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Empowering mothers in the workplace requires a thoughtful and multi-faceted approach. Today, women in most households still shoulder the majority of family and household responsibilities while also working full-time. It’s not fair – and to say there’s a lot to juggle and have on your plate is an understatement. The reality is that every little thing is expected of mom, each at home and at work, which could be extremely difficult and discouraging physically, mentally and emotionally.
As a mother and entrepreneur, finding ways to upskill mothers in my very own company and create a culture that really encourages work-life balance has been top of mind for me from day one. From the starting ZenToes in 2015, I grew my circle of relatives, hired an amazing team of ladies who did the same, and managed to grow Zentoes into a multi-million dollar business with the help of my team.
While it’s amazing to see your organization’s success visible through metrics and revenue growth, what’s most rewarding is seeing how committed our incredible team of employees are to growing with us. Below, I’ve provided seven suggestions for other entrepreneurs looking to empower their employees.
1. Have flexible hours and working conditions
Remote work options play a key role in giving mothers flexibility in their schedules to balance family responsibilities, including every little thing from pick-ups and drop-offs to sick days at home with the kids. They can even develop an overall happier attitude to work.
2. Put women in leadership positions
Having women in leadership positions is crucial to creating opportunities for mentoring and supporting the next wave of leaders. Creating opportunities for other women in the workplace helps elevate all women.
3. Support skilled development
We strongly consider that we must always not doubt the gaps in some women’s lives regarding staying at home with young children. Parenting could be a huge lesson in learning how to manage people. It is also vital to offer skilled development opportunities, especially to help mothers feel more confident when they are outside the labor market.
4. Encourage work-life balance
Prioritize open and honest conversations with employees about mom guilt and the need to “do it all.” Employees will feel happier and perform higher when they feel at ease and balanced in their personal and skilled lives. We want to create a space where women who have began or are planning to start a family can devote time to achieving success each at work and in their family life.
5. Provide sick leave to cover vacation time
This applies to each side of the parental relationship! At my company, our small, energetic team had to discover and create redundancies to be certain that work continued to move forward and we weren’t left without care while a parent was on leave. (*7*) standard operating procedures and shared decision-making processes have played a key role in ensuring our success.
6. Allowing you to socialize at work
It is useful to organize informal, weekly team-building meetings that cover social topics and enable group knowledge sharing among our employees. This is a moment where everyone cannot just focus on work or family, but can share themselves as individuals.
7. Don’t forget about the partners on the other side of working mothers
Offer the same advantages to each partners in the family – flexible working hours, break day work, etc. – to level things up and enable partners to be more equal at home. If they have the same flexibility, there ought to be correlation in taking on responsibilities, which is good for supporting a more equal future. In my home, my husband, who took over much of the household chores, played a key role in the success of ZenToes.
Entrepreneurs should approach the creation of labor policies, arrangements, advantages and integration initiatives in a holistic way, paying particular attention to the diverse needs of all employees, especially mothers. Ultimately, mothers are an incredibly helpful a part of any business team, bringing vision and a uniquely thoughtful perspective to their work every day. Allowing balance, honesty and communication is key. Your company and all of your employees will profit more as a result.