Originally published on Medium (by Jenny Dearborn) — It was déjà vu all over again. Earlier this month, I shared a legal victory for paternity leave that echoed an article I wrote in USA TODAY in 2016: then, few took full advantage of trendy new maternity/paternity leave policies, reflecting pressures on parents to return to work early. In this recent case, JPMorgan Chase agreed to a tentative $5 million settlement in a class action suit brought by a father given just two weeks paid parental leave, vs. the 16 weeks the bank officially offered, because he was not the “primary caregiver.” That father held his employer accountable, and I hope others follow his lead. Now it seems there’s even more cause for celebration, and for companies to take

Originally published on Medium (by Jenny Dearborn) — The college admissions scandal is back in the news with the first prosecution. But for me, what’s shocking isn’t just that wealthy parents were gaming the system to help their kids get into top universities, or that the convicted Stanford sailing coach received a slap on the wrist relative to those incarcerated by our terribly broken criminal justice system. Or even the difference those millions in bribes could have made for our country’s many underfunded schools. The real college scandal in my view impacts millions of Americans and our economy: higher education costs have more than doubled in the past 30 years and student loan debt has ballooned to $1.5 trillion. Yet US high school graduates are more than twice as likely to

Originally published on Entrepreneur (by Tammy Perkins) — Investing in employee development seeds your business’s health, success and future. Fostering the physical, emotional and intellectual space for employees to thrive is foundational. But not all approaches are created equal.   Another table stakes to healthy culture is employee learning and engagement. After all, once we’ve hired the best people, we want to protect our investment by motivating and developing them. Engagement requires ownership. When employees recognize the company’s challenges as their challenges; its success as their success; its future as their future – they become true ambassadors for the business.  Consider these five ways to shape the future of employee development: Activate Your Team The future of employee development is a broader conversation around

Originally published on Forbes (by Mary Beth Ferrante) — As 2018 comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the current state of affairs for working parents and how cultural norms surrounding work and family life are (slowly but surely) shifting. We’re seeing companies scramble as they attempt to attract and retain top female talent by offering paid parental leave (take a look at some of the best and worst policies of 2018), as well as, enticing benefits. When companies support working parents, they are not only committing to helping them integrate both their professional and family lives but are also advancing their own bottom line. By increasing paid parental leave, companies not only attract better talent but reduce attrition rates and improve productivity.