Parents at typical workplaces are not alright.
As the U.S. Surgeon General noted in a recent health advisory, parents in today’s workplace face a perfect storm of loneliness, economic stress, and cultural pressure. Four in 10 (41%) parents are so stressed most days, they cannot function, according to data from the American Psychological Association.
The company you work for plays a big role in your mental health. Managers have a larger impact on employees’ mental health than their doctor or therapist.
At the 2024 Fortune Best Workplaces for Parents™ (both large and small- and medium-sized companies), a consistently positive experience at work contradicts the trend seen at typical workplaces, according to research from Great Place To Work®.
At these companies, 90% of working parents look forward to coming to work, and 91% say they want to work for their company long term. But for parents at typical workplaces, only 52% of parents look forward to their work each day, and just 65% plan to stay in their role.
What makes the difference for parents
One of the key differences between the Best Workplaces for Parents and a typical workplace is how much control parents feel they have over their experience. In practice, that often comes down to their experience with their direct manager.
“What makes the biggest difference for working parents is if they feel their people manager wants them to succeed at work and at home,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO at Great Place To Work. “Do you have a people leader who cares and listens, or are you powerless to change your experience, unable to set healthy boundaries or pursue personal goals?”
Researchers have shown that a lack of control over one’s environment directly correlates with elevated levels of stress and depression for employees. For parents, exercising autonomy can be even more challenging. Research shows that parents are spending more time at work as well as more time with their children, sacrificing personal time, leisure, and sleep.
At the Best Workplaces, 50% more parents report that management involves them in decisions compared with a typical U.S. workplace. That experience is correlated with higher levels of well-being: Parents who say management involves them in decisions are 30% more likely to say their work has meaning and 20% more likely to say their workplace is psychologically and emotionally healthy.
“When parents feel their people leader and company cares, they give more effort and your business reaps the benefits,” says Bush. “Giving parents a sense of control over their work environment unlocks their creativity and passion.”
When parents say they are involved in making decisions that affect them, they are 30% more likely to report adapting quickly to change. When parents say their work is meaningful, they are 26% more likely to give extra effort on the job.
This increase in agility and discretionary effort is crucial for innovation, as new technology like AI forces companies to reinvent themselves at a breakneck pace.
How to give working parents more control
The Best Workplaces for Parents offer a clear alternative for creating workplace norms where parents can thrive.
Here’s how companies that made this year’s list listen and respond to the needs of parents to offer more flexibility and make work more meaningful:
1. Ensure working parents at every level of the organization can share feedback about their experience.
The Best Workplaces use multiple listening channels to make sure they collect feedback about the experience of parents across the organization.
Wegmans Food Markets, the No. 26 large company on the list, schedules leaders to work shoulder-to-shoulder alongside frontline employees and hold regular one-on-one meetings to get feedback. Hilton, the No. 3 large company on the list, brings team members together for a daily huddle before each shift to share key information and collect feedback.
At tax consulting firm Ryan, No. 13 on the large company list, senior leaders hold regular listening sessions with a cross section of 12 to 15 employees to get feedback and then take action on common themes uncovered.
2. Maximize flexibility to directly address the needs of parents in the organization.
After listening to parents, winning workplaces take action to offer more flexibility and choice to employees.
At Wegmans, employee feedback uncovered how frontline employees struggled to manage at-home responsibilities without a consistent weekly schedule. The grocery chain created a company-wide program to give hourly employees a consistent day off each week, making it easier for employees to schedule personal events. (Hear more about how Wegmans embraces flexibility.)
At Hilton, team members can choose how they work and what type of work they do through gig work opportunities. Hilton allows team members who qualify to select shifts and explore new roles, potentially learning new skills and growing into a new career.
3. Empower parents to make a difference in their role.
Having meaningful work improves employee retention across your entire workforce. For parents, meaningful work can justify the sacrifices and tradeoffs needed to juggle work and family responsibilities.
Like any other employee group, working parents want to develop their skills and grow their careers. Cisco, the No. 1 large company on the list, gives every employee access to personalized one-on-one career coaching sessions.
To ensure that every employee can make an impact, Cisco invests in programs like its Women Inventor Network, which aims to increase the number of employees who submit patents and participate in innovation.
Programs don’t have to directly target working parents to have an impact. Since parents are represented in most demographic groups in the workplace, efforts to support those groups also benefit parents.
When every employee has a better experience, working parents benefit as well.
Ted Kitterman is a content manager at Great Place To Work.
