Global technology business ABB, which has around 105,000 employees across more than 100 countries, launched a gender neutral global parental leave programme at the start of this year. It grants 12 weeks of paid leave for primary caregivers and four weeks for secondary caregivers as part of its efforts to foster a more diverse and inclusive culture for all parents regardless of gender.
The initiative is part of its Global Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2030, which was launched in autumn 2020 and ensures that each employee who has a child, whose partner has a child, who adopts a child or becomes a parent through surrogacy, is entitled to paid parental leave.
The diversity and inclusion strategy defines the organisation’s efforts to ensure inclusion and equal treatment of all, regardless of gender, ability, age, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, says Heidi Robertson, group head of diversity and inclusion at ABB.
“The new programme reflects our ABB value of care and underlines our 2030 sustainability strategy commitment to promote social progress both within ABB and the communities we serve,” she says. “With it, we are supporting our employees who are parents, helping to give the next generation a secure start in life and reinforcing the reputation of ABB as an employer of choice.”
So far, the programme has been positively received across the organisation, with supportive feedback from current and future parents in many of its operating countries. India is one country where ABB has received positive feedback, particularly from new fathers who valued the opportunity to take four weeks of parental leave over a span of 12 months and were pleased that the organisation acknowledged an employee needs time and resources to transition into their new role as a parent and manage the stress that comes with starting a family.
But while it is important to provide actual benefits to new fathers, it is just as important to create a culture across an organisation where everyone is comfortable taking time off after having a child, explains Robertson.
“Our recommendation to other employers which are looking at similar programmes would be to invest in socialising the advantages of men taking time off as a new father, and on training line managers to be open to such requests before launching the actual benefit. At ABB, we have done this and continue to do so as part of our diversity and inclusion strategy,” she concludes.