The future is family-friendly.
Summer is in full swing, and I hope everyone is planning some fun vacations. Along with those fun escapes to recharge our batteries, taking time off is also important for life changes, especially for new families. When you become a parent, everything changes, especially your priorities. I know this can be a challenging topic for a lot of small businesses, so let’s discuss parental leave and why it matters to you, your company, and your team. Read on!
Is Your Parental Leave Policy Stuck at the Kids’ Table?
Small businesses can offer their employees great benefits, from an informal environment to careers that grow along with the company. But in other ways it’s hard to compete with the big boys. Case in point: parental leave. Owners of smaller webshops usually note the cost and the disruption to the business as reasons for a lean policy. But can you really afford to skimp here? Let’s check it out.
Why Is Parental Leave Important?
There are plenty of human reasons to offer parental leave. You care about your people and want them to have a happy home life. Otherwise, what are they working for? But the benefits extend to the business too. When Google expanded its parental leave policy, for example, it also increased employee retention by 50% after having a baby. Leave policies are becoming as important to prospective hires as salary. One survey found that more than three-quarters of people said the leave policy influenced their decision to accept a job or not.
With that in mind, let's look at some ways to improve your leave policy:
Run the Numbers
Before racking your brain too much, see what the finances say. Are you counting the expense of recruiting people who don't stay because of benefits not meeting their expectations? It can cost more than an employee's salary to replace them in loss of productivity and recruiting.
Ask Your People
You need to understand the challenges your employees are experiencing, whether it's related to leave or other issues. You may not be able to solve every issue, but making the attempt goes a long way toward helping them feel heard.
Check out State and Federal Resources
There may be programs that can help you offset some of the costs of a parental leave program. Do your due diligence to see how you can make the best choice for your people.
Cross-train Staff
One way to offset the lost productivity for employees on leave is to have backups who can help fill in. This isn’t a long-term solution, of course. But you might be able to cover some of the most essential functions. Plus it creates a sense of camaraderie when everyone helps a little so one of the team can focus on the miracle at home.
Be Flexible
Look at work arrangements and hours to see what accommodations you can make for employees as they ease back into work. Parenting is the biggest time commitment of a person's life. So let people spread their hours throughout the day while working from home, with core times available for meetings. Working with individuals to address their needs is one of the best things we can do as leaders.
The Benefits Are Big
When you put your people first, especially with a policy that shows you care, you can expect a lot of benefits for you, the company, and your team. Here are a few:
Improved retention and loyalty
Attracting talent
Increased productivity
Reduced turnover costs
Employee well-being
A good reputation for the company
Improved team morale
Leave isn’t always an easy subject to consider from an operations perspective. But when we prioritize the team's well-being, everyone benefits in the end.