“But I don’t want to alienate “non parents”

I had an interesting conversation earlier in the week with a man in the advertising industry. It got me thinking, and so I thought I’d write about it.?

We were talking about the &Beyond mission: Making an impact on current and future parents in the workplace through building and inclusivity, fairness and empathy

He said that he doesn’t often share that he has a family at work for fear of upsetting someone who may want one. It was a concern based on previous fertility struggles he’d experienced, so a completely rational fear!??

However, him being a parent could also do so much good for other parents in the organisation, without him having to shout about it, through simple acts like leaving to pick up kids, and having it in the diary, being the voice of reason in promotion opportunities for other parents, putting meetings in at times that are suitable for parents, organising social events that aren’t in the evening. All of these acts are small, but they all add up, and make parents feel valued.?

And it got me thinking… do others think this? Do HR teams worry about supporting one group of people for fear of alienating others??

I completely understand the fear, but the aim of supporting parents isn’t to alienate non parents at all.?

It’s not about parents talking about baby Lenny at any given moment of the working day. It’s not about rubbing it in others’ faces that you have children. It’s certainly not about raising parents above all others.?

It’s about creating a culture where if someone does have children, and they need to attend a school assembly, or tend to a sick child, they are able to be open about their needs, as parents within the workplace. And actually, this can be applied to anyone.? It’s about creating an inclusive, safe environment, based on empathy, no judgement or bias.?

And this, unfortunately for many, still does not exist, based on the stats around our current gender pay gap, the % of mothers that leave the workforce, or that get “missed” when it comes to promotions.?

So we want to bring everyone to the conversation, not just parents. We want to collaborate with organisations to build inclusive, fair and empathetic cultures for current and future parents in a way that doesn’t alienate anyone.

Until next time!

Jess and Takako