A study from the Federal Reserves Bank of St. Louis looked at the productivity of 10,000 “highly skilled” economists measured in terms of the research they published over the course of their careers. Over the course of 30 years, mothers outperformed women without children at almost every stage of the game.
More evidence is coming out suggesting that parenthood motivates workers to be more productive.
There is likely some correlation between increased productivity in working parents and the quote by Benjamin Franklin: “If you want something done, ask a busy person.”
Parental burnout occurs when parents face stressors correlated with the absence of resources needed to deal with the challenges of raising and managing a family.
When it comes to workplaces, parents are seeking more family-friendly benefits and resources to support their parenting. In the absence of these aids, parents experience higher levels of physical and mental exhaustion, feel overwhelmed or shame that they’re not attending to their family life as much as they should be.
But what do working parents seek in an employer to create better balance between their work and life responsibilities?
1. Paid Parental Leave
Paid parental leave is essential for mentally/physically healthy parents and children. Parental leave is an extension of diversity and inclusion policies beyond only addressing women’s and business’ needs. It seeks to provide male employees with opportunities to spend more time with their newborn as well. Policies such as this attract a more diverse pool of candidates who are interested in a better work-life balance. From a business perspective, inclusive policies such as the availability of paternity leave showcase company’s commitment to the employees’ wellbeing and contribute to positive social and ethical outcomes that enhance company’s long-term reputation to the employees, shareholders, and customers.
2. Flexible Working Time Arrangements
Flexible working time arrangement also known as “flextime” allows the employees to adjust their start and/or end times of their workday around parenting obligations such as drop offs and pick ups from the childcare facility. Parents can additionally benefit from this type of arrangement through enhancing their equal partnership in their relationship to raise their children. The division of parenting responsibilities prevents burnout, and consequently increases job satisfaction. This policy is an excellent way to establish trust between the employee and employer, an element that is critical to enhanced employee satisfaction and loyalty.
Through flexible working time arrangements, the leaders imply: “It’s not important to me when and how you get the job done as long as it gets done properly and in time. If you need to take that yoga class during the day to help you refresh and re-focus, go ahead and take it.”
3. Flexible Working Location Arrangements
Flexible working location arrangement is another non-traditional working arrangement besides flextime. Examples include:
- Hybrid work arrangement defined as a combination of working remotely a portion of the week and working in a designated office the remainder of the time.
- Work-from-anywhere arrangement through which the employer specifies a duration when the employees get to choose where they would like to work from.
- Fully remote working arrangement
All these arrangement types help working parents achieve better work-life balance by lowering the need for commute to work and/or childcare facility for a certain duration or giving them the option of keeping their kids at home with them when they need to.
4. Modeling a Parent-Friendly Culture for All The Stakeholders – Partners, Clients, and Suppliers
Not only is creating a parent-friendly working environment a sound policy for preventing employee burnout and increasing loyalty, but it is also beneficial for the bottom line. Corporations that have a reputation for looking after their employees become attractive destinations for professionals seeking meaningful careers as well as partners, clients, and suppliers who value long-term ethical business relationships.
5. Encouraging Employees to Block Restoration Time on Their Calendars
A well-balanced and healthy working culture in organizations is a top-down approach. Executives, managers, and leaders can’t glorify overwork and exhaustion and expect the employees not to feel burnt out. Sending emails at 3 am blurs the boundaries between work and personal life and creates unnecessary pressure for the employees that for them to meet the expectations, they need to be responsive outside their working hours. It is crucial that leaders encourage employees, especially working parents, to block relaxation time on their calendars so they don’t feel burnt out trying to balance their personal and professional life.
At The End of The Day
When companies support the caregiving population, they get rewarded with a more productive and profitable workforce. It is important to note that creating a working-parent-focused culture is a top-down approach where executives and leaders demonstrate their support in practice and not just through words.
