I can't compete with big business incentives to retain working parents and carers. What else can I do for my staff on or returning from leave?

Key takeaways

• Take time to recognise what working parents in your business may be struggling with, and work with them to help ease said struggles. 
• Non-financial incentives can support just as much, if not more, than financial incentives. 
• Offer the dads in your business the same support as mums. 

Being a small business can be tough. Sometimes we’re running on a shoestring. Cash flow can be challenging and – even when we want to – offering staff benefits like additional paid leave can be impossible.  

While small businesses can’t always compete with big corporates when it comes to paid incentives and big bonuses, there are other ways we can compete. After all, there are so many other benefits to working in small business.  

Where do I start? 

One of the first steps you can take is recognising that being a working parent is a juggling act. Parents can be some of your most loyal and productive employees, but they may need the flexibility to meet their changing employment and family circumstances. This can be a real win-win when handled the right way and it doesn’t take much to do it well. In fact, while many big businesses seemingly lead the way in financial incentives, many struggle to get this transition piece right. Small businesses, with less bureaucracy and more agile practices, can actually lead the way in this area.  

10 non-financial incentives you can consider implementing right now

1. Offering more flexible working arrangements and working-from-home options. 

2. Allowing employees to take time off for fertility or perinatal appointments. 

3. Starting meetings later to cater to parents dropping kids to school or daycare. 

4. Job share arrangements or breaking work into shorter shifts (e.g. 9.30am-2.30pm) to employ more working parents. 

5. Allowing employees to take paid leave at half pay or access to annual or personal leave as needed. 

6. Not pressuring employees to return before they're ready (this may mean extending their unpaid leave). 

7. Creating a supportive environment where they feel safe to bring their whole selves to work – sleep-deprived and all. 

8. Providing resources and access to counselling and programs, such as those offered by COPE .  

9. Extending trust that they will manage their responsibilities (and their working hours) responsibly.  

10. Allowing your employee to bring their child to work if there’s an emergency.  

Financial incentives you may want to consider, if possible

• Topping up salaries for employees taking government-funded leave to make up their usual wage 

• Continuing to pay employees' superannuation while on leave to help close the retirement income gap.  

• Extending any company parental leave entitlements to mums, dads and non-birth parents.  

• Allowing parents to extend their leave by taking parental leave at half pay for an extended period of time.  

How can I support the dads in my business?  

The challenges dads and partners face as working parents are many. Not only are they struggling with the work and home juggle, but they're often worrying about the partner who is staying home to care for baby, and want to make sure that they’re OK.  

Offering flexibility and the opportunity to take leave can help ease these challenges. Unfortunately, despite progress already underway, there are still many barriers for dads and partners taking time out in the period before and after a baby arrives. Stigma, financial pressures, worries about letting their team-mates down, and a lack of support from their workplace all rank highly in our Dad and Partners in Small Business report.  

The same report indicates that of those who had a child recently, 77 per cent wish they had taken more time off. When asked why they didn’t, 74 per cent of dads and partners surveyed didn’t want to let their co-workers down by taking time off, 83 per cent felt pressured by their workplace to take as little time as possible, and 80 per cent of dads and partners indicated they couldn't afford to take more time off than they did due to finances. Alarmingly, 63 per cent were afraid of losing their job if they asked to take more leave. 

By making it clear that you support dads taking leave, you are helping knock down one of the more common barriers, and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the dads in your business. And by extension, their family.  

OK, but how does this translate to action?  

To increase participation, you might consider encouraging the uptake in parental leave by:  

• Role modelling. Highlight the senior men in the organisation who have taken parental leave (or who are willing to share their regrets about not taking more), or who can showcase flexible working arrangements. This might mean sharing your own experience, or it could be about normalising leave by actively elevating the profile of dads in your organisation who are leading by example.  

  If you have a few dads in your business, you might want to consider creating a system that encourages dads to share their experiences together. This could be achieved by dedicating a small budget to a dad coffee catchup once a month, or having monthly lunch and learn sessions to allow your working parents to share their experience.   

• Specifically calling any leave entitlements for dads, ‘Dad leave’. Even if what you’re offering mums and dads is the same (and we hope it would be), calling out ‘Dad leave’ makes dads more likely to take leave than just general ‘parental leave’.  

• Provide a flexible work environment for expectant parents in the lead-up to birth or adoption so employees can attend perinatal appointments or be more involved in the early days of new parenthood.  

• Explore flexibility options after the baby arrives. Keep an open mind here. Flexibility doesn’t need to mean reduced hours. It could mean letting dad come in late some mornings so he can support his partner with the morning juggle. Or maybe it’s allowing them to work from home. It could mean taking parental leave in small chunks, such as one day a week, over a period of time rather than as a chunk. Nothing is off the table here. It’s about coming up with creative solutions that suit you and your staff member, and then trialling them for a while to see what works. And, remember, things change. It’s worth checking in to make sure your dads are getting the support they need as their baby grows older. This can be good for the future dads in your organisation to see in action too.  

• Raise awareness about the benefits of parental leave. Make a clear expectation that men and women can take parental leave in equal measures. Be sure to communicate to parents and to staff that people will not be treated any differently for taking time out of the workforce to care for their child. In fact, you might want to consider ways to demonstrate that parents will be offered the same opportunities as their non-parent colleagues.  

You don’t need to have big budgets to support working parents. What you do need is a culture of care, and support. Remember, working parents can be among your most loyal and productive employees. By supporting them, you are ultimately supporting your business.