Supporting working dads this Sunday on International Men’s Day
We celebrate International Women’s Day every year; but more and more we are realising that’s only one side of the equality puzzle.
Millennial men are torn between a rock and a hard place: modern societal pressures mean that men need and want to spend more time on their fatherhood responsibilities, but outdated organisational policies, cultural expectations and leadership styles do not support this.
We are supporting working dads on International Men’s Day because we believe that awareness needs to be raised to:
- Decrease the stress levels of working men, particularly fathers
- Increase the number of new fathers taking Shared Parental Leave and working flexibly and therefore getting a healthier work/life balance
- Modernise and balance gender roles
From a policy perspective, the vast majority of organisations pay enhanced maternity pay but not enhanced paternity pay.
We are on a mission to work with organisations to realise the potential of ALL their working parents – mums and dads alike. It’s only by both men and women working together that we can improve.
The time is right too. This year’s Modern Families Index by Working Families brought a crucial message to all of our agendas: If we don’t support working dads in our organisations we run the risk of the ‘fatherhood penalty’ – this generation of fathers losing out on either parenting or career opportunities, or both:
- 69% of fathers said they would consider their childcare arrangements before they took a new job or promotion
- Fathers are the more likely (47%) to want to downshift into a less stressful job than non-fathers
Together with our facilitator David Willans, founder of beingdads.com, we have developed 4 short 90-minute workshops for organisations to offer to their working dads:
- New & Expectant Dads helps recognise and support huge transition of professional to parent and to working dad
- Work Family Balance for Dads supports dads with babies or children of all ages, and creates a reflective space to allow busy working dads to connect with others, discuss their challenges and reassess their priorities and values
- Practicing Patience for Dads looks at how to manage the transition from work and home and how to be more present in both. Small groups of dads will learn how to better understand the triggers that take you from 0 – 100 and how to better manage themselves in those situations
- Exploring our Roles of Father and Professional is based around life-stories from other dads, we will explore these two big roles in our lives: father and professional. We will identify the tensions and transferable benefits between them to help us be better in both
If you would like to find out more about the workshops, contact us: info@pandpcoaching.co.uk