Normalize conversations about fatherhood at work.
Here are some strategies and techniques that each of us — leaders, managers, and individual moms and dads — can use to get the lines of communication open and working right now.Your first order of business is to get the facts on what working mothers and fathers in your organization are really dealing with right now.
Fortunately, getting the insights you need won’t be tough. You can get timely, detailed information through polls, focus groups, your HR team, or simply by walking around. Whatever the means, preserve your leadership credibility by figuring out what’s really going on. Next, adapt your communications style by anchoring important business or organizational messages in the present, and on a human dimension, instead of around facts, figures, and plans. Instead of kicking off your next town hall by detailing your five-year growth objectives, try starting with a statement like: “Despite the incredible challenges and stresses we and our families are all facing now, I want you to know I’m confident in our organization’s future.
Instead, offer a comment like, “Thanks for working so hard on the budget numbers, as always, and I really value your expert eye here.” In other words, allow the other person to see and experience herself as the consummate professional she wants to be.Imagine a fast-running treadmill with no off switch: To most working moms and dads, that’s how the pandemic has felt, and still feels. As hard as we run, we can’t make progress — and that lack of forward movement is demotivating.
To re-motivate your people, you need to show them how far they’ve come. So when talking about the R&D efforts, mention “the incredible strides we’ve made as a team.” In your next one-on-one, tell that direct report that you’re “impressed with the impact you’ve made in so short a time.” The more you can give working moms and dads a palpable sense of moving forward, the more they’ll want, and be able, to keep going.
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