Family-Friendly WorkplaceOn July 27, 2016, CultureAmp hosted a Geekup*, in partnership with Poppin, which focused on “Building A Family Friendly Work Culture.”  During the event, best practices for supporting a family-friendly workplace culture including parental leave, work-life balance, and transitioning back to work after leave were discussed.1

 

Moderator2: Allyson Downey, Author “Here’s The Plan: Your Practical, Tactical Guide to Steering Your Career Through Pregnancy and Parenthood“

 

Panelists3:

  • Isa Notermans, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion @ Spotify
  • Katja Wessling, Director of Culture and Development @ ustwo
  • Diana Thrasher, Director of Total Rewards @ OnDeck
  • Erica Stokes, Director of People Operations @ Poppin

 

The panel discussed some interesting points in terms of employee engagement:

 

  • Choose a diverse array of benefits that appeal to your diverse workforce.

 

  • Your employees need to trust that they can take advantage of their benefits. Many women are apprehensive about taking full advantage of maternity leave benefits and often return to work sooner than they would like. Leaders need to mirror the behavior they would like to see in the workplace.

 

  • Consider the impact of maternity leave on the remaining team members. Extra work can cause resentment since the remaining team members might have to shoulder extra work. One company utilized an internal posting system for the roles of those on maternity/paternity leave.  Their employees apply for those roles as a means of career enhancement and development. Filling a role for a short period of time allows them to gain skills and better understand other functions within the organization. Katja Wessling added that start-ups should post these types of roles among themselves given their small numbers of employees.

 

  • The transition back into the workforce should be contemplated.  At Spotify, maternity leave lasts for 6 months.  The 7th month is a transition month that allows the employee to ease back into the workforce by working part-time and/or remotely.  This lessens the shock of trying to return to work and juggle both family and work responsibilities all at once.

 

  • Companies should include significant others in discussions about maternity leave so that they understand the process and its benefits. Those significant others often become external champions for the company and have an influence on retention.

 

  • Manager training is important. First, they need to be aware of their approachability. Next, they need to understand how to help the employee and the rest of the team plan for the leave. Finally, managers should also be coached on what to do while the employee is on leave and how to manage their return to the workplace.

 

 

What are your thoughts on these points? What else should be considered?

 

 

* What’s a People Geekup you say? It’s an opportunity to meet the other People Geeks** in your local community whilst also learning about People Analytics and the future of work.4

**people geek (noun) – A People Person typically found in People Operations, Recruitment or Leadership who gets excited about how data and insights can drive a better world to work in.5
1 “New York, NY.” People Geeks. CultureAmp, n.d. Web. 28 July 2016.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 “Geekups.” People Geeks. CultureAmp, n.d. Web. 28 July 2016.
5 Ibid.

 

 

Let’s Engage!

I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.

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