New parents—especially new dads—can suffer from stigma when they take time off after the birth of their child. And even when employers have strong paternity leave policies in place, cultural norms often discourage men from accessing the benefit.
Both situations can negatively impact the employee’s well-being and productivity. At the same time, an employer can see greater staff turnover.
New fathers who take less time or no time at all to bond with their child and assist with child care shortchange themselves, their families and their workplaces. On the other hand, a 2020 study of working fathers by McKinsey & Company found that dads felt “more motivated” after taking paternity leave and were considering staying with their organizations longer after returning from leave to be with their family and new child. Respondents to the McKinsey survey also said paternity leave made them more productive and better at prioritizing time when they came back to work.
So, how can you build a culture that lets new parents of all genders know they can and should take time off to welcome new children into their lives?
Change More Than Your Policies
Even the most generous paternity policies are not helpful if people do not take advantage of them. Also, as the report on the McKinsey survey concluded, “Having the right policy in place wasn’t sufficient if the work culture looked down on them for taking time off.” A retrograde work culture that reflects the erroneous assumption that skipping paternity leave makes a new father a better worker tells all people they should prioritize their work above everything else.
New fathers must know it is OK to prioritize their families and their lives outside of work. After all, they only spend part of their day on the job; they spend all of their day as people.
The more you can let everyone in your organization be people first and employees second, the more likely they will be to remain loyal, productive and happy. Offering generous, gender-inclusive paternity leave benefits goes a long way in this regard.
As an HR leader, you can signal that your organization encourages the use of paternity leave by embracing those who take it. Working with managers to ensure new parents’ careers do not languish due to extended leave is also important.
Offer as Much Paternity Leave as You Can
No organization is too small to offer the right mix of benefits. And as Joan Michelson pointed out in a Jan. 7, 2022, Harvard Business Review article, “Some recruiters and executives at small firms, especially tech startups, say that providing paid leave to employees—or living in a state with a public paid leave program—is increasingly making the difference in recruiting and retaining top talent.”
U.S. federal law does not mandate paid paternity leave, and the states that do require employers to offer new parents time off set low minimums. Quite simply, your organization can offer more—certainly more than unpaid time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act. If it does not, why not? After all, it is likely you pay more than minimum wage.
Although you may incur short-term costs by offering generous paternity leave benefits, you will reap long-term gains in happiness, loyalty and productivity. Do not forget that paternity leave is a benefit that supports entire families instead of just the employee who takes it.
Use Paternity Leave to Attract Talent
In addition to improving the employee experience, creating an organizational culture that embraces paternity leave can help you attract the best candidates for open positions. Making parental leave available to transgender employees and those who are not traditional biological parents of new children will further make your organization stand out as an inclusive employer.
To attract younger workers, it is critical that inclusivity is ingrained in all workplace policies. For example, at my own firm, the amount of leave available to new parents is not determined by their gender but by their identity as either a primary or secondary caregiver.
Adopting this approach to granting paternity leave can be a critical selling point for job seekers who are looking for work arrangements that respect desires for schedule flexibility. It can also help your organization keep current employees.
Build a Culture of Caring Throughout the Workday
New fathers who return from paternity leave are likely to be living their lives on changed schedules. Expect and embrace this.
As an HR leader, you can help encourage new dads to take time to care for themselves and their families throughout the workday. Specifically, HR, working with managers, can provide more flexibility to new fathers so they can take care of their children, their partners and themselves.
Inviting employees to take time for themselves is particularly important, as effective self-care has positive ripple effects for others in one’s life. So, make it possible for employees to go to the gym, talk to a therapist or just take a much-needed nap.
Acting to adequately support new fathers—and all new parents—is important for creating a psychologically safe culture in which the distinct needs of individuals are met even as the whole organization thrives. Continuously strengthening such a culture and further mitigating psychosocial risks to employees’ well-being requires organizational leaders to advocate for parents by encouraging open communication and by leading with empathy.
01 April 2022
Category
HR News Article