Supporting families starts with supporting the working moms in our own ranks .
Before I joined Nurture the Next, my husband and I had just brought home our newest little boy and I found myself unable to unplug from work.
Due to the nature of my work during my leave of absence, I found myself burning the candle from both ends, instead of being able to fully enjoy those precious first days with my son. I was working during naps or at night when all I wanted to do was hold my son in my arms and take a nap too. I had to make a change. I intentionally sought out an organization that respects work-life boundaries — a place where I could be a mom and have a career.
As an HR professional, I have worked with a lot of different organizations, but I knew I found a special place when I saw how Nurture the Next lives out the organization’s values and mission. Nurture the Next helps families build loving, nurturing homes to support the healthy development of their children. To be true to this mission, the organization’s work to support strong families starts with supporting the working parents we employ.
If your organization is looking to build more family-friendly HR policies, here is what we’re doing at Nurture the Next that I encourage you to consider:
Allow infants to be brought to work. We allow new moms the option of bringing their young babies to work to alleviate the stress of lapses in childcare. We also provide a dedicated and comfortable place to nurse or pump.
Allow for flexible work schedules. All of our staff have the ability to work with their supervisor to develop a personalized work schedule that meets the needs of the agency, while also respecting family obligations.
Provide paid family leave for all parents. Our leave policy includes paid maternity leave, paternity leave, and leave for families adopting or fostering.
Offer an emergency bank of PTO and sick leave. In addition to our generous PTO and sick leave, employees can donate paid leave to our emergency bank for others to use during times of extended need.
Align observed holidays with school closings. We consider area school calendars when setting dates for paid holidays, and observed holidays are flexible to accommodate different families’ needs.
Support the mental and emotional needs of employees. We employ an internal counselor for our staff that is there to assist with concerns in personal and work life.
Create open communication about work-life balance. We have an ongoing dialogue in our organization about balancing work-life responsibilities. This allows us the opportunity to consider policy changes in real-time to meet the changing needs of our working parents.
While our policies and practices are ever evolving, we seek to lead by example on this issue — because when moms are supported in creating a healthy work-life balance, both our workplaces and our communities are better for it. When the organization’s leadership looks at making a policy update, we don’t just look at the bottom line, we look at how that change affects our mission, the families we serve and the people fulfilling our mission through their work every day.