Working from home had been on the rise in the years before the Covid-19 outbreak, but because lockdowns made it necessary for staff to work remotely, many individuals now consider it to be a way of life. When a person works from home, they may take care of anyone who needs their attention without having to take time off from work, which is a convenience for those who have someone to look after.
Those who were accustomed to taking care of their family while working from home now confront hurdles as some firms resume regular workdays in the office. Some of the finest ways businesses may support working parents are listed below to help employers give their team members who are also caregivers at home the best possible chance at success.
1. Offer them the resources they need to succeed
Try to provide the conditions that will enable your employees to succeed after learning what they need. They might require a flexible work schedule, on-site childcare, occasional remote work, or some combination of these. Employers lose exceptional people all too frequently to rival companies that choose to think creatively instead of following the “ways it’s always been done.”
2. Adopt an outcome-based approach to work
Utilize outcome-based working to maintain flexibility. There should be some level of freedom between work and home as long as the working parents accomplish their objectives, turn in their reports, and attend needed meetings. As we progress in that direction, a hybrid culture must take into account the terrain of remote labour.
3. Present effective assistance initiatives
Working parents who work for your company can remain more engaged and productive with flexible work schedules and a good support system. Parents who are working might value the chance to receive help with prepared meals or support from child care groups. Benefits programmes that address their demands can be delivered by your team with the support of an understanding of its members.
4. Create a culture of ethics and integrity
In order to achieve a healthy work-life balance, organisations must develop sound procedures and a culture of it. Provide remote and flexible working options, promote breaks, and place more emphasis on output than on labour hours. Allow your workers to offer their time. Increase parental assistance and rethink vacation time. It would be wise to include more child care benefits.
5. Find innovative solutions together with your staff
A must-have quality is flexibility. For the greatest, most innovative support, employers must collaborate with employees. Encourage working parents to take the necessary time to care for their families. Employees are continually working digitally and are productive regardless of the time or location they work, therefore the typical 9-to-5 workday doesn’t truly exist anymore.
6. Make Schedules Customizable
Be cautious about making generalisations. Allow for flexible scheduling of the workweek. For some people, that would entail a four-day workweek with ten-hour workdays. Others might entail spending three days at work and two days working remotely. You can foster an environment of empowerment by allowing employees to suggest a work schedule (pending business permission). It’s a win-win situation all around if work productivity is measured and scheduling flexibility is allowed.
7. Ascertain whether they are available for meetings
If a team meeting, catch-up call, check-in, or other event is required, poll your team to determine the best day and time for everyone to attend. Nowadays, not everyone has a 9 to 5 job, so we need to be deliberate in how we approach this and how we want our people to manage their time.
8. Clearly Classify Communications
By classifying conversations, especially those that take place after business hours, you can reduce the stress that working parents experience in their personal and professional lives. Each email should have a heading, such as “For next week,” “Need ASAP,” or “Not urgent.” Working parents will be better able to balance their job and personal lives while maintaining productivity if they can categorise what needs to be done immediately and what can wait until Monday.
9. Encourage openness and communication
Businesses can best support working parents by promoting open communication, honesty, and openness. It is crucial to provide leaders with chances to periodically check in with their teams and give pertinent feedback about prioritisation and scheduling. When they feel comfortable speaking openly with their manager, workers who are juggling job and caregiving obligations will remain most dedicated.
10. Adopt An Equity-Based Approach
Companies should implement an equity-based strategy that strives to comprehend and support each person’s needs as much as feasible. Enabling flexible work schedules that allow parents to adjust their working hours to accommodate the requirements of their family would be one of the simplest and most obvious methods to better support this for working parents.
11. Show empathy
Flexibility and empathy will be essential to preserving balance as more working parents return to the workplace and as many deal with the difficulties of working away from home once more. Employee engagement, well-being, and, ultimately, sustained business success will depend on employers allowing workers to rearrange their schedules to take care of kids while still juggling job priorities.
12. Establish A Community For Parents
The importance of community and constant communication cannot be overstated. Giving working parents a place and a group in which to interact has proven to be quite beneficial. For working parents to exchange tips and information, we’ve set up a “community” area inside our internal social networks. Community and communication both support the development of caring relationships and interpersonal relationships.
13. Place more emphasis on the quality of the work than the number of hours worked
Create a culture where quality of work is valued more than the number of hours worked. Lacking this competitive advantage, businesses will find it harder and harder to keep people on staff. Employees can work when it is most productive for them thanks to flexible work schedules. Inform your leadership teams on inclusive work practises and why a standard 9-to-5 schedule doesn’t promote everyone’s excellent performance.
14. Increase the Amounts That Are Eligible For Child Care Or Senior Care
If you provide a personal spending account or wellness account, think about extending the list of acceptable expenses to include child care or senior care in order to support your employees who provide care at home. To cover a few child care service visits (at home or at a centre) with a nearby provider is another approach to help reduce the stress of a double workday at home.
15. Extend The Meaning Of “Working Parents”
The demands of workers can be greatly impacted by extending the concept of “working parents” to include all caregiver connections, including as foster parents and extended family members acting as primary caregivers. Supporting working carers requires going beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and fostering an environment where expressing concerns and needs is welcomed.
