From the main stage at the Great Place to Work Summit: Why the top workplaces support parents

“I’m a new mom and a few months ago, it was 5 o’clock in the morning on a Thursday and I’m sitting on the couch in the dark with my head in my hands. My son Jasper is crying in the other room and I’m exhausted. Suddenly a lightbulb goes off and I go to my phone, I navigate to my Maven app, and there in my notes section are notes from a Maven Lactation Consultant I had met with earlier in the day about feeding in the middle of the night… In that moment, it felt like Maven was there for me, and Great Place to Work [my employer] was there with me. And I love that I’ve received judgement-free, expert advice from Maven, which—believe me—is very hard to find.”

Maggie Green is an executive at Great Place to Work, a Maven member, and a new mom who loves being a working parent, though some days are better than others. On Thursday, Maggie shared her story on the main stage at the 2020 Great Place to Work For All Summit in San Francisco to kickoff a fireside chat with Maven Founder and CEO Kate Ryder.

In their conversation before business leaders from the world’s leading companies, Kate and Maggie spoke about the daily challenges working parents face and why it is a business imperative for leading workplaces to support women and families. Kate highlighted a few of the core reasons she started Maven six years ago, including solving core gender issues in healthcare, creating inclusive services and support for LGBT+ parents, and filling gaps in manager training, workplace culture, and support for working parents.

The reality is that outcomes in maternal health—including the rising mortality rate in the U.S.—don’t match the escalating costs for employers and individuals, as Kate pointed out.

“We’ve built a product where we put women and families at the center of the healthcare system so they can get the support they need,” Kate said in conversation at the Great Place to Work For All Summit. “Becoming a parent is a huge lifestyle transition—one of the biggest in your life. Maven has really helped normalize working parenthood.”

“Becoming a parent is a huge lifestyle transition—one of the biggest in your life. Maven has really helped normalize working parenthood.”

Parents are looking to their employers to help them navigate this transition and provide holistic benefits that fill critical gaps in support and healthcare wherever, whenever they may need it. As the leading authority on workplace culture and on how to create an environment that attracts and retains top talent, Great Place to Work provides Maven to their employees, including Maggie, to fill these gaps and provide unlimited, on-demand access to our telehealth network of 1700 providers and specialists in women’s and family health.

“The collision of work and family life is just what modern parenthood is,” explained Kate, who urged companies to fully embrace the realities of working parents and provide them with the care and support they need.

For Maggie, Great Place to Work and her colleagues have made her feel supported in more ways than she expected, she shared, allowing her to “bring her whole self to work” and embrace her new identity as a working mom. This support at work or in the middle of the night is exactly what sets apart many of the top workplaces for parents, women, and millennials who were in the audience at the Great Place to Work For All Summit. As Maggie shared with Kate on the main stage at the Summit:

“Even just two weeks ago, I felt comfortable enough to tell my colleagues and Michael Bush [Great Place to Work’s CEO] that I want to grow my family in a few years. Maven was there to help me open this conversation, and to normalize these conversations in the workplace.”