HR Tip of The week: 5 Ways companies can support expecting employees!
- Make the benefits process easy.
- Companies who want to support pregnant employees should start by looking at their benefits documentation, and strive to make it as simple and accessible as possible.
- Create Support Networks
- Create communities where parents and parents-to-be can share openly about their experiences and seek support (they need it!).
- Educate employees on the “Are you Pregnant?” Question.
- Start a conversation on the right and wrong ways to talk about pregnancy at work. A good rule of thumb is to treat pregnancy like you would any other health condition — and when in doubt, ask what the person is comfortable with.
- Make the “Unspoken” explicit.
- Instead of making dangerous assumptions about how a pregnant employee wants to be treated or what she would like to take on (or not), managers should have a conversation to get on the same page — and continue talking throughout the pregnancy in case circumstances or preferences change.
- Offer Encouragement!
- If you see a pregnant colleague do something awesome, let them know! I can guarantee even the smallest of positive feedback will be extremely appreciated.
