Why parents like working at ICF
Many parents are facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and stress. We see this in our work to strengthen families and communities. And we know the impacts on the wellbeing of our employees and their families.
More than half of our leadership team have children under the age of 18. We get the challenge of balancing work and home life. And we look for ways to offer support to all our working parents. So we’re proud Parents@Work named us as one of the Best Places to Work: for moms, for dads, and for parents working remotely.
Our employees agree. Here are five reasons they enjoy being working parents at ICF.
1. Flexibility
Working with their managers, our employees have the option to set flexible schedules that work for them and their teams. During COVID-19, this especially helped our parents manage new and shifting situations at home while keeping up with work.
“Flex-time lets me adjust my schedule. I start my workdays early and enjoy the quiet, more productive hours of the morning. Then I can be fully present for my kids when their school day is over.” - Celine C.
2. Remote work options
While the option to work remotely was available before the pandemic, having it in place helped our parents transition to being part of a virtual workforce in the spring of 2020.
“As a busy, single mom with three teenage boys, working from home lets me be present at work and also actively participate in their lives. Such a gift to do both and feel supported!” – Rachelle R.
3. Parental leave policy
All parents are affected when families grow. Our gender-neutral parental leave policy encourages employees to enjoy time with their new additions. In 2020, 97% of eligible fathers and 100% of eligible mothers took leave.
“The opportunity to take parental leave to focus on the birth of our first-born daughter (in a pandemic!) was priceless. I had the support of the company, my manager and team, and my colleagues. Upon returning, I felt more engaged and connected to my work and our people than ever before!”- Josh W.
4. Adoption benefits
Adoption can be costly, so we provide financial contributions toward the process. And our parental leave policy also covers adoptive parents so they can benefit from extra family bonding time.
“When we were notified of an opportunity to adopt a baby due in three weeks, we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. One of the things that made the decision easier was knowing we could use the funding from ICF to cover the cost of our home study.” - Ashley A.
5. Lots of resourcesWe have a career development program that includes mentoring. Plus an internal chat group for working parents to exchange ideas and resources. And all employees have access to our internal wellbeing hub of resources to help manage their home and work lives. Some resources, such as lists of preferred service providers for child and elder care, are especially helpful to our working parents.
