Podcast

A Case Study Interview with Sally Hasler

Sally Hasler is an International Engagement Manager for the Victorian Government. She is a passionate advocate for gender equality and has held a number of policy and advisory roles including with the Department of Foreign Affairs. Sally has had a varied and diverse career and now is experiencing the next phase of her career – working parent to her 6-month-old daughter Hope. Currently on parental leave Sally is about to return to work in her new role.

But to get to this point Sally has been through a soul-searching process to find the right role and employer to support her with her new caring responsibilities - all whilst pregnant. Although it sounds unusual Sally’s story is not unique and unfortunately not all stories work out quite the success hers did with 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men still experiencing discrimination whilst pregnant or in the first year of a child’s life.

Join Sally and Parents At Work CEO Emma Walsh as they explore how and why Sally’s story has a happy ending. The discussion includes:

- What it is like to interview for a new job when you are expecting

- What is required to successfully manage a change in jobs whilst pregnant

- What to address with your prospective employer or manager – and when?

- Top tips for making the transition to a new role easier

“There are some organisations who will be more willing and open to this conversation than others and that’s important for me.

I want to work for someone who managers parents and parenthood and people returning to work professionally and responsibly and I’ll choose my employers accordingly. I value employers that ‘get this’.”Sally Hasler

A case study interview with Deloitte and PeopleCare for People Leaders, Diversity & HR Professionals

In 2016, a landmark study found that the conflict of managing work and family life experienced by parents and carers is costing the Australian economy $23 billion a year.

So how is business responding to this?

According to WGEA an average of 15.7% of Australian employers have a strategy for supporting caring responsibilities1 with only 15% having a strategy for flexible working arrangements so the likelihood is that very few organisations are making a positive dent to improve the work life stress many employees experience when balancing a busy job with family. However, there are some progressive organisations determined to buck the trend – particularly when it comes to designing parental transition solutions to ensure both women and men can sustain their career and family life.

In this special event we interview PeopleCare and Deloitte to hear more about their effective parental leave programs and how they’re making a difference.

“The ‘new reality’ of family structures means that working parenthood is an 18-year job shared by both men and women, gay and straight, biological and adoptive. Aligning your organisation’s programmes to this reality … better targets the issue in its broad-spectrum reality, and it sends a more inclusive message.” Daisy Wademan Dowling, Harvard Business Review

As more and more studies (and companies, by way of example) are revealing, it’s clear the benefits of working parent programs far outweigh the costs. It has been found that parental leave programs: improve the productivity and health of employees, reduce the cost of staff turnover, enhance the company’s reputation as an employer of choice, reduce legal risks and incidence of pregnancy discrimination, and increase the likelihood of women reaching leadership positions. These are just a few reasons why an increasing number of companies are choosing to support their working parents through the preparing for parental leave and returning to work transition.

Join Emma Walsh, CEO, Parents At Work, as she interviews Maree Morgan-Monk, Head of People and Culture at People Care and Catherine McNair, National Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Deloitte about the parental leave programs they have put in place to support their working parents.

The 1-hour podcast will cover:

- What is a Parental Leave Program and why should your company have one?

- What role do CEO’s, diversity professionals, people leaders and HR teams have in this process?

- Where do you start in implementing a Parental Leave Program and what steps are involved in a full roll out?

- What resources are required?

- What are the challenges involved when introducing a Parental Leave Program?

- Working examples from companies Peoplecare and Deloitte including the direct benefits they have experienced.

This podcast is intended as a useful introduction for diversity professionals and HR practitioners to either start you on the way to creating a Parental Leave Program or improve how you may be currently supporting employees during their parental leave and return to work transition.

Listen to an interview with Sam Gow who is a working Dad who decided to take extended parental leave. He shares his story with our CEO Emma Walsh.

Being the Modern Dad - Keeping your relationships alive as you raise your family & manage a busy career.

This month on Working Dads Connect we focus on being a modern working dad who has a major role in the caring responsibilities in raising his children.

The fact is being a parent in 2017 is not always easy. Life is not always perfect and there are ups and down along the parenting journey which doesn't always leave you feeling in your prime. From managing childcare drop offs to relationship issues, workplace stigma and career pressures – theres a lot to juggle for the modern working dad.

We will interview father of four and founder of Better Dads Alex Laguna about being a modern conscientious dad. Alex has interviewed dads in an array circumstances and has rich insight on what dads today are working with in the workplace as well as on the home front.

Alex will be joined by Samuel Eddy, an executive coach who works with fathers and their families to support them overcome professional or personal challenges.

