How can we plug the leaky pipeline of female talent? This was the question on everyone’s mind as we came together yesterday to learn from Vontobel on how they are creating a culture that inspires parents to thrive at the Advance – Gender Equality in Business Best Practice Exchange.
Ana Piubel shared Vontobel’s generous parental leave policy that gives the ownership back to the employees, allowing them to design how and when they will use it. But it doesn’t stop there. The parents@work peer coaching program is available to all parents at Vontobel to provide support, connection, and exchange.
The message is clear at Vontobel, working parents are valued employees.
And the data shows that it is having an impact:
✅ There is a 49% increase in employee wellbeing for parents who have participated in the program
✅ The return rate of new mothers has increased to almost 100%
All the speakers: Faye Witteveen, Ana Piubel, Nicolas Vu Huu, and Sarah Meier shared their personal working parent experiences, and it inspired the participants to do the same. It was wonderful to hear so many examples, so many best practices, and also so many spontaneous, vulnerable stories shared from the heart. When we can let down the walls and share from the heart, this is how we can learn from each other and be inspired to do better. Thank you to everyone who participated and who contributed to such an insightful and fruitful exchange.
Thank you to Advance for inviting us to exchange on this important topic and thank you to Vontobel for hosting us and being the very best partners in building family friendly workplaces.
Author: Sarah Meier