As a leader or hiring manager, you might think you have a “family friendly” work culture because throughout your time at the organization you’ve been able to work from home when needed, or take time off to handle a family emergency. But is that the experience all of your employees or colleagues have had? How do you know if the people you work with, or the people who work for you would say your company has “family friendly” policies and culture?
Read the Reviews
Have you ever been out to Glassdoor or LinkedIn to read what your employees are saying about your organization? Compare what employees are saying to the company narrative that is likely on your organization’s web site.
Does your company talk about employees and how it creates employee support? Additionally, creating an environment for working parents starts at the top. Look at senior leadership and the company’s board of directors. Can you tell from the company web site if they have families? Do they talk about a family-friendly environment? Are there women? If you’re answering no to most of these questions, your company may not be projecting as much of a family-friendly environment as you think. Wherever the company features employees on the web site, such as in published articles, on its blog, or in press releases, is there information on a day in the life that suggests a reasonable work life, or signals that colleagues and the company as a whole have positively impacted employees’ work life or family?
Once you read your reviews and compare with what the company web site is saying, think critically about if there’s truth to any negative comments, or if the company constructed narrative supports or deviates from real employee experiences.
Listen to How Your Employees/ Colleagues Describe Policies in an Interview with a New Hire
One surefire way to understand how your colleagues and employees feel about the family friendly nature of your company is to listen to how they “sell” the organization in an interview with a potential new hire. Hopefully the candidate is asking questions like, “What do you like best about working here,” and your employees and colleagues will answer honestly. What do your colleagues and employees highlight in their answer(s)? What do they fail to mention? If there is no mention of the perks that you have received when it comes to the flexibility or support you’ve required from time to time, it might be a sign that your journey at the company is more of an exception versus the rule.
Ask Your Team
According to a June 2020 survey conducted by PwC of executives and office workers, “Most office workers (83%) want to work from home at least one day a week, and half of employers (55%) anticipate that most of their workers will do so long after COVID-19 is not a concern.” Covid-19 has shifted how employers approach flexibility, especially remote work. Ask about their experience during the pandemic. How did managers and your company support employees who were supervising their children’s distance learning or caring for young children? Are flexibility and remote work now built into the work culture — or was that temporary? Do you think your company is ready to offer the kind of work from home situation the PwC survey is suggesting your employees already want or expect? Remember, being family friendly extends beyond managing work life with your children.
It is easier to assume that everyone around you at work wants to be there, and has had the same advantages you have had if you’ve been able to take time off when needed, and get flexibility in your work schedule when life demands it. However, if you assume that your experience is the same as all your colleagues and employees, you might be surprised what you learn when you ask them about their experience, read your company reviews, and listen to what they say when trying to “sell” the company to a candidate in an interview. Once you’re aware of the pluses and minuses other people are citing, you as a leader will have the data and information you need to go to work on meaningful change if needed. If you decide to act on your new found information, not only will you be positioned better to keep your best talent, but attract the right kind of talent to enable your organization to be successful in the future.