It's a fact that most parents hold jobs; indeed, most of them must work for financial reasons. In order to understand how working parents are represented in the Canadian labour force, consider the following summary.
Remember, these statistics are very likely reflected in your own organization. In a very real way, they can help business owners gain perspective and become more appreciative of the struggles that working parents can face.
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Source: The Vanier Insitute of the Family
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What Do Working Parents Need to Succeed?
It’s undeniable that demand is growing for employers to offer more flexible work options. According to a study by Harris / Decima, 89 per cent of employees feel that a flexible work program makes a company more attractive, and flexible work was considered the second most important factor, after money, when Canadians are looking for a new job.
Flexible work arrangements not only affect your ability to attract top talent, it also has other flow on effects of improved employee engagement, retention, and performance. Flexibility in the workplace can take on many forms and different focuses.
Initiatives can relate to:
- hours – flextime, compressed weeks, part-time
- performance – results-oriented key performance indicators (KPIs), earned days off
- workstyles – telecommuting, flexible workspaces, job sharing
- lifestyle – phased-in retirement, on-site facilities (e.g. day cares, gym, housing)
You don’t have to be a big business to implement flexible work options. Use the above examples as inspiration for implementing flexible working best practices into your business. Flexible workplaces are as much about attitude and management culture as they are about formal programs. And any company that finds a way to implement more flexibility into their culture will find themselves winning top talent over their competitors.
Source: www.theheadhunters.ca
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"Family-friendly benefits are important to all working Canadians," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. "Employees' needs change over time, beginning with maternity and parental leave top-up and daycare assistance, then moving on to flexible and alternative working arrangements to help with childcare and caring for older family members."
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How Can Employers Better Support Parents?
Working parents in the United Kingdom recently took part in a survey called Striking the Balance. They suggested five key actions which employers - both in the UK and right here in Canada - could adopt to better support working parents:
1. Practice increased flexibility
Increased flexibility can happen through the provision of policies, such as flextime or compressed hours. However, a flexible approach could simply include adjusting parents' schedules when they need to take time off to deal with emergencies. Some parents suggested allowing parents to work at home when their children are ill, or allowing the build-up of time off in lieu to facilitate other commitments.
2. Ensure equality of opportunity
Numerous parents commented that once they were on a part-time contract they were no longer eligible to apply for senior roles, or conversely managers or senior officials felt that they could no longer request flexibility. A number of respondents suggested solutions to this such as home-working or job-share.
3. Provide better information
Many respondents asked that their employers provided better, up-front information on the policies which are available to them, both statutory entitlements and company policy. A number of ways to communicate this information were suggested, for example using the staff intranet, company newsletters, during inductions, and staff workshops.
4. Offer Childcare Support
The cost of childcare can cause a significant financial burden for families, and finding affordable and suitable childcare can also be a challenge. Many parents suggested that their employer could help with childcare through providing a Childcare Voucher scheme, which can help parents save on their childcare bill.
Other parents suggested that employers make available onsite childcare for their employees. This is convenient for parents, and can also help save money on the cost.
5. Be more understanding
Aside from all other asks, many parents simply called for their employers to be more understanding of working parents and their needs. A number of respondents commented that they wished for their employer to be more approachable and open to supporting parents and discussing flexibility.
For those employers who offer family friendly work practices, parents called for employers to respect the policies in place, for example looking at the workload of part-time employees and managing their work expectations better, or not organizing meetings during non-working hours.
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Coach's Corner: Make Vacation Non-Negotiable
We all know that vacations allow people to recharge their batteries and come back as better workers. As a smart business leader, it's incumbent upon you to scan your organization and determine: 1) Has every one of your people taken their allotted vacation in the past year? 2) Does anyone have significant accumulated rollover days? Who — and why? 3) How many of them are working parents?
Professionals working in high-performance organizations often, even in the absence of direct pressure to do so, voluntarily bypass holidays and time off. Among working parents, this practice is particularly dangerous, leading to burnout, family issues, performance decline, or attrition.
It's critical for the health of your employees - as well as the health of the organization - that everyone takes their entitled vacation. Here are four ways to ensure that happens:
1. Have a Clear Employee Vacation Policy
First, make sure your employee vacation policy is clearly outlined. A policy that is clear and available to all shows that you, as the employer, value the importance of vacation time for employees. If your employees feel supported in taking their vacations, they are more likely to use them.
2. Make Vacationing Part of Workplace Wellness
A culture of workplace wellness is critical to encouraging a positive atmosphere and a productive team. Build vacation into this culture.
3. Don't Tolerate Vacation Shaming
Vacation shaming occurs when co-workers, or even bosses, discourage people from taking vacations. Even if this is done in a joking manner, the result is that employees feel guilty for taking time off. If every employee feels free and able to take regular vacations, it’s less likely they will shame others for doing so.
4. Take Your Own Regular Vacations
One of the easiest ways to communicate the value and benefits of vacations to your employees is to take your own, and set boundaries around your time off. By doing this, you empower your employees to do the same.
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