Family-Friendliest Award: Open communication leads to a family-friendly workplace

It’s no secret that an individual’s work and home life impact one another. So for the Beach Cities Health District—a community-based healthcare organization in Redondo Beach, Calif., with a focus on preventive healthcare and wellness—open and consistent communication to ensure its staff’s well-being is a top priority.

Along with 15 vacation days after one year of employment, BCHD staff also receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child. But it doesn’t stop there. The health district also offers affordable camp programs for employees' children.

“It’s important to walk our talk. As a preventive healthcare center, we let everyone know we’re a family-friendly environment,” said Megan Vixie, chief engagement officer. Twice a year, supervisors sit down with employees to not only discuss their career goals but also their work/life balance. “They try to understand and make sure the workload isn’t an additional burden on their life. We are family first, we just need to know about those problems.”

In addition to the paid time off, staff also receive adoption assistance, including reimbursement of agency and travel fees and legal assistance. And for nursing mothers, BCHD has dedicated space for regular pumping for those without a closed office space and store milk in communal refrigerators.

BCHD prides itself on giving staff the flexibility they need to dedicate time to family and self-development. It provides educational assistance, such as up to $4,000 in tuition reimbursement for staff working a minimum of 30 hours per week.

That’s a benefit Vixie knows firsthand. When she was a volunteer service coordinator in 2007, she returned to school to receive her master’s degree in public administration and the health district was more than accommodating.

“They worked with me in terms of timing, schedule, balancing hours,” she said. “I was able to use the health district for projects, which was also super helpful.”

Regular communication and checkups between leadership and staff are always beneficial. But as a wellness-focused organization, BCHD wants to provide staff with tools to help themselves find that work/life balance on their own.

“Some might bite off more than they can chew, but we must be consistently aware of their state of mind,” Vixie said. “We want them to be at their most productive but not stressed, so we offer training and education workshops so they’re aware of work/life balance and don’t become overworked and burned out.”

Flexibility and communication with staff are necessities for any employer trying to create a family-friendly work environment. At Talent Plus, a global human resources consulting firm based in Lincoln, Neb., leadership knows that if they stay true to those principles, it will lead to happy and productive associates, said Cydney Koukol, chief communication officer.

With the proliferation of technology enabling work from anywhere at any time, Koukol said people can work more but they need to work smarter. Working from home is not frowned upon by managers. In some situations, like a looming snowstorm, or when the employee needs to be at home for personal reasons, it’s encouraged. “Just communicate with the team when you need that time away,” she said.

Talent Plus offers summer and after-school programs for children of employees, too. And along with lactation facilities for new mothers, they are also given supplies for a breast pump in a gift bag on their desk when they return to work.

Those principles help lead to a healthy work/life balance at the firm, which is why a recent survey found that 99% of its associates said they can balance their work and family life, according to Koukol.

But a work/life balance doesn’t mean the two are separate. Immediate family members are always invited to company events, such as a lunar eclipse party this January.

Talent Plus’ benefits also reflect its family-friendly principles, Koukol noted. From day one, employees receive unlimited sick days—which can also be used if a family member is ill—and after the first year, they receive unlimited vacation and personal days.

Those unlimited vacation days don’t hinder the company’s productivity, though. Koukol said it only leads to employees taking more long weekends. In one instance, an associate’s son was training to become a chef in Europe, so they took a long weekend on short notice to visit him. The same holds true for unlimited sick days. Staff members can’t be productive if they’re worrying whether a sick child is doing well.

“If someone comes to you and says their son is in the nurse’s office at school, we ask, ‘Why are you still here?’ ” Koukol said. “We want them to take the time they need so they can come back and be fully present. It’s about having a caring culture.”

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