In addition to accrued paid time off and traditional bonus structures, we know that our employees also want benefits that provide intrinsic wealth and happiness. Employee assistance programs, 529 college savings plans, and flexible work-from-home options are significantly contributing to the health of our modern workforce.
These types of benefits provide our employees with the security and feeling of equality they need to be confident in where they work. So, we spent years formulating a comprehensive benefits package that allows our employees and their families true accessibility to the values we built our company on. And this past year, we invested in an extension of our maternity and paternity benefits for expecting and new parents.
To truly understand how these benefits support our staff, I sat down with MaryKate Weaver, a landscape planner on our Richmond landscape architecture team. MaryKate is a devoted mom of two and a dedicated professional with a passion for protecting natural resources through education, responsible design, and social advocacy.
Our dialogue began with a recollection of a conversation we had in one of Timmons Group’s offered DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) focus groups. I remember being in the same focus group as MaryKate, along with other colleagues from various divisions of the firm. We sat in a virtual Zoom circle and spoke openly about firmwide actions regarding diversity, equality, benefits, and similar topics. MaryKate made a point to the group that she wanted to see an extension of maternity and paternity leave options for Timmons Group employees, and the group mirrored her motion.
Fast forward several months and MaryKate’s suggestion became a reality for parents across the firm. Our human resources department put their heads together to draft a benefits package that would enhance our parental leave options.
I asked MaryKate what was going through her mind when she made the suggestion to the group those months ago. “Our industries are pretty male dominated, and parental leave has traditionally been geared towards women. I wanted to see long-term changes for women firmwide, so I made it clear that one thing a lot of women want is a more robust maternity leave policy.”
MaryKate went on, “I think that one of the biggest roadblocks for professional women is that, even if they have a master’s degree or exceptional experience in their field, they’re positioned with making a decision by choosing career or family. It can be a real hardship in my experience.” It’s no secret that professional women in all fields are faced with the challenge that MaryKate mentioned—Deciding to have a career or be a dedicated mother can pose a variety of scenarios.
Women who begin their careers at a young age and have children later in life may have more money saved up to afford childcare for their kids. Women who have children before their career peaks may have older kids who can be more independent during the day while their parents are at work. There are mothers who aren’t able to take maternity leave because they don’t have another source of income after their baby arrives. There are mothers with disabled children who don’t have the opportunity to enlist the help of relatives or local resources for help, and there are those that do. And there are women who choose not to have children at all whose careers won’t be impacted by having a family. The list of scenarios goes on.
It’s a difficult decision for women to make, and an even more difficult discussion in a lot of ways. But being proactive about women’s and mothers’ equality in the workplace is the beginning of the conversation.
“It takes a lot of time and effort to onboard new employees, so from my perspective, it just seems like a win-win to be proactive about benefits that enable women in our male-dominated industries. Around 40% of women leave the workforce after they have children—How do we convince them to stay? Generous parental leave policies help us to retain female employees longer, enabling more women to transition into leadership positions. That’s where an improved parental leave policy becomes a win-win,” MaryKate said. “It feels really good to work with a company where we can have these open discussions. Not only have the conversation but also feel confident that you’re in a safe space with people who care about your situation and your opinion.”
I asked MaryKate about her family. She has a three-year-old son and a seven-month-old daughter. Her son was five months old when she started working at Timmons Group. MaryKate came to our focus group with a point about maternity leave in her mind before she became pregnant with her daughter last year. She told me that she brought up the parental leave topic in our focus group because, while she is proactive about women’s equality, she also believes that parental leave is a benefit that everyone should have, both men and women.
As a writer for Timmons Group, I work heavily with our human resources division to make yearly updates to our benefits package. And, full disclosure, when I read this year’s updates to our maternity and paternity leave policies, I was ecstatic for the advantages that this revised benefit could provide for parents across the firm. And, because of our experience in the DEI focus group, the first person I thought of was MaryKate.
“What was your initial reaction to the news that our management adopted your suggestions for paternal leave changes?” I asked MaryKate. “I wasn’t surprised that they listened to my concern,” she said, “but it was amazing to see the change enacted so rapidly. They heard our comments from the focus groups, and they listened to us. They knew these types of benefits are a big deal for parents across the firm. It impacts so many people. I emailed several people in my network to let them know how excited I was. A lot of women are in my position now, some are in our industry and some of them aren’t. But I told them, ‘Here’s a place that has made a change. And maybe you can talk to your bosses about what it would take for your company to do this. And maybe they won’t do it, but it’s a start to the conversation.’”
“My husband owns his own business, and he was able to take off a good amount of time when my children were born. Both of my children were emergency C-sections, which is difficult. If I hadn’t had that support from him, I don’t know what I would have done because I could hardly move. A lot of women don’t have that, so updates to benefits programs like this are really important for parents while they’re enjoying becoming a parent,” MaryKate said.
Because of our benefits updates, MaryKate was able to stay home with her daughter for twelve full weeks after her birth. Her teammates and supervisor were exceptionally supportive, she said, and she transitioned back to her work recovered and fulfilled. “It was so great being mentally ready to come back to the office after being able to totally focus on my daughter,” MaryKate said.
It’s funny to think that my very first interaction with MaryKate those months ago was at this focus group that brought about an incredible change to our firm’s benefits package. MaryKate told me that she hopes other firms in our industries will make similar decisions about their employees’ benefits options. “I don’t know what parental leave policies are like at other companies like ours, but I’m confident that we are really moving in the right direction. And hopefully we are helping to set an example for other professional firms.”
In addition to our enhanced parental leave policies, Timmons Group encourages new parents to take advantage of working less than 40 hours a week as they transition back into their full-time roles in the weeks and months after their family grows. New mothers can also find nursing rooms in all our offices that they can comfortably use during the workday.
We know that our employees’ families are the core of their worlds, and that’s why we’ve invested benefits that support all types of families that are represented throughout our firm. Being a successful new parent while having a career can be a challenge, so our goal is to ease the ‘work’ in the ‘life-work’ balance as much as we can during new parents’ transitions. Are you interested in learning more about our benefits? Visit us on the web at www.timmons.com/employee-benefits.
Getting to know MaryKate:
Where did you grow up? Manassas, Virginia
What was your first job? I was a Park Attendant at Splashdown Water Park when I was 14
What is a favorite Timmons Group project you have worked on? I had free reign to design the planting plan for Project Civica, which was a fun opportunity for me to get a little edgy with the plants
Do you have a hero? My parents and Phryne Fisher
What’s something about you many people don’t know? I served with AmeriCorps (NCCC and State/National) for two years after college, building houses, doing trail work, and assisting FEMA with hurricane relief efforts in Colorado, Texas, Alabama, and Virginia
