- Key Insight: Discover how comprehensive, flexible caregiving benefits improve retention and productivity during holiday disruptions.
- What's at Stake: Inadequate support risks burnout, disengagement, and increased voluntary turnover across mid-to-large employers.
- Supporting Data: 68% of working parents cite childcare-work conflict; over one-third need backup care or holiday camps.
- Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
Working parents are just weeks away from the holiday onslaught of winter breaks, hectic schedules, holiday hosting and shopping trips. Benefit managers can help lighten their load and
Sixty-eight percent of working parents say
"For working parents the holidays can feel like a high-wire act," says Cindy Ryan, head of HR at MassMutual. "They might be juggling extended school vacations, family travel and budgeting for gifts. They're [also] facing pressure at the office to hit year-end deadlines or achieve year-end goals, which can add to the stress that they're feeling in their day-to-day life."
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Working parents want help paying for child care, emergency child care benefits, on-site child care services and solutions such as FSAs specifically for child care expenses. While any assistance is appreciated,
Ryan gives some insight on how comprehensive benefits play a critical role in recruiting and retaining employees during seasons of high stress, and shares MassMutual's approach to building an offering that works for everyone.
What are the consequences of overlooking the needs of working parents?
Ultimately, when employers don't provide working parents with the tools, resources, benefits and support they need to care for their holistic health, employees run the risk of burning out, becoming disengaged, and looking elsewhere for employment. This underscores the problem: Both employers and employees alike suffer when the latter is not properly acknowledged or cared for during seasons of high stress.
Comprehensive benefits give parents the breathing room they need to actually be present and productive when they're at work. When someone doesn't have to worry about finding last-minute child care or whether they can afford [taking the time to find] mental health support, they can focus on their work, bring their best selves to the table, and feel a sense of pride in what they do every day.
How is MassMutual approaching these challenges?
We provide solutions such as back-up child care for inevitable snow days and school breaks, robust mental health benefits to help manage the emotional load of the holiday season, and additional parenting resources that give working parents access to expert guidance when they need it most. We also know that parents are hoping to spend dedicated time with their families and loved ones. With that in mind, and in addition to generous vacation time, we have a companywide remote work week around both the Thanksgiving and winter holidays, as well as a bank of up to four additional remote weeks for employees to work from wherever they choose throughout the year.
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We've also found that financial benefits, such as tools that help them with planning and budgeting, have also been invaluable for parents trying to manage the financial stress that sometimes accompanies the holidays.
Lastly, one additional benefit that I'm particularly proud of is our Well-Being Wallet, which employees can use however they need to support their holistic health, be it mental, physical, or financial. We've been really pleased with the usage and have seen some great use cases across all these wellness areas; to name a few, working parents have reimbursed 529 contributions as well as camp registration and daycare fees. The beauty of our benefits is their flexibility: We trust our employees to know what they need and support them in that, both during the holiday season and year-round.
What's your advice for organizations looking to improve their caregiving benefits?
Start by not assuming what your workers need; instead, listen to and gather feedback from them. This can be done in several ways, such as focus groups and employee engagement surveys, both of which can help gather feedback on how to improve or refine your benefit offerings. No matter the medium you use to gather feedback, however, make sure your employees feel safe and encouraged to speak candidly about their needs. This can then help guide HR leaders to making decisions that help meaningfully improve benefit offerings.
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HR leaders should also make sure benefits are easy to find and accessible. It's not enough to offer great programs if no one knows about them or if there's a stigma around using them; instead, prioritize learning sessions and communication tactics that teach workers about how to leverage benefits to best meet their own needs. For example, one thing that we do at MassMutual is provide digestible "bundles" of information on benefits for specific life stages or seasons, all of which are easily accessible for employees on our company intranet. Supporting working parents can't be a check-the-box exercise for HR leaders. When you invest in comprehensive benefits year-round, you send a clear message: We see you, we value you, and we're committed to helping you succeed both at work and at home.
