How Parental Leave Attracts Top Talent

Regardless of your organization’s size or sector, attracting top-level talent has become increasingly difficult. Everything from a decades-low unemployment rate to the ease of starting a startup provides rock-star talent with a plethora of options. Because of this, companies need to sharpen their pitch and consider offering attractive perks as part of their recruiting packages.

One of those perks that can be especially attractive is paid parental leave. This subject has been in the news recently, with large companies like Citigroup, Facebook, TD Ameritrade, Alphabet, American Express, and Netflix offering generous paid parental leave policies. Even if your organization isn’t nearly as large as some of these companies, offering paid parental leave is a terrific way to satisfy current employees, attract new talent, and to separate your organization from your competitors.

Why Parental Leave is So Compelling

Paid parental leave is compelling to new talent for a variety of reasons. Most notably, it shows prospective talent that your company respects employees’ lives outside the office. Yes, things like pregnancy discrimination are prohibited by federal law. Nevertheless, having a generous paid parental leave policy in the books signals that your company sees staffers as people, not just employees. To put it another way, it strengthens the relationship between the company and its employees. Even if your company has a reputation for being demanding, a paid parental leave policy shows that the company puts its people first. It wants employees to be happy, healthy, and financially secure so that they can do the best possible work for the organization.

Paid parental leave is also compelling to top-level talent because it shows that the organization is attuned to the modern workplace. The simple fact of the matter is that paid parental leave is a relatively new phenomenon. Just a few decades ago, it would be difficult to find a company or organization that had such a policy. And while the tide has certainly shifted, there are still many companies that do not offer paid family leave in the first place. Therefore, by adopting a paid family leave policy, your organization is sending a subtle, yet important message to top talent. It shows that your organization understands the challenges that modern employees face and works to ease some of those challenges. Top-level talent can be reassured that your organization will do its part to stay in sync with modern trends that are changing the workplace.

Finally, having a paid parental leave program attracts top-level talent because it signals that your company is invested in its talent for the long-term. The simple fact is that some female employees hesitate to have children because they fear the potential ramifications at work. Not only can they potentially lose some much-needed income by having children, but taking extended time away from work can lead to an inaccurate stigma about the employee. She may be passed over for certain projects because she is seen as “unreliable.”

This is clearly unfair and a paid parental leave program may not prevent all of these thoughts or feelings. But that said, the sheer existence of a paid parental leave program provides some reassurance to top-level talent. At the very least, they recognize that they will not lose income from a personal choice they make outside of the workplace. Above that, a paid parental leave program shows that the company understands the personal choices that employees make.

Yes, there may be some bad apples within the organization that use this personal choice against the employee. It is impossible to control the thoughts of every single employee. But that said, a paid parental leave program shows that the company is invested in the long-term success of its employees. This not only leads to greater levels of talent retention, but to talented employees taking a closer look at your organization.

A Potential Competitive Advantage

With the war for talent becoming even more competitive, offering a robust paid parental leave program can be the catalyst to hiring your next great employee. It signals that your organization is forward-thinking and that it is invested in the long-term success of its employees. It can also play a large part in retaining some of your best talent. Ultimately, a paid parental leave program can be a key competitive advantage in your recruiting strategy.