Babies in the Workplace

Babies in the Workplace  42

43  Why it Works

formal, structured program--who believe that a babies-in-the-workplace program can and does work.    Partially because many in our society still believe that all babies are supposed to cry for hours on end, the idea of babies in the workplace can be scary because people naturally think of screaming babies in the workplace--which isn't appealing to anyone.  But the dynamics of many work environments are actually perfect for keeping babies happy and calm, and the nature of many current office jobs is highly conducive to parenting while working--once the underlying psychology of babies is understood.    The companies with successful, long-term babies-at-work programs tended to be the ones with detailed policies that set clear expectations and parameters.  For example, one big requirement is that if

a baby does cry for long periods of time, the company can require the parent to make other arrangements.  Companies also need to make it clear that bringing a baby is contigent on a parent still being able to get most of her work done.  In a sense, a baby program is like any other business policy.  For example, no company could function effectively with a free-for-all vacation policy, in which employees could just not show up for a week at a time whenever they felt like it.  These baby programs work because companies put effort into creating a sustainable program that can work most of the time--and that turns out to have extensive side benefits when it does.