Supporting parent colleagues

If you have a colleague who works different hours to you – it may be part-time or condensed hours – they may well be worrying about how they are perceived, not wanting to get things wrong and feeling like they have something to prove.

I have conversations with some working parents who are supported and able to have flexibility, while other parents feel pressure to act like they are working 5 days a week. And with headlines like this, a lot of assumptions and judgements can be made about working parents.

Here’s a few considerations:

• please don’t expect colleagues to work or respond to emails on days off
• encourage boundaries, so colleagues are not expected to work on days off
• making comments like “it’s alright for some” or “okay part-timer” can feel like friendly banter but it undermines your colleague, especially when made a lot
• children get sick and parents can need to take time off work, please try not to make them feel bad for having to do this
• try to understand their commitments outside of work -they may not be able to start early or stay late without notice
• good communication is really important, to understand different needs and what works as a team

Talking really helps to stay connected as a team and as colleagues so everyone can understand the needs and requirements of projects as well as the people involved. And this contributes towards a happier work environment.

I would love your thoughts and comments.

Working with parents since 2002