Confession time.
Until this year, my kids had rarely seen my husband Matt cook, clean, grocery shop or do childcare drop off. He’s an accountant, working a fairly a demanding job with long hours and frequent travel. Since we had kids five years ago, I’ve worked part time and been responsible for most of the domestic stuff.
That all changed this year when our respective employers supported us to flip our home roles. Matt took three months off on paid parental leave, while I returned to work full time.
As partners and parents, Matt and I both ‘get’ each other much better now, knowing what it’s like on both sides of the fence. We’ve had our share of heated discussions (putting it mildly) over the past two months as we’ve got used to our new roles but the experience has been overwhelmingly positive and made us stronger as a couple.
There certainly seems to be growing recognition of the important role that business plays in society – including family life. Last week NAB chairman Ken Henry told the Australian Institute of Company Directors that they have to deliver more than profit. "We [in business] will have to demonstrate that we are engaging not out of self-interest, but because we share a mission to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people.”
If businesses genuinely want to ‘improve the wellbeing of the Australian people’ they should start with their own employees.
The reality is that most men are scared to take time out to be the primary carer of their children because of the perceived negative impact on their career.
One step in creating a happy, functional society is for business leaders to step up, make it acceptable and easy for shared parental leave to be a reality – and to support families of all different structures. At DAN, we have a dedicated Diversity & Inclusion Council who have delivered some major changes over the past year to drive this. Including an extended paid parental leave scheme (four months for any primary carer whilst the baby is under a year old), flexible working arrangements and a complete review of our parental leave experience.
Konrad Spilva, a DAN ANZ board member, head of innovation and CEO of Isobar Group, recently returned from a four month work break after the birth of his first child. Talk about leading by example!
We need to make it acceptable, in fact desirable, for men to step up at home. And for women to let go of the pressure to be solely responsible for childcare and home life. Workplaces saying ‘we support you’ is a massive first step in recognising the multitude of ways that the unpaid workforce (of mainly women) fuels our society through giving their time to kinders, schools, kid’s sports, and more.
My experience proves that change IS possible if business leaders can work through the inconveniences of having staff take time off, work part-time and work flexible hours around their family and community commitments. It’s so powerful to have a leader who shows empathy for your life outside of work, and the loyalty to the business that this promotes is massive.
Our industry is all about innovation and creativity. How amazing would it be if we could channel that focus into making sure our agencies contribute positively to society – starting with the family lives of their own people.
On a final note – this article is written through the lense of my own experience as part of a family with one male and one female parent. I recognise that families come in all shapes and sizes. I hope that sharing my experience will encourage employers to drive change to support all their people no matter what the circumstances. And that it will encourage parents across the board to know that shared parental leave does work.
I’d love to hear from you on your own experiences and what you think business leaders need to do to drive change. If you’d like to here most about our experience check out our podcast interview as part of the Dentsu Aegis Network Leadership Series.
By senior public affairs manager, ANZ at Dentsu Aegis Network