On August 28, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy put out an Advisory titled, “Parents Under Pressure.” The nearly 30-page document details the dire state of mental health and well-being among parents. Dr. Murthy pointed out that 41 percent of parents say most days they’re so stressed they cannot function. 

In my work at Josie, I specifically see how this manifests among parents who have big careers and are rising stars at their respective organizations. I’ve seen amazing leaders opting out of the workforce, seeing it as the only path to survival. I’ve also seen many of them stay and continue to advance in their careers. Over time, I’ve come to learn that those who continue on have one thing in common: a work environment that honors their identity as parents and as strong leaders. 

So, how can employers create that environment — one in which their working parent employees can continue to thrive? 

There are three specific initiatives that I’ve seen HR and people leaders adopt to address this. And the good news? None of these will break the bank. They are small yet culture-shifting actions that any organization can start to do right away.

Equip Your Managers

So often we hear from our clients that the decision to stay or jump ship has almost everything to do with the relationship they have with their direct people manager. Here’s the bottom line: you can offer months of paid parental leave, the best healthcare and wellness benefits, and the best amenities, but if your employee feels poorly supported it’s likely they won’t be around for very long. 

The default assumption is that the manager just doesn’t have the empathy or willingness to help. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Most managers want to support their working parent employees. They just don’t have the right tools and training to do so effectively. 

At Josie, we’ve seen employers implement a number of creative ways to support managers:

  • One is to host a group training session specifically on managing team members with caregiving responsibilities. This has become increasingly popular in light of remote work and the increasing parenting pressures cited in Dr. Murthy’s advisory. 
  • The second is specific to parental leave. One of our clients at Josie developed a Manager Playbook for parental leave. The comprehensive document outlines manager expectations across the leave period, communication tips, biases to watch for, and a list of available benefits and programs they can proactively share with their employees.
  • Other organizations offer individual, one-on-one coaching for managers who may need an external sounding board to work through a tricky scenario.

All of these activities are relatively low-lift, yet can have a profound impact on employee experience.

Strategic Employee Resource Groups

I recently asked a group of working parents to complete the following sentence: “Being a working parent is ______.” The first response was “juggling five burning chainsaws while standing on one leg.” While funny, there’s certainly some truth to it. Dr. Murthy’s report highlights a critical point about working parenthood: Time spent on paid work and time spent on primary child care has increased significantly for both mothers and fathers since the 1980s. That means parents are spending more hours than ever before on nurturing their children and their careers. It’s amazing to see, but there is no playbook to navigate any of it.

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are an incredible resource for parents at work. They create safe spaces for working parents to exchange ideas, feel less alone in the struggle, and find supportive resources as they seek balance. Over the past few years, I’ve personally seen a rise in ERGs specifically dedicated to parents and caregivers. When run well, these groups become an integral part of fostering a strong and inclusive company culture, which in turn directly impacts business results. In other words, they become a core part of driving company strategy.

To maximize impact, ERGs need senior leadership sponsorship and budgets. The relatively small investment can result in outsized returns if managed appropriately. In this article, I highlight successful practices I’ve seen at organizations such as The Royal Bank of Canada, Numerator, and LinkedIn. 

Just-in-Time Benefits Awareness

In 2018, when I was returning to work after my first baby, I was immediately asked to start traveling weekly to Nashville for a new client engagement. As a new mom, I was nervous yet excited that I would have an opportunity to get back on the road and feel like my former self, if even just for a few days at a time. But my biggest concern was pumping and carrying breastmilk through airports, hotels, and client meeting rooms. I managed, but it was stressful and absolutely impacted my productivity.

Six months later, after I had stopped pumping, I ran into another new mom in the office. She casually mentioned how grateful she was that our organization had Milk Stork, a breastmilk shipping service for new mothers who traveled. I was shocked.

So often we hear that employers have amazing benefits for their parent employees — from employee assistance programs to child care benefits and content subscriptions — yet many are completely underutilized. And while open enrollment is a fantastic time to communicate new programs, it’s usually not when employees need to access them.

Just-in-time benefits awareness is crucial for working parents. Part of this is ensuring managers are aware of what’s available (see above), and making sure they communicate them with employees if they see a need. Another is simply ensuring that processes are in place to get benefits in front of employees at the right time, in the right ways. For parental leave in particular, what processes do you already have in place that you can tack-on to? For example, who is your leave of absence provider? Can it proactively share a list of available programs with your employee as soon as they initiate their paperwork? How about the return to work? Do you have a re-onboarding process that includes appropriate communication of support programs?

People leaders: the parents are not alright, and they’re some of your best team members. Give them the opportunity to continue to burn bright, not burn out. A few simple actions can drive a tremendous return on investment. 

Michelle Yu is the CEO and co-founder of Josie, a company that offers personalized coaching, practical resources, and a supportive community to help parents lead confidently and thrive at home and work — from parental leave and beyond.