In your opinion, what makes parent-friendly workplaces the wave of the future?
To be an employer of choice and keep employer retention rates at maximum, employers need to aim their focus towards instilling parent-friendly measures throughout the organisations. Without them, workplace culture deteriorates and employees lose motivation and productivity decreases. Whilst an employee might not immediately resign in the absence of parent-friendly practices and policies, it might cause them to be constantly on the lookout for a company that can provide them with more of the requirements that they need to be present for their children and families when it matters most. Organisations run the risk of losing skilled and experienced employees and face high replacement costs if these employees move to other employers.
Please share ONE unique parent-friendly workplace initiative that your organization is particularly proud of and has made the biggest impact on your employees.
Our organization offers 2 days per week or remote working (home, on holiday, etc) as well as very flexible working hours throughout the other times. What makes our organisation so unique in terms of our parent-friendly status is that employees (where it applies to the job role) can work remotely for the same period as their annual leave. For instance, if an employee booked 3 weeks of annual leave, they can work remotely for 3 weeks and combine this with their annual leave leave. This has been particularly helpful during children’s school holidays and especially over the long summer break.
Houbara is also extremely accommodating when it comes to things like dealing with personal matters and emergencies, doctor appointments, and children’s doctor appointments. We also do not have an attendance system so employees are free to start their day when they are ready without having the pressure of being “on time” for a system that will monitor and track their whereabouts.
What are some of the business benefits you have seen from being a parent-friendly workplace?
Creating a supportive work environment by implementing parent-friendly policies can lead to the following advantages for a business
- Employee Satisfaction, Engagement and Productivity Increases: When employees feel valued, seen, and heard, they are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs which typically leads to higher motivation, productivity and engagement.
- Attraction of top talent: the pool of candidates selection increases significantly for employers who can show their parent-friendly practices during the recruitment process. This provides access to candidates with better skills and experience which will provide the employer with the competitive edge in the long run.
- Diverse and Inclusive workforce: parent-friendly practices provide the opportunity for more diverse and inclusive workforces by accommodating the requirements of all working parents. All of this will result in employees staying with their employers longer.
- Reducing employee absenteeism: This is also a huge benefit to the whole organisation – when an employee feels psychologically safe to tend to family matters when a policy or culture is conducive to it, they are less likely to use annual/sick leave for matters like this.
