27 Apr How to Always Support Parent Employees with TLC
by Jennifer Gillette, Founder & Owner of The Loved Child Parenting Center
Have you noticed that during these uncertain times we have been inundated by articles and social media posts addressing the dire need to support parent employees? As I shared recently in a post on The Loved Child’s blog, I see this new focus on parent employees as one of the silver linings of the current Covid-19 pandemic.
I couldn’t be more pleased with all the recent attention in the press on the many challenges parent employees face when attempting to integrate professional and personal responsibilities. I’ve spent the last 28 years professionally dedicated to parents and the many challenges and joys they face while parenting children. Company leaders today should be providing extra care and support for their parent employees. And, as important, after these stressful months of the Covid-19 pandemic, business leaders should continue to support parent employees in the workplace.
How can business leaders currently (and continue to) support the parent employee community? Honestly, it really is quite simple and inexpensive to do so. Take a look at the services my company provides through our TLC Parents@Work program at The Loved Child. Our team of professionals include perinatal health specialists, parenting coaches, child development & behavior experts, nutritionists, sleep therapists, and mental health & wellness professionals. These professionals facilitate regularly scheduled TLC Conversation Group series in the workplace at the lunch hour (of course, now virtual) starting with groups for expectant employees, to groups for employees of babies and young children, to parent employee groups of tweens and teens. In addition to employees gaining evidence-based parenting information from trusted professionals, these groups build strong relationships and community between employees.
As shown by the work of Joseph Fuller at Harvard Business School, providing support, education, and community for caregivers in the workplace benefits both the employer and employee (e.g. increasing morale, loyalty and retention rates, decreasing stress, attracting top talent etc.) Business leaders can learn from the experience of thoughtful leaders such as Alex Yastrebenetsky, founder of InfoTrust, who wrote an article way back in September 2018 for Inc.com highlighting four ways InfoTrust supports working parents. It certainly isn’t a surprise to me to see the numerous awards InfoTrust has received over the years for its family-friendly work environment.
If you are a parent employee or business leader and feel as if your organization would benefit from the advantages of parent-friendly benefits, I welcome you to reach out and learn more about TLC Parents@Work services at jennifergillette@