As a business owner, the key to success is prioritising your employee's happiness. Your employees hold the power to make or break your business, and if they are happy, healthy and motivated, then this will certainly have a positive impact upon your business. Finding the right work-life balance will help with employee retention, will increase productivity within the workspace and will assist with the collaborative efforts. As a business owner, you have to understand that the people who work for you have other responsibilities, and that when they have children, this will come above anything else. Making their lives easier and helping them out in different situations will be massively appreciated and will help everything to become more salient and smooth running. Here are some of the simple ways that you can assist with your employees who have children...
Provide easier childcare access:
Many small companies are unable to provide childcare facilities, which is completely understandable. But there are several different ways that you can provide easier access to childcare for your employees. You could, for example, provide your employees who are parents with vouchers for childcare as part of your salary package - this will not only be appreciated, but it will also be attractive to potential employees. A lot of people consider the bonus package as well as the salary when accepting a job offer, so it is important to cater to the individual if you want to increase employee acquisition.
Encourage Communication:
Communication is key in any situation, without communication, operations can become unorganised, disconnected and people can become unhappy relatively quickly. Discussing personal life in work can feel difficult, but it is important to provide your employees with the opportunity to talk about their feelings on work. Conducting regular reviews with all employees can have a really positive impact on your working environment. This will give you the opportunity to build a relationship with everybody individually and will help you to gain an understanding of what is impacting on their life. Whether they are struggling for childcare, with home life, are trying to conceive or are considering becoming a foster carer it's important to offer a level of support and try to assist in their work life balance.
Encourage flexible working:
Flexibly working can take a number of forms, from reducing the working hours of a parent (if requested), to allowing them to work from home or part time. As well as this, you could also allow them to start an hour earlier/ later and finish and hour earlier/ later. This will ensure that the work is still getting completed, but also showing that you are understanding of your employees situation and are willing to cater to them.
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