It’s no secret that many employees want more flexibility and a better work/life balance. Many employees want the option to work from home when possible, and they want factors to be compensated more fairly.
Retaining employees via benefits is important, as it’s much cheaper and more beneficial to keep current employees than to find new ones.
In the wake of COVID-19, parents are one demographic that needs more support in the workplace, especially lactating parents, so learning effective strategies for retaining them is crucial.
In this article, you’ll learn five helpful strategies for retaining parents in the workplace.
Provide Great Health Insurance
If you want to keep parents at your workplace, consider re-assessing your health insurance. Good health insurance is a significant benefit that most employees desire. Solid health insurance policies will attract people to your company and will also help you keep your top talent.
Parents, in particular, need health insurance to care for their families. If you don’t have good health insurance, parents will have to pay more out-of-pocket to have children and cover health needs.
Offer Lactation Support
As you look at your health insurance policies, one area where you should consider providing extra support is lactation healthcare. Many insurance holders will cover lactation consultants for postpartum parents, which is a big draw for new parents.
A certified lactation consultant is there to help lactating parents in this new period of their lives, including their transition back into the workplace.
Other lactation benefits for employees you should offer include a private area for postpartum parents to pump and insurance-supplied breast pumps.
The postpartum period is a vulnerable, nuanced, and deeply personal time. While hospital-based lactation care is crucial, it often falls short of fully supporting parents during this challenging phase. In contrast, workplace-sponsored lactation programs provide parents with the essential support they require to thrive.
Provide Flexibility In Scheduling & PTO
Many employees want flexibility. After COVID-19 had many people working from home, it changed how many individuals related to their jobs.
Now, employees look for employers that provide options such as hybrid remote work or unlimited PTO. While not all companies can offer these exact perks, it’s worth looking at your policies and procedures.
Offering flexibility will attract and retain parents, as they need the ability to leave to take care of their kids.
Encourage Good Work/Life Balance
Along with providing better health insurance and flexibility, changing your company culture around work and time off is vital. You want to build a workplace where employees feel they can ask for help and use their vacation days.
You don’t want to promote a work environment where everyone has to work extra and run themselves into the ground. If you do this, you’re likely to lose many parents, as they will go to new companies that are more family-friendly and supportive.
Train Employees To Support Each Other
While the way management acts plays a role in employee retention, other employees also impact the culture. If you want to create an environment that’s welcoming to postpartum parents, and all parents, you need to promote team building and a supportive environment for everyone.
Most likely, your employees will come from many backgrounds and have various family situations. Encourage everyone to make friends and support one another, whether they are parents or not.
In Conclusion: Offer Healthcare And Emotional Support
As owners, managers, or HR professionals, the above strategies will help you maintain your employees as they start and grow their families. You can offer specific perks and benefits for postpartum parents and for families in general.
While you can cater this advice to suit your specific company, these five tips will go a long way in retaining parents in the workplace.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.