Our Employee Experience team hosted our first-ever Parents’ Month in March. Here’s why we think other companies should too.

Each month, the Insider Inc. Employee Experience team chooses a theme that guides all of the programming — special events, panels, and resources — for those weeks. In March, we were quite excited to present our first-ever Parents’ Month. Although we celebrate and provide resources for our employees who are parents all year, we wanted to focus and dive deeper with a full month of programming. 

Just as Parents’ Month kicked off, COVID-19 was spreading quickly across the world. We were faced with the challenge of transitioning our entire team to remote work for the first time. It became more important than ever to provide resources and support for our employees with children who were now dealing with the unique circumstances of balancing parenting and a full-time job.

Here’s what we did:

We kicked off the month with our first Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) panel of 2020 — a discussion between five employees (and parents) about juggling work and family life, their decisions to become parents, and how parenthood has benefitted their work at Insider Inc.

(from left) Michelle Martinez Lee, Director of Product Management; Jason Sanchez, Lead Video Producer Insider Studios; Michelle Lee, Account Director; Matt Turner, Executive Editor; Jennifer Polland, Executive Distribution Editor

Our panelists discussed a range of topics, including what life is actually like for them during parental leave and the emotions around coming back to work. Some of the parents couldn’t wait to get back to the office, while for others it was more of a sense of fear and guilt. Many parents in the audience were able to relate to our panelists as they emphasized their sleep deprivation, adjusting to a new routine, and the need for flexible schedules. As parents shared their experiences — the highlights and the lowlights that come along with parenthood — it shined a light on common struggles and the importance of thoughtful, flexible, and understanding managers.

We also created a parent buddy program to allow parents to connect with one another to share advice, exchange ideas, and simply to get to know someone else on a deeper level. This program was implemented as stay-at-home orders were imposed across the country and had an added benefit of building new connections for employees during a potentially isolating time.

Throughout March, we hosted more events for the parents of Insider Inc., including a financial planning session for those looking to learn more about long-term financial planning strategies like college savings while balancing the rising costs of childcare. We also hosted an event in partnership with our Employee Assistance Program to help parents balance the many responsibilities of family life with stress reduction tips and task prioritization methods. Our employee resource groups (ERGs) also conducted fireside chats with parents at the company that covered a range of topics, from raising a queer child, to being a working mother, to raising a biracial family. While all of these events were held remotely, they provided an introspective look into our employees’ varied life experiences. 

Here’s why we think other companies should consider hosting a Parents’ Month:

Hosting a month of programming dedicated to parents and childcare not only provided valuable information and support to the parents here at Insider Inc., it also offered perspective for non-parents about the responsibilities, stresses, and joys of parenthood. 

One of our company’s key values is building an inclusive workplace that prioritizes and celebrates diversity in all shapes and forms. We’ve worked to foster a sense of community, educate employees, and encourage empathy and understanding within the team, and we will continue to find new ways to support our employee base in ways that allow them to share, connect, and educate their fellow coworkers on their experiences.