employees who quit with new recruits can even get pricier than investing in leave policies for parents.   

4. Provide Great Benefits 

At present, a great number of employees would be willing to sacrifice a portion of their salary for other better benefits in other forms such as the opportunity to work from home once in a while or flexible working hours. Such benefits tend to retain enthusiastic parent employees and non-parent ones alike. Like wise medical insurance plans that also cover families is also something that many employers provide. 

5. Set a Great Example Yourself 

As a small business employer, if you would like your parent employees not to work overtime and use up their annual leave for vacation, you must be a great example for your employees yourself. In other words, you must practice what you preach so your parent employees have faith in you and follow what you would like them to take action on. 

6. Discuss Their Life Goals 

While some parent employees would like to rather spend time with their children than focus on their job, others are ambitious with their career and would like to get promoted to a higher job title. The point is you need to ask them to fully understand where their thoughts are. Ensure you support these parent employees as much as humanly possible whichever direction they would like to take.  

Takeaway

On the whole, it would be best if you can actually put all the 6 tips above into practice. It is good that you care about your working parent employees but it would be even better if you also make employees who are not parents feel inclusive and satisfied with your corporate culture of empathy and equal treatment. 

Do look for alternatives that employees without kids can make use of parental benefits from your company. For instance, perhaps you could permit your childless employees to look after their ill parent instead of a new baby. In addition, flexible working hours are likely to not only help parent employees get more productive but also every other employee who has no children. 

Have a chat with your childless employees to see if any comparable perks exist which you could provide them with so as to prevent them from getting envious of their counterparts who have children.    

Always making all of your employees feel valued and make the workplace environment seem like no one gets treated more than the others is very important. While you need to attend to your working parent employees, always remember to do that to your non-parent employees as well.