How to Create a Family-Friendly Workplace
Juggling work and parenting can be a highly stressful task. Just imagine that you have an important meeting and your kid’s teacher calls you to tell you that your little one is sick and that you need to pick them up right now. Or put yourself in the position where for some reason your regular child care provider is not available and you have to get to work. These scenarios are not fiction, they are a reality for so many people across the country. When it comes to most of the American families, at least one of the parents is employed. For working parents trying to find a balance between their work and family obligations can be nerve-wracking.
This is why most people are looking for employers who make their lives easier by offering a family-friendly workplace. If people that work for you notice your efforts and see how understanding you are, they will work harder and be more loyal to your company. In addition, when people hear about the great work conditions you are offering, you will have skilled professionals lining up at the door. If you wish to run a reputable business that stands out from the crowd, you need to think outside the box. Benefits such as health, life, dental, or disability insurance are something that most employers offer these days, so take things one step further. Here are some of the ways you can become the employer of the year.
Flextime
If most of your employees are working parents, offering them flexible working hours is one of the best things you can do for them. By allowing them to shift work, work from home or alter their work hours when needed, you can make their lives so much easier and accommodate their personal needs. With this benefit they will be able to drive their kids to school or pick them up, attend parent-teacher meetings, arrive on time to their kid’s dance recital or take care of their little one when they are sick. If by the end of the day the work is done and the clients are happy, there is no reason why flextime should harm your business.
Paid family leave
Unfortunately, only a small percent of companies offer any kind of formal paid leave. If you wish to distinguish your business from the pack, offering paid family leave can be a great way to do that. Besides providing maternity leave, you should also consider offering paternity leave. This way you will make sure that you are treating all of your employees equally.
Child care assistance
Every parent hates to leave their little one in a daycare center across the town, but sometimes they have no other options. If you wish to establish a more family-friendly workplace, consider providing child care onsite. You will need trained teachers and assistants, a safe environment for groups of children, and lots of toys you can easily get at FuntasticToy. This way your employees will be able to relax and focus better on their work knowing that their child is safe and just a few minutes away. In some companies these services are available at a fee that is subsidized by the employer, while others offer this benefit for free. In case that establishing a workplace daycare is simply not possible due to various technicalities, you can pay a part of employees’ daycare fees at their kid’s daycare center.
With some simple upgrades and changes you can turn your company into a family-friendly workplace and become the boss everyone will respect and gladly work for.
