Managers, managers, managers – they’re the problem and the solution. The Moms First and McKinsey study this week on how men and women take parental leave was another reminder.
Think of it by analogy: What location is to real estate value, managers are to workplace policies.
How much that center-hall colonial sells for is going to be determined more by its location than the color of its countertops. The same holds true for workplace policies, particularly those around parental leave and caregiving. A company may spend millions creating the world’s most equitable parental leave policy, but it’s people managers who are going to determine how employees avail themselves of those policies.
When I read the findings of the Moms First report, I wasn’t surprised.
Headline: “New York Dads Forgo $1.6 Billion in Paid State Leave, Study Says”
Takeaway: More men are eligible for parental leave than women – because of workforce participation. More women take the leave offered to them than men.
Of all the reasons men gave for not taking leave, one stood out: “More than two-thirds of men said they didn’t think taking leave was necessary because their partner would be doing so.”
I think there’s a lot more fear of losing their job – or fear of being sidelined – for men in this response.
Managers confuse presence in the office with productivity and fail to appreciate the bottom-line benefit of encouraging fathers and mothers to take parental leave. They think about physical necessity for mothers, not institutional success for mothers, fathers and the company when employees take leave and return.
What can managers do? Here a few strategies, ranked by difficulty:
Lowest: When a female employee tells you she’s pregnant, say, “Congratulations!” and be quiet.
Lower: When a male employee says he’s going to take parental leave, resist at all costs the urge to crack a joke about him having nothing to do.
Low: Do NOT share your experience about working through countless seminal moments in your children’s lives as if it was a badge of honor, not something you regret and would like to do over.
Medium: Create a plan for male and female employees going on and returning from parental leave. Help them prepare themselves and their colleagues so everyone is successful. Plan for leave like you would plan for everything else in your organization.
Medium-High: Communicate to more senior, skeptical managers that parental leave for men is a net benefit to the company. It instills short-term loyalty, medium-term continuity and long-term opportunity since working moms and dads will be more easily assessed based on their ability, not just their presence in the office.
High: Parent by your calendar even if you’ve never done this before. Let people throughout the organization see that you’re able to work at a high level and still be an involved parent. Just like kids, employees watch what you do more than they listen to what you say!
