Employers can make the most significant difference in keeping working mothers in their companies by offering flexible, hybrid, or telecommuting options.
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Our job as people leaders is to establish the best work-life balance for our employees. This is especially true for employees who are working mothers, whose number in the workforce has only recently rebounded to slightly exceed pre-COVID-19 levels. I regularly hear other CEOs complain about how hard it is to find loyal, high-output employees. I’m baffled why it doesn’t occur to most of them to create women- and family-friendly environments, especially when that’s precisely what attracts top talent. If companies continue to support employees with caregiver-friendly work environments, they reduce costly turnover rates, foster loyalty, and increase productivity.
When COVID-19 forced all the SnapNurse office staff to work from home, I noticed that a top-performing manager looked exhausted and burned out. Three kids under five were climbing on her and screaming during Zoom calls. I gave her a raise but required her to spend it on in-home help. It made such an enormous difference in her demeanor and productivity that I earmarked additional funds (a home-support benefit) for female managers and executives who needed it to hire someone to help with their children. This was designed to equalize the invisible costs many women pay to work.
How Far Have Women in the Workforce Come?
From personal experience, working as a single mother with two kids, I know how many ways being a mother can count against you in the professional world. If you look at the McKinsey Women in the Workplace Report from 2024, you see that:
- Younger women of child-bearing years (approximately 30-49) are twice as likely to say their gender makes it hard for them to advance than older women (50-60+).
- Men in the workforce vastly outnumber women at every level of corporate America, from entry-level to C-Suite.
- For every 100 men promoted to manager, there are only 81 women.
- While women in the workforce are slowly progressing, achieving equality in corporate America will take another 50 years.
Creating Caregiver-friendly Work Environments
Employers can make the most significant difference in keeping working mothers in their companies by offering flexible, hybrid, or telecommuting options. These options allow caregivers to care for a sick child while working rather than having to take paid time off to be home with them. They also relieve the stress of the daily commute and allow parents to shuttle their children to school and back.
Companies can also consider child-care stipends like what we did at SnapNurse. The rising costs of childcare are consuming parents with money worries. If your office cannot provide flexible or virtual work, then on-site childcare is helpful for parents working there.
Invest in employee wellness through mental health care, well-being, and health programs, as well as access to working parent support groups and extra time off for new parents even after they return from maternity or paternity leave.
Train managers to recognize the signs of stress, anxiety, and burnout and intervene with compassion and tangible support.
By removing barriers to family and work balance, I was able to hire a fantastic group of talented and hard-working women with a ferocious loyalty to the company. If you or someone who works for you is running around stressed out by obligations and weighed down with guilt, support them. The difference it makes is immediate and profound. Whether you rise through the ranks or start at the top and build a business under you, don’t forget what it was like when you were in the positions your people now occupy.