Member Article

Maternity and Paternity Benefits: Why it’s important to benchmark your company

Recent research undertaken by the team at My Family Care, the company that supports leading employers and their employees in balancing work and family, has shown that companies in the UK vary widely in terms of length and the level of pay they offer for maternity and paternity leave. Whilst some employers or industries offer their employees Statutory Maternity Pay (90% of their salary for six weeks, followed by 33 weeks at just over £138) others choose to enhance maternity pay (from slightly above statutory, up to as high as full pay) and over a period ranging from around 4 to 6 weeks of enhanced pay through to enhancing pay for the full 52 weeks of leave in some cases.

For HR professionals it’s extremely valuable to know and understand how your maternity benefits compare with other companies. It’s a topic that is not often discussed in public because of the confidential information it contains. A survey like this rarely comes about and business leaders may be at a loss to know whether their market-leading provisions are still market-leading year on year. Companies want to be at the top of their industry, not only in terms of profit but also in attracting and retaining the right people by providing their staff with the best possible care and support. They want to be able to shout about their unique benefits to attract and retain talented members of staff.

For some, it could be surprising to see that banking and legal sectors topped our benchmarking survey, providing the best benefits to their staff, as these sectors usually have a reputation for a work-life balance weighted in favour of work, but of course they are also committed to retaining talented staff in roles that depend on long-standing relationships and knowledge. They’re aware that one of the leaks in their female talent pipeline is around the maternity transition. But when it comes to really enabling people to combine family with career, it’s not only about money. Those who lead the field also spend a lot of time and investment focusing on systems to smooth the maternity transition. It’s the companies who invest in their family –friendly working practices, and develop managers’ capabilities that are able to retain and nurture exceptional staff over time.

As a Director of a company it makes sense to think about the messages given out by the policies and enablers you have in place. As part of your employer brand, your successes in this area should ideally be visible on the company website and it should be obvious who employees can speak with internally to discuss their options. And as well as providing services and solutions, an external partner such as My Family Care can gather honest and useful information, themes and trends to feed back to you.

You’ll be surprised how useful this feedback is, as it allows you to benchmark against others. As a business you want to measure up and compete with other organisations. It can be very difficult to live off SMP and if that’s what you’re offering you may find staff don’t remain loyal, and don’t regard their work for you as an ongoing career.

You can also make things happen without an external provider: perhaps arrange a parents’ network within the business to discuss what employees are happy with and what can be changed to improve staff wellbeing, but above all to help your people exchange their best tips and advice on making it work.

When people decide between employers, and when they weigh up whether the work and family equation works, it’s not all about pay. It’s about retaining the talent you have and encouraging people to work for your business. If you don’t want to risk losing staff it’s about looking at the culture within your organisation. Areas to think about include - can you promote real stories (case studies and role models) to highlight staff combining work and family effectively? Are your managers well equipped to respond to employees’ requests to work in flexible or agile ways? Do staff members know how to make the business case for a new way of working so they focus on smart ways of delivering in their roles instead of feeling they are asking for favours? Do your people have the skills to communicate effectively before, during and on return from their maternity or paternity leave? Are there examples of people who prove you can work flexibly and still progress?

As well as addressing these cultural and developmental needs, there are practical ways of supporting parents including offering a backup childcare service. A bit of investment in any of these areas goes a long way in terms of loyalty. It may seem a little daunting at first to compare yourself to others in your industry but ultimately it will pay dividends as you can see what you can shout about – and where you could improve.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jennifer Liston Smith .