Supporting Working Parents to Excel –Before, During & After The Transition to Parenthood

Working parents will always make up a large part of the workforce. In addressing the challenges of securing and retaining the best staff in a full-employment economy, providing the support that positively impacts these employees can be the difference between retaining or losing some of your best staff at this critical juncture in their lives.

Research carried out by Talking Talent ‘Expecting More than a baby: Closing the employee experience gap for working parents’ revealed that 70% of working parents feel that they are failing at being a parent due to work pressures. Is your organisation doing enough to support working parents?

Working Parents Include Fathers Too

One of the first questions we need to address is shifting our focus from the mother, alone. In a couple, with a child, there are two people involved and they both transition to parenthood together. Often, however, the father is left out of the discussion.

Traditionally, it is true that women took more responsibility in the care of a newborn, however, that is shifting. 21% of parents in the 25 – 34 age group have a greater desire to share the care of their children so reverting to tired stereotypes doesn’t help the situation.

Anxiety Around Shared Parental Leave

While the Talking Talent research has shown that Shared Parental Leave is a necessary part of the flexibility working parents desire from their employers (56% of working parents said they are very likely to share parental leave), it is only one piece of the puzzle.

Further, the research revealed that 53% of men worry that if they opt to share parental leave with their spouse, their career will suffer as a result. It is clear that while we want to allow women greater choice in their career and opportunities to progress, we must avoid a situation where fathers who share parental leave suffer from the penalty that has long impinged on new working mothers.

Instead, we need to find solutions that work for both parents. These solutions should allow parents to continue developing as a professional without sacrificing quality family time.

Broadening the Conversation

Research has shown that while many organisations (71%) have policies in place to allow parents flexibility to address their home and work life, 53% of respondents felt that these are inaccessible or inefficient.

While organisations are ticking the box, rarely do their efforts equate to real tangible support that works.

In improving the supports in place for working parents, we need to go beyond setting policies. We need to broaden the conversation. Research from DCU Business School, ‘Re-Engaging Talent Post-Maternity Leave: Enablers and Barriers to Positive Reintegration’ suggests that to create the optimal transition back to work after parental leave, grounds for open conversation should be established from as soon as the employer becomes aware of the upcoming leave period. From this point on, the line manager or supervisor ought to create a safe space for the employee to discuss their plans and intentions.

What Working Parents Need

If we know that existing policies are inefficient, how can we improve the situation?

The first step is recognition of the problem. While most employers make a significant investment in onboarding programmes for new hires, there is no such plan to reintegrate existing staff who have been on parental leave. This is despite the fact that these are proven members of the team who the organisation has already invested time and energy in.

Given that the majority of us will be affected by the transition to parenthood at some point in our lives, it is not an issue that should continue to be neglected.

Time management is just one piece of the picture. While working parents need support around time management it is by no means the key area that an employer can support working parents with.

A big cultural and management shift needs to occur around how we talk about and view parental leave. Instead of viewing it as a significant inconvenient interruption that needs to be ‘dealt with’, try approaching it as a short period of time in the life of the employee’s relationship with their employer.

Line manager training is essential in learning how to engage with a staff member on this topic. Only 27% of respondents felt that their line manager was effective in helping them manage their transition to parenthood.

Unconscious bias plays a big role in the negative experiences working parents have faced when engaging with management. Any sort of assumptions around the parent’s reduced capabilities, interest or desire for continued growth in their role is unfair. Some working parents will wish to work reduced hours or take on less responsibility, though that is not the case in all situations. Each individual is different and should be treated accordingly.

When it comes to flexibility around work there is lots of scope for improvements in many organisations. Whether it involves a slight change in start and finishing times or the flexibility to work from home when needed, these changes can be not only easily addressed, but can also prove mutually beneficial for everyone on the team.

When scheduling meetings and other events, be mindful of those who have outside commitments that need to be addressed. Exclusion through lack of communication, lack of planning or lack of consideration can all be easily avoided.

It Should Be a Team Effort

Relationships play a key role in determining how well parents adjust to the transition to parenthood as it affects their work life. As we mentioned earlier, it is not women alone who experience this transition. However, neither should it be the left to the parents themselves to manage the impact of their new addition on their work life.

Employers have a role to play in supporting parents to continue to be the excellent employees they always were before having children. There is no one point of responsibility in this regard, it needs to be part of the organisational culture, one where parents feel supported in a real way.

DCU’s research shows that when mothers had a bad experience returning to work, a large part of that stemmed from a changed relationship with their line manager. This change caused feelings of ‘being let down’ by their employer. However, when the relationships were maintained in good standing after parental leave, the employees reported feeling truly valued and displayed a renewed focus at work.

Making the effort to support working parents a team effort can increase productivity and loyalty from working parents. This can be achieved by creating a buddy system where those who have already made the transition to parenthood in the organisation provide support and a listening ear for those new to the role. These real-life examples prove it’s possible to lead a successful career with the employer while also being a good parent.

Group coaching is another way to help returning working parents to settle back into the work environment. It provides a safe space to speak about their challenges and gain support from others in the same situation.

To get organisational support to review your existing working parent policies and implement some of the necessary changes, contact me, Fiona Flynn, Associate Director at Talking Talent. I enjoy working with organisations to help them provide better working environments for their teams while improving organisational KPIs.