Why providing family support services to your people improves employee satisfaction

It’s no secret that when your employees are happy, they’re more productive. Research also shows that they’re less likely to be absent from work or leave the company.

Achieving a work-life balance can be difficult for anyone but especially those with families and young children. You may notice that employees underperform when juggling family responsibilities and a busy work schedule on top of a busy home life schedule.

In order to get the best from your employees and let them work at their best, it’s vital to be supportive and understanding of their family responsibilities. Luckily, there are easy and straightforward measures you can put in place to help.

What are family support services?

For employees juggling family and work responsibilities, it’s much easier to experience decreased productivity, stress, and even burnout.

As an employer, there are employee benefits services that can alleviate this and create a family-friendly workplace that focuses on employee wellbeing. We’ve put together a list of some of the most effective:

Create a caring workplace culture

The first thing you should do is to nurture an atmosphere of care at work. Make sure your employees know that they can share their concerns and struggles at work. Explain that they can come to either you or another member of the team to voice their concerns in a private, safe space.

They should always know that you are there and that you are understanding of their shared responsibilities. You could deliver a presentation about how to find a comfortable balance between family and work life, including how to balance these responsibilities.

Introduce an employee wellbeing programme

If you don’t feel confident delivering a talk about this yourself, you could introduce a programme. These are designed to teach employees how to achieve that perfect work-life balance, encouraging them to focus on their health and wellbeing.

These are effective at reducing burnout rates and absences for those with families.

Designate a private place for breast milk pumping

This is an easy and very inclusive way to make breastfeeding employees feel more welcome and recognised at work. Simply put a sign on an empty office or room door and let your employees know that this room is now exclusively for breastfeeding employees.

Go further and make sure the windows are curtained, provide cushions and a comfortable sitting or laying space. Talk to your breastfeeding employees about their needs and consider adding a fridge for storing milk or locating the room near bathrooms or washing facilities.

Offer on-site childcare

For larger businesses, this can be a very advantageous employee benefit. It allows employees to drop off their children at the nursery on-site as they come into work and check on them during scheduled breaks and lunchtimes.

This gives working parents and carers extra time in the morning, fewer miles to commute, and can vastly improve their mental wellbeing at work. This improves job satisfaction, reduces child-care related absences and staff turnover.

The benefits of family support services

• Reduces the stress of juggling family responsibilities • Prevents employee burnout and further mental or physical health issues • Improves positive attitude toward work commitments • Increases company loyalty and reduces staff turnover • Creates a calmer and happier workplace with strong friendships and morale