The power of paternity leave

For business leaders around the world, the loss of female talent in the business world has been a major concern during the pandemic. Companies that have spent years or even decades improving their recruiting and retention practices have seen all of their work to achieve gender diversity come undone with schools operating remotely and many women forced to leave to attend to family responsibilities. The loss of diversity in some firms could persist for years.

At our family-run firm, my father always made an active effort to recruit women for our team and make sure they have had opportunities to move ahead. We are proud that even as we emerge from the pandemic, 54% of our team members are women. In our industry, commercial real estate, women tend to be underrepresented.

One benefit we offer that has played an important an unexpected role is paternity leave. In addition to the three months of paid maternity leave we offer to new mothers, we also have one month of paid paternity leave for new fathers. We got the idea from Denmark, where paternity leave for fathers is well established. Since we first offered the benefit more than a year ago, 60% of men at our firm have opted to take the month off when their wives have had new babies. Sometimes it takes some effort to encourage men to take this time off, but we have found that once men see one of their colleagues using this benefit, they are more inclined to use it, too.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, we believe offering paternity leave helps us to retain women. By making it possible for men to help with the unpaid work of childcare and other household duties that often fall to women when their wives are busy with a new infant, we believe we are making it possible for their families to continue as two-income households. When the women in our firm see this commitment to women’s advancement, they know we’ve got their backs. That contributes to our high retention rate.

Ultimately, there will be many opportunities for businesses to fine-tune their recruitment and retention practices as the world opens back up. Offering paternity leave isn’t usually first on the list of benefits businesses add, but for firms that are serious about creating a future where women can continue working even when the world is asking more of them, it’s well worth considering.