Is Parental Turnover Draining our Talent Pool Dry?

If you’re a working parent, you probably know what it’s like to perpetually live in the tension of balancing work and family. You wear ALL. THE. HATS. And each one seems to demand all of you. Exhausted, you fall into bed each night with nothing left…except a massive to-do list and that double dose of guilt and worry.

You feel like you’re not giving enough of yourself to your family. Simultaneously, you’re concerned that your career will stall because you can’t stay late and come in early like others can (hey, day-care actually has pretty strict operating hours).

For many, it simply becomes too much – so a choice is made. And because it’s frowned upon to quit your children, that change often falls on the employment side. As a result, businesses are losing some of the hardest working, most effective multi-taskers of their workforce. There has to be a better way, right?

We believe there is. If you don’t want your employees to choose between a thriving homelife and a prospering career with your company, help them achieve both. While every business is different and there are reasonable limitations to every position, here are 5 ways to keep your star players when they step up to the parenthood plate.

1. 1. 1. Offer a flexible work arrangement. Allow your employee to start and end their day an hour earlier so they can avoid wasting time in rush hour traffic. Consider instituting summer hours or half-day Fridays. Offer one “work from home” day a week and set them up with the technology to support it. Encourage a monthly long lunch so they can be a room mom in their kid’s classroom. There are many different scenarios, and a little flexibility can go a long way.
      2. Work together to set boundaries and clear expectations, and keep one another accountable. Put the time in to commit these details to paper, and revisit them regularly. When you’re pulling plays from the same book, it’s much easier to manage expectations on both sides. And when one side tips too far, it serves as a reference point to get things back on track.
      3. Consider a job share. If two highly collaborative, hard-working employees both have a desire to spend more time at home, work with them. Allow them to pitch you a proposal for how they can alternate schedules so seamlessly you won’t even notice a difference.
      4. Communicate their value. We all know people who wear their “busyness” like a badge of honor, but most hours logged means nothing if the needle isn’t moving. Recognize results; if someone is killing it in less time, let them know you see it and that they’re a rockstar.
      5. Ask what they need. Some employees won’t ask for a change to make it work, out of fear of looking entitled or demanding. Open the door to a conversation; approach them about how to best support them in this stage of life. Who knows? It could be something completely doable and painless on your end and make a world of difference on theirs.

At Raven Creative, we have a strong desire to do what’s right for our clients and to be present in our own family lives. As a result, we work hard and efficiently to deliver quality results in time to catch that dance recital. And…we’re hiring! Check out our careers page to learn more.