Three (more) reasons you need a parental support strategy...

A little while ago I shared an article with three reasons you need a parental support strategy - and they absolutely stand. You can find it here if you missed it.

However, never one to shy away from going a bit deeper in conversations, I'm back with three more reasons to get shaping a parental support strategy. If 2024 is the year you want to go from transactional to transformational when it comes to supporting parents and carers in the the workplace, this is a great place to start.

It can feel overwhelming and nerve wracking to be an employer when you’re starting out on the process of developing a parental support strategy, and all of the wonderful activity that goes with it.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be. And it’s fast becoming a non-negotiable, because if you want to retain and attract some flipping amazing talent who happen to be parents, it’s time to step up.

1.???? Head space to connect parenting, the workplace and intersectionality

There are some cracking offerings out there when it comes to things like workshops, coaching and evergreen resources. In fact, I've built a business out of designing the things. However. They are part of a broader conversation that services our growing need to connect the storytelling dots and craft lasting, impactful and meaningful support.

Being a parent in the workplace can often to deemed as a universal language. We give each other the knowing nods, the understanding head tilts, the 'yeah we're on virus 26 of the month too' solidarity conversations. But here's the thing: parents aren't a homogenous group of people. We all have wildly different experiences, and therefore the support we need is going to be different.

I don't say that lightly or indeed to scare employers into thinking you're going to have to come up with a gazillion different versions of support. Of course there are commonalities and shared experiences, which we want to encourage to be shared. However, we also need to foster environments that allow people to show up as themselves, not be put into a neat box and feel safe to be able to share their own unique experiences.

Often when we say 'support' it's not about having the answers or neat solutions ready to offer. Instead it could be things like:

• Having someone to talk outside of your immediate support network
• Knowing that you don't have to disclose every little detail of your life in exchange for some compassion and grace
• Feeling reassured that there's more than one way for ambition to exist
• Having the strength to embrace your individuality and any intersectionality that is informing your parenting experience alongside juggling a career
• Seeing your employer investing in line manager training, external expertise or working hard to get a policy that blends with business needs and individual experiences
• A talent management approach that is genuinely inclusive (with real life examples to back it up)Taking a step back and asking ourselves 'how does it feel to be a parent here?' or 'are we assuming everybody is having the same experience?' will go a long way to separate tick boxes from lasting cultural change.

2.???? Develop a roadmap for different parts of the parenting and career journey

Preparing for and returning from parental leave seem to get the most air time in my experience, and even then, I wouldn't say it's a particularly high bar - but, there are lots of great leaps forward in this space.

It's not where it stops for parents though is it? It's not a given, but hopefully we have years ahead of us to combine careers and family life. It means that assuming the pressure points are up front in those early years and once we're a few birthdays in, we should be good to go...shouldn't we?

Well, in all honesty we're not.

Exam seasons, school transitions, life choices, neuro-diversity diagnosis, illnesses that side swipe you, changes in family set ups...you name it, it's all there to blend with every aspect of your life.

Going in with a strategy gives you the headspace to bring all of your good work and common threads from the early years support into a longer term view. It doesn't have to be a complete re-invention and the good thing is you're embedding organic support into your organisational culture along the way.

3.???? Allowing you to be responsive, not reactionary

This won't be a new concept to many of us, but there is a difference between being responsive and reactionary. In my experience over the last six years of working with organisations, the reactionary category looks a bit like this: quick fix workshops, bold statements that don't match action, lack of quality feedback to inform decisions, a 'this is urgent' vibe that actually takes months to get things off the ground because it's not really on anybody's priority list and lacks sponsorship.

It's not a comfortable space to operate in and can drive money loses and a lot of p*ssed of people. You're risking disengaged line managers and HR stereotypes of ivory towers and saviour mentality. I'm not sure any of us set out to do that...but it happens.

Responsive on the other hand tells a very different story. It lets us maximise that precious and finite resource - time. We can listen, understand experiences, find out what's missing, what's already working well, align to broader organisational strategies - it's all then when we give ourselves some grace to understand how workplaces and parents can thrive.

So what next?

Let me leave you with s few questions to reflect on...(you don't have to use them all or in this order, just some things to get your thoughts going)

• What is it that you're trying to solve?
• What's missing from your insights right now? And what can you do to fill that gap?
• What's the first step you'd love to take?
• What's something within your control (budget or time impacted) that you could press go on?
• Who needs a seat at the table (that's currently missing) and, maybe controversially, is there anybody who needs their seat taking away? Temporarily or on a more permanent basis...

It's time to start shaking up old narratives.

If you'd like to talk about working with Power of the Parent? for your own bespoke parental support strategy, you can book a call here.