Supporting working parents and carers

It’s hard to balance work life alongside family life. The past couple of years that forced us all to work from home and really showed the strain parents and carers have. Now more than ever before businesses need to re-evaluate their daily working life in order to make sure that employees have the best support possible. Supporting working families and those with caring responsibilities is crucial to any organisation, as these individuals are amongst some of the best employees a company can have. If no support is offered then those employees start to feel overwhelmed, which can lead to a lower standard of work and in the worst-case scenario might even lead to people leaving entirely. To save this worst-case scenario from happening, we’ve complied a quick guide to give you some initial starting points in helping to support those with extra responsibilities.

Take the time to identify those in your organisation who might need extra support due to caring responsibilities. Don’t just wait for new individuals to join your team, make sure you speak to all employees who have childcare responsibilities. Find out if there is any way that the organisation could assist in helping employees balance their professional and personal needs. It might even be that they have noticed areas within the organisation that could be improved that wasn’t previously thought of. Doing this will provide your staff with that extra level of support and discuss any problems or concerns they may have. It will send a clear message to all working parents in the organisation that their needs are a top priority and that their concerns will be heard and taken seriously.

Create a culture that caters to everyone’s situation. Think about continuing home working, or flexible hours that can benefit those who need to think about childcare or other responsibilities. Make every employee feel welcomed and included by communicating that nobody will be judged for requesting extra flexibility. A good way to do this would be to have events for staff where they can bring along their families with them, it could be a simple picnic in the park or even a family fun quiz night via Zoom.

Have discussions on mental health. Making sure that there is a safe space available where employees can discuss anything that is bothering them is another way a company can support working families. Providing sessions where employees can discuss any challenges they are facing, know that they are not alone, and share helpful coping mechanisms is great not only for the employees but allows the company to learn more about the struggles many individuals face. There are many other things you can do to support employee mental health such as providing counselling services, putting together seminars where individuals can share their experiences, or even creating groups employees can join and discuss a specific topic over a cup of tea. We’ve written another blog post all about mental health which you should check out if you’re struggling with mental health.

To everyone juggling work and family or other caring responsibilities, we want you to know that you are doing a great job. It isn’t an easy task and it’s okay if there are times when you feel overwhelmed. Don’t feel ashamed to take time off, or switch to flexible hours in order to balance life easier. For businesses, make sure you offer your employees all the support they need, as happy and healthy employees will benefit the company as a whole.

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