3 Ways Nonprofits Can Better Support Working Parents
Did you know that 64% of working parents consider changing jobs so they can prioritize or balance schedules to take care of their families? As more and more for-profit companies offer parental leave (as they should), nonprofits may not understand how supporting working parents could impact employee retention. Research shows only 35% of nonprofits offer some sort of paid parental leave (not including unpaid FMLA or short-term disability benefits).
If you can’t make room in your budget paid parental leave, here’s some additional ways your nonprofit can support the needs of working parents.
Provide flexibility
As we know, a 9-5 schedule doesn’t always mean your employees are actually productively working. There are many times when analyzing a Taylor Swift lyric for an hour took precedence in our team meeting. “Flexibility” can mean a lot of different things to different people, so make sure to collaborate with employees to develop company-wide expectations on what flexibility could look like while maintaining productivity. Flexibility might include: a hybrid/fully remote workplace; encouraging parents to attend family appointments or events with no shame attached; or offering a transition period when returning to work, like working part-time a few weeks before coming back full-time.
Create a Working Parent Employee Resource Group
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are a great way to support employees, which connects them with others of similar backgrounds/characteristics to have discussions within a supportive environment. ERGs create a sense of belonging and togetherness that might not be present in their work-focused teams and provide support and empathy that may be lacking elsewhere in the organization. You know what increases performance levels and lessens turnover and absenteeism? Belonging and connection. A Working Parent ERG could connect new parents with child care resources, sharing about extracurricular activities, and ideas/support for balancing work and life.
Strengthen your communication prior to and after leave
Navigating a parental or medical leave can be confusing and you want to ensure your employee is confident and understands expectations BEFORE they take leave. In most cases, there are insurance and medical forms to complete and timesheets that need to be coded a different way. Additionally, their leave should be announced to key teammates so everyone feels prepared for their temporary absence. When parents return to work, consider a “mini onboarding” week to transition back in and learn about any new company updates since they’ve been out.
Working parents make up a significant portion of our workforce, so let’s find better ways to support new and not-new parents. As a working parent myself, my supportive organizations made all the difference in my satisfaction with the company. Need help with implementing these ideas?