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This is Jia. The General Manager of a small restaurant that employs 23 staff.

As she’s trying to grow the business, she sees how much she depends on her employees for its success.

While doing her best to grow their bottom line, there are some steep challenges in her way.

Can you help support Jia’s business? Hover and click on the illustration to learn more about Jia's challenges.

Management is committed to helping parents, but doesn't know where to start.

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The restaurant is having a hard time retaining & recruiting top talent.

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There's a lack of employee engagement & productivity.

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How do you want to help?

Click on the solutions you want to implement to see their impact.

Join a business community to share knowledge, work alongside other leaders, and work to standardize best practices for employers.

Jia joined a business coalition and now has hundreds of people to ask about challenges and cutting edge supports for parents at the restaurant.

Offer DCFSA to support working parents with caregiving costs. These accounts allow caregivers to use pre-tax dollars to pay for care, saving up to 30% on services.

Thanks to the DCFSA, parents are lowering their taxable income on care costs. This was a low-lift for Jia and paid off with her employee's morale and commitment to the restaurant.

Provide a clear, digestible playbook for families in your geographic regions to find & access care options, highlighting centers, family-based care, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, & Head Start/Early Head start programs. A Care Advocate can be an internal or external contact who helps employees navigate the care landscape and approach the company's benefits.

Thanks to a directory of services in their community, Amari learned about a care option that was within their budget once they applied for a subsidized rate for low-income families.
Jia provided a comprehensive playbook of care resources for employees, which has already helped in recruitment and retention of her workforce.

Set goals for representation by gender & race, clearly showing role & location breakdown with a specific target for diversity in leadership positions.

Jia set diversity goals for her restaurant, which has formalized recruiting and promotion policies. The restaurant is innovating in new ways now that there is diversity of thought within her staff.

Survey employees to understand the most pressing needs of working parents to inform your benefits strategies. Invest in education of managers, employees, & leadership to understand the most-needed benefits at your company, create a roadmap for realistic implementation, & broadcast awareness of initiatives to promote uptake.

After a listening tour with her staff, Jia learned the biggest challenges for her employees who are parents was getting their schedule on a weekly basis. Since then, she's implemented scheduling at least a month out to help ease the burden on parents to find care.

Provide sustainable salaries that factor in cost-of-living and the ability for employed parents to raise a family and pay for childcare supports. This ultimately propels parents in the workforce and can boost the economy.

Thanks to increased wages that support a family, Marion can continue working as an early childhood educator and the center can remain a competitive place to work in her community.
After the plant implemented family-sustaining wages for all workers, Amari was able to afford extended day services for their child so they could keep their job at the plant.
Thanks to implementing family-sustaining wages, Jia saw the immediate impact on her staff. People were less worried about missing work or needing to quit. With decreasing the missed workdays, Jia is already seeing the cost of higher wages pay off.

Ample time-off, like guaranteed sick & vacation days, flexible & predictable scheduling, & emergency days off or PTO for caregiving can all support workers in their ability to maintain their jobs.

The benefits package was built out to include more support for parents. Amari now has more support they can utilize to balance their job and caring responsibilities.
Once the restaurant implemented a more flexible benefits package that supported parents, employees were able to plan ahead, access backup options, and feel more committed to the restaurant, which has increased retention and engagement rates.

Managers & hiring representatives have a direct influence on how the workplace responds & celebrates parenthood. Provide training on parental benefits, de-penalizing caregiving or gaps on resumes, highlight skills acquired through caregiving, & train responses to parental needs.

Thanks to the manager training, Amari is supported by their boss when their childcare falls through. Their boss is able to direct Amari to resources for backup care and is prepared to backfill when they need to cancel a shift.
Jia conducted training for her hiring staff and managers to understand the best ways to support parents at work. The staff feedback was positive and now Jia is more confident the restaurant can celebrate and welcome parent employees.

Joining a mentorship or sponsorship program for parents can help propel them forward in their roles, connect them to other parents, & match them with promotion opportunities.

Participating in a mentorship program connected Amari to other parents who helped navigate the balance of work and home responsibilities. With their support, Amari was able to apply for a new role at the plant that has shifts that better align with caregiving hours.
Jia set up a mentorship program for families that has helped the restaurant workers upskill and find ways to continue developing. This program was featured in the local newspaper and business has never been better as customers want to support local businesses who support their employees.

Small businesses or those just beginning to invest in parents can pool resources to contract with a childcare agency for affordable, quality care–similar to the model established by larger companies, such as SAS and Bank of America with Bright Horizons, and similar to health insurance pools for small businesses.

Jia joined forces with 15 other local business owners to subsidize slots to a local early education center. This initiative has supported parents, the local businesses, and the center.

As parents transition out of full-time care work & into the workforce, returnship programs are great ways to upskill parents & match them with quality roles.

Coming back into the workforce was much smoother after Amari participated in the manufacturing plant's returnship program. The program helped connect Amari to a plethora of resources and people who could support the new balance between parenthood and the workforce.
Implementing a returnship program has depenalized talent with career breaks on their resume. Jia has tapped into new talent pools and diversified her staff through the program.

Companies can make the transition back into the workplace easier for parents by providing a range of supports, like flexible schedules, lactation rooms, predictable shifts, working hours during care hours, & more. It's best for companies to understand the needs of their unique workforce.

Amari's company is making an effort to make the transition smoother for parents, which has helped Amari with planning. With more predictable shift scheduling, Amari is able to plan ahead & find backup care options when needed.
The restaurant implemented a slow ramp up to return to work after caregiving, allowing parents and caregivers flexibility and options when they start working at the restaurant again. Thanks to this policy, the restaurant has already increased their brand and recruitment has never been easier.

Thank you for supporting Jia's restaurant!

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Explore Other Scenarios

Amari

Worker at a manufacturing plant

Marion

Owner of a childcare center

Continue helping

Jia

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The Big Picture

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