It may come as no surprise that those companies whose employees have chosen them as Best Places to Work in the North Bay are also companies who rank highly in the category of family friendliness. As a general rule, companies that are family friendly have higher morale, lower turnover and lower absenteeism.
The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce has partnered with First 5 Sonoma County to help communicate to the private sector the importance of investing early, which includes being a family friendly business. The return on investment for investing in a child before they enter Kindergarten is 7:1. Data shows that one of the most effective strategies for economic growth is investing in the developmental growth of young children. Short-term costs are more than offset by the immediate and long-term benefits through reduction in the need for special education and remediation, better health outcomes, reduced need for social services, lower criminal justice costs and increased self-sufficiency and productivity among families. Essentially, those businesses that are family friendly and supportive of employees as parents are investing not just in the workforce of today, but in the society of the future.
While the companies that are being recognized as Best Places to Work may not have those statistics at their fingertips, they have demonstrated that they know how to support their employees, a big part of which is supporting their employees not just in the workplace, but in that delicate balance of work and home life.
This year the Journal's Best Places to Work employee survey included three additional “family friendly” questions. Employee’s answers of these questions were aggregated into a score that translates into a 5-star rating system. The lowest rating of any company being recognized this year is 3.5, while 10 companies received 5 stars.
Overwhelmingly, people who consider their employers to be family friendly cite examples like flex time, emergency time off, company picnics where children are welcome and understanding of the need for time off when an employee has a sick child at home. Regardless of the benefit offered, employees who raved about their employer’s family friendliness cited the support of the owners or management as being key to creating that culture. Stand out examples of family friendly benefits included child care stipends, college scholarships for employee’s children, and employers who were overwhelmingly accommodating to women returning to work after maternity leave.
Where is there room for improvement? Many employees wished their employer offered onsite day care, but also cited that their work doesn’t have the space to accommodate a day care facility or that there aren’t enough employers who would take advantage of onsite day care to make the expense worthwhile. An understandable challenge, there is an opportunity for companies located near each other to work collaboratively on a centrally located center. While that opportunity seems like it could be a stretch, onsite daycare would elevate those businesses that are already shining examples of what it is to be family friendly to the next level.
It was clear from survey respondents that when they felt that their employer cares not just about them, but about their family and the juggling act that comes with being a working parent, the employee has more loyalty and regard for their employer. Congratulations to our award winners. Not only are you a Best Place to Work in Sonoma County, but you are also supporting the workforce of tomorrow.
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Kelly Bass Seibel is the director of Workforce Development for the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, 1260 N. Dutton Avenue, Suite 272, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. She can be reached at 707-636-2389 or kellys@santarosachamber.com.
