Fathers In The Workplace

A new TalentManagement.com article from Natalle Morera shows that fathers seeking a more active role in parenting their kids aren’t receiving adequate support from their employers.

One such father, Arturo Poire, the vice president and global head of talent management at Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., knows just the feeling. He’s up at 6 a.m. every morning to bottle feed his young daughter, Adelle. Poire and his wife are expecting another child and both parents work full time. Adelle is left with a nanny during the day, and the nanny is typically relieved by around 7 p.m. by either Poire’s wife or himself, depending on each spouse’s situation for the day.

Balancing parenting and a career is not an easy task for anyone – it’s, well, a lot of work!

A recent Workplace Options survey found that 68 percent of working fathers have experienced negativity or problems with their current employer because of their conflicting responsibilities. Forty-eight percent of fathers reported spending fewer than six hours with their children a day, compared to 31 percent of working mothers. Thirty-nine percent of working dads said their job detracts from their ability to interact with and support their children and family.

With ‘traditional’ ideas still floating around about how it’s a wife’s role to be the primary caregiver for children, it’s often more difficult for men to be a caregiver for children. However, for many men, child-rearing is a partnership.

Poire said he even waited to have children, so that his career could come first. But after Adelle, his whole focus shifted toward family. “It has given me a different point of view in terms of diversity in the workplace and creating a more inclusive work environment, which is difficult, ” Poire said.

“Being a man at a senior level, as I am, it’s quite interesting because the assumption that everybody makes is that it’s your wife that is taking care of everything,” Poire said. “You’d be shocked. I like to think we live in a more modern world.”

There are many set-backs to being a dedicated father in the workplace. There are stereotypes and assumptions that bias and hinder a father’s ability to cater to his family over his career. To read more about how one man does it, click here to read the full article.

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