Some areas we will explore with Alex and Sam include:

- The reality of being a modern working dad - balancing a successful career with family responsibilities

- Building stronger relationships with your kids and partner whilst juggling a demanding job

- Coping when relationships breakdown and you find yourself a single dad

- The challenges and opportunities as a father when you separate from your partner – how to do shared care

- Broaching tricky subjects with your partner or ex-partner around raising your kids together

- Making time for your mates and other important things in your life

What͛s the answer to making sure working dads are getting the support they need to have work-life balance as opposed to work-life stress? There are many factors but one of the most useful to work with is creating a flexible work arrangement to considers and values all areas of a fathers life. This month at Working Dad͛s Connect we focus on flexibility and how to make it work for you. This is your chance to hear from real working dads and their experience trying to balance work and caring responsibilities. This month we interview Dr Adam Fraser, Author of The Third Space about how working dads can make the many transitions that fatherhood presents to achieve work-life balance and happiness.

“It is indeed great news that, despite the challenges, in some ways it is more possible than ever before to have a great career and be a great dad.”

- Scott Behson

Most fathers today strive to be successful in their careers and to be loving, involved dads. However, the reality is, modern men are under immense pressure to be ‘the everything’ at work and at home. They are expected to be the diligent and dedicated employee, the icon of stability and strength, the financial provider, the easy going best mate, the fitness buff, the awesome chef, the helpful housecleaner, the nappy changer, the future planner, the dad that volunteers in the school canteen. Superdad syndrome is fast becoming a pressure – their compatriots – the Supermums have been feeling for many years.

Managing career and family can sometimes seem like an impossible tug-of-war. But it doesn’t have to be.

For this special event webinar Parents At Work CEO, Emma Walsh will interview Scott Behson, working parent advocate and author of The Working Dad’s Survival Guide: How to Succeed at Work and at Home.

The Working Dad’s Survival Guide helps men understand they are not alone. During this special event Scott will:

- Identify the unique challenges unique to working dads

- Share how dads can feel more confident balancing both career and family life

- Provide time and life management strategies that enable dads to succeed in their careers while also being a present, involved father

- Give tips on reducing stress amidst the juggle of work and family responsibilities

- Share how you can approach employers about working more flexibly and other needs related to caring related responsibilities

- Provide advice on how men can support partners without compromising their own needs

The Working Dad’s Survival Guide was an Amazon #1 best-seller for both fatherhood and career advice. The content has struck a chord. Here’s what one dad had to say about it…

“I wish I had this book when I was taking heat in the corporate world for being an active parent! The suggestions and exercises would have made a big difference, to both support the choices I was making, and help me build a community of other working dads so I would not feel alone.” – Greg Marcus

This special event will launch the beginning of Working Dads Connect – a bi-monthly online ‘men’s shed’ style group delivered by Parents At Work coaches and guest speakers.

Parenting in a Digital World is packed with simple ideas and essential information for modern parents, de-bunking the myths and arming parents with facts to eradicate fears when it comes to understanding what young children, aged 0-12 years, need to thrive online and off in a digital world.

Drawing from her experience as a teacher, researcher and mum Dr Goodwin translates essential, research-based information so today’s parents can make informed choices about how they can harness technology with their children (and ditch their techno-guilt in return). Modern kids actually need really simple things for healthy development and screens can be part of their world.

This special 1-hour podcast covers the following topics:

- The latest research on technology and children

- How much screen time is the right amount?

- Tips for parents to support children to manage their own online usage

- The World Wide Web and children - what parents should know about what’s really going on.

- Cybersafety basics – educating your children

- Online programs and activities to support learning development

- How to drop the techno-guilt

- What do our own online habits reflect to our children?

Join well known Career Coach and Author Jane Jackson, speak with Emma Walsh, CEO of Parents At Work discuss the strategies and steps you should use when reviewing where you are at in your career. This discussion is jam packed with useful tips including interview preparation, managing your personal brand, using LinkedIn for job searches, and more.

Listen to Lucy Dahill expert in teenage development and youth worker talk about how to support your teenager through those rollercoaster teen years. This is a 1 hour podcast which will give you a better understanding into your teens development. If you enjoy this podcast you can join us for the full 4 part online course run by Lucy.

This is a recording of an interview with 2 experts on working parents - Emma Walsh CEO of Parents At Work and Nicolette Rubinsztein author of Not Guilty - 7 Strategies for Successful Career Mums. The topic for this interview is 'Not Guilty - Balancing A Career And Motherhood'. Over 80% of mothers feel that they are regularly hijacked by guilt, and 10% of working Mums report they are totally hijacked all the time by guilt. It's an important topic and we hope that you find it useful in helping you manage your feelings of guilt at working and being a Mum.