Taking parental support out of the HR handbook, Lucy Taylor share her view with Campaign

As an increasing number of businesses launch policies around parental leave, life-event leave, fertility and menopause, agencies should understand how best to deliver them.

Anticipating the imminent arrival of my second child has made me reflect on the nature of responsibility, and how it affects our private and professional lives.

Those of us in senior roles have a duty to effect change that improves the lives of individual employees and transforms the culture of the businesses we work in. And not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because we all know it’s imperative to commercial success. Particularly prescient at a time when according to the IPA advertising agencies reported a record 32.4% staff churn rate last year.

That people are our best and only asset is not a new observation. The industry has moved a long way in putting policies in place that are designed to better reflect this. But writing them down and activating them effectively are two different things. As my parental leave approaches, I’m more conscious of this than ever.

Now, I’m in a very privileged position and have benefited enormously from the support I’ve been offered throughout my pregnancy – by my colleagues, our HR function and the agency overall. Critically, I’ve been able to be an active agent in the process, rather than have policies delivered to me, or worse, imposed upon me. It’s been transformative. How many agencies can guarantee that’s happening under their roofs?

There’s the strategy and there’s getting the strategy done. Time to get to the “doing” and doing it better.

Get the human out the handbook
In trying to appeal to everyone, you often end up appealing to no-one. As one half of a same-sex couple, I know this too well. It’s not just about language – though obviously words matter; my partner isn’t the “father” or “second parent” or “secondary carer” in this journey. She’s my equal. But this should be hygiene.

A respect for lived experience matters. Policies need to be delivered with a human touch that is cognisant of this. They need to proactively involve both the people affected by the policies and those setting them. They need to be aware of potential blind spots, particularly for marginalised groups. We’re all human. Getting it wrong on the journey to betterment has to be celebrated over a fear of lifting our heads out of the proverbial handbook parapet at all.

Honest conversations
Having honest conversations at the earliest possible point is part of this. Our HR team was eager to find the right options for me and my partner and also to establish upfront our preferred language. So, together we all talked (and listened) it all through at length. This approach enables policies that work best for the individual, rather than people needing to find a way to fit into a rigid framework. This is a journey, for both the employer and employee. It’s ok not to know all the answers straight away. It’s not ok not to ask the questions needed to provide the best care.

Activate and celebrate
The big policy handbook won’t do any good gathering dust on the HR director’s desk. Businesses need to move past the smoke and mirrors approach that all too often accompanies the rollout of the benefits package. Many agencies have tokenistic policies they PR but don’t really want anyone to take up. Once great policies are set in stone, activate and celebrate them. With my policy example, removing taboos around parental leave will continue to be important and essential to addressing the continued gender pay gap. You have to walk the talk – purpose is nothing without progress.

Cultures of high challenge, high support undoubtedly breed great talent and it’s here that the support bit comes into play. “Your best people are only ever on loan” was a great quote shared to me by a former colleague and it stands to reason we should be doing all we can to keep those best people as long as we can. Offering personalised support in this way is commercially and morally the right thing to do but will also strengthen bonds with employees (who may even go on to write nice articles promoting you in the press).

It is brilliant that we’re having all these conversations now. And I’m genuinely proud of where we’re getting to as an agency. But I’m also tired of all the chat. As I’m sure are you. It’s time to get the strategy done. Policies like shared-parental leave, life-event leave, fertility and menopause support – accompanied by humanised implementation – are a good place to start.