7 Key Strategies for Retaining Working Fathers
More than any generation before them, today’s working fathers increasingly prioritise a healthy work-family balance, recognising the importance of being actively involved in their children’s lives and wanting to be an engaged parent. As a result, many men are seeking flexible work arrangements and supportive policies that allow them to fulfil their roles both at home and in their careers without compromise. What does this mean for organisations? It means retaining working fathers through the ongoing cultivation of a diverse and inclusive environment should be a top focus.
In a recent webinar hosted by Bright Horizons, a panel of representatives from clients BCLP and Citi shed light on some effective strategies to support and retain young working fathers. Here are seven key strategies that were highlighted during the discussion…
- Promote Flexible Working Arrangements
Offering flexible working arrangements is one of the most effective ways to help working fathers balance their professional and personal lives. With various options, such as part-time schedules, remote/hybrid work, and flexible hours, you can enable your employees to successfully accommodate their competing responsibilities without the threat of burnout. One of the panelists, Chris Bryant, a partner at BCLP, emphasised the importance of organisations having role models (particularly in leadership positions) who demonstrate that flexible working is accepted and does not hinder career progression. Chris noted, “Dads want to be hands-on. They want to be involved and present in their children’s lives in ways that weren’t always possible for men in the past. They want shared parental leave, flexibility, and accommodation for childcare circumstances, but also want to do so without damaging their career.”
- Enhance Parental Leave Policies
Parental leave is a significant concern for working fathers and new fathers-to-be. Nearly 30% of the webinar respondents, made up of HR leaders, indicated their employees perceive challenges with gaining sufficient leave, as well as confidence in taking it. Organisations like BCLP and Citi are leading the charge by having increased their paternity leave and offering enhanced shared parental leave to their people. It is policies like this that not only support fathers but also promote gender equity by encouraging both parents to share childcare responsibilities. These policies directly reflect what working parents desire and have a great impact on talent retention and employee loyalty. Marek Broniewski from Citi shared his experience, saying, “Leave has been very important for us. We benefited from shared parental leave, allowing me to take six months off when my second child was born. We traveled around Europe, which was a formative experience for our family. We also have a sabbatical policy, which allowed us to travel around Asia last year. These opportunities to unplug from work and spend time together as a family have been incredibly helpful.”
- Provide Back-Up Care Solutions
Back-Up Care is a real sanity-saver for working parents facing unexpected childcare challenges. Both Chris and Marek shared personal experiences where Bright Horizons’ Back-Up Care service enabled them to manage work commitments during childcare emergencies. Chris said, “Our firm provides a service called Back-Up Care, which is fantastic. Just recently, it got me out of a very tight spot. My partner was away for the week with work, and I had a crucial court hearing to attend. Our nanny called in sick early in the morning, and Back-Up Care literally saved me.” Organisations should certainly consider implementing comprehensive family solutions, such as the ones Bright Horizons offers, to provide their employees with reliable care options that even include adult and elder care alongside childcare.
- Create and Nurture a Supportive Culture
Creating a culture of psychological safety is crucial for retaining working fathers. Emma George from BCLP highlighted the importance of senior leaders making employees feel comfortable taking extended leave. Once again, promoting role models and storytelling within your organisation can help normalise the idea of fathers taking an active role in childcare. Managers play a key role in the way parents experience the organisation’s culture. Communication can be enhanced through tools such as the Parental Leave Toolkit which Bright Horizons provides to both Citi and BCLP. This hand-holds the team member and manager through every step of parental leave and return. Adding one-to-one or group coaching to this gives employees the opportunity to take charge of the transition, keep their career on track, fulfil their values in relation to home life and communicate influentially with stakeholders at work and beyond.
- Encourage and Formalise Support Networks
Support networks, such as family and carers networks, provide employees with a platform to share their experiences, further promote storytelling, and access relevant and timely advice and resources. BCLP and Citi both have active networks and Emma George also discussed the firm’s Buddy Scheme. All of these are excellent examples of how organisations can foster the mutual support which professionals are so willing to offer to each other, given a light structure as a scaffold... Networks can help employees navigate the challenges of balancing work and family life, normalise the doubts and concerns and share solutions.
- Communicate Effectively
Effective communication is key to ensuring all employees are aware of the support, services and resources available to them. Jenny Rolfe from Citi stressed the importance of using multiple communication channels to reach employees. Regularly promoting policies and benefits through emails, newsletters, training, and even events can help ensure that employees are informed and feel supported throughout every life stage. There is no one-and-done communication campaign with information for parents or carers. There will always be new waves of your population who may not have tuned in to what is available until they really need it.
- Address Gender Assumptions
Overcoming gender assumptions about parenting roles is a significant challenge that employees and their managers face. During the webinar, one of the poll results showed that 23% of respondents faced this issue within the workplace. It is vital for organisations to actively work towards changing and updating these perceptions by promoting gender-neutral policies, using gender-inclusive language, and encouraging all employees to take advantage of parental leave and flexible working options. Chris highlighted this issue, saying, “I think there’s a difference in how the genders are perceived in terms of their needs. People are sometimes surprised that as a man in a senior position, I would want flexibility for childcare reasons. The pandemic definitely helped change these perceptions, and also showed that flexible working is both feasible and effective.” Marek added, “I think companies should recognise the different needs of fathers and mothers. For fathers, there’s often concern about taking leave in the first place, so companies should advertise leave policies clearly and provide role models and support programmes to encourage their fathers to take advantage of these benefits. Additionally, fathers may need different kinds of support to help their partners who are dealing with the physical and psychological impacts of having young children.”
When it comes to retaining working fathers, successful organisations require a multifaceted approach that includes flexible working arrangements, enhanced parental leave policies, reliable Back-Up care services, a supportive culture including networks, good communication and gender-inclusive approaches. By implementing these steps, organisations can create an environment where working fathers feel valued and supported - and able to whole-heartedly pursue both family life and a thriving career - ultimately leading to higher retention and job satisfaction.
You can watch this webinar, Gender Equality in the workplace: How to retain young fathers, on demand here.
For more information on Bright Horizons Back-Up Care, download the Back-Up Care Guide here, and visit our website to discover the full range of flexible benefits and childcare solutions we offer.
