How great organisations cultivate attitudes to parental leave

More organisations crafting paid leave policies for parents of all genders and making it available for all employees.  Sarah Olin, Founder and CEO of LUMO, a leadership and management consultancy, shared the importance of organisations taking the time to create the proper workplace culture to cultivate and boost the attitude towards paid parental leave, as most organisations “still fall short” on the topic.

Employees should feel comfortable about sharing pregnancy leave with their managers and should include conversations about employee’s concerns and the kind of support they need, she explained in Fast Company.

This first stage includes creating succession plans for proper task takeovers during the leave period. Olin recommended that these tasks should be written down so that there is clear instruction and less panic, as well as a properly communicated plan on the type of contact the employee would want with the organisation during the leave period.

The second stage, which happens within the leave period, should have employees not entertain any requests to work. The employee in turn should reach out to their organisation in advance of their scheduled return to let them know of any changes in the pre-arranged plan.

The final stage which focuses on the return to work, should “take place gradually” by acknowledging the employee’s return to work, as well as holding one-on-one meetings with the employee to check in on the support needed. Olin recommended assigning a “transition buddy” to help bring the employee up to speed on the things needed in the first several days, scheduling the employee’s return on a Thursday to allow for better ease of return and rejuvenation, and holding off giving them a full workload during the first full week back.

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“All of this requires expertise in how to communicate about parental leave in ways that are respectful, empathetic, and nonintrusive,” Olin pointed out. “This is why manager training is a must. Managers need to learn the best, most productive ways to handle issues surrounding parental leave.” When employees are supported, Olin concluded, they become more productive, innovative, loyal, and engaged, and this result reflects well on the organisation.