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Was 2023 “your year” or are you still writing 2022 on your checks? Either way, 2024 is right around the corner, providing an opportunity for reflection on our year. For us at Josie, in reflection of our year, 2023 was a year of growth in our industry knowledge and expertise – another year older and wiser!
Here are 5 reflections/discoveries making our Spotify-inspired “wrap” for 2023:
And how we learned this was also a welcome surprise: word of mouth! Clients found Josie through their networks and online searches for support, and their employers quickly agreed our programming was a worthy investment. As we reflect on our year, it continues to confirm the market need for our services. According to an iPEC report, over 1.5 million searches are conducted online each month by individuals and companies looking for life coaches, business coaches, and executive coaches. What’s missing is tailored support for the unique needs of career-driven professionals who also want to be family-driven parents. Our program uniquely combines the career, parenting, and mental health concerns that often come with working parenthood – and people are noticing.
As we noted in our September blog post, Parent and Caregiver ERGs are growing in popularity, and we have personally witnessed this growth. Over this past year, Josie launched ERG support and webinar services, and we hosted several speaking events for ERGs across the country, most recently in a multi series partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada. (Shameless plug, we have a pretty impressive menu of offerings!) Our most popular session is our very own version of POTUS’s State of the Union Address, “The State of Working Parenthood.”
According to Mercer, globally, 71% of workers have caregiving responsibilities. This year, Josie gained its first international client, confirming that working caregivers all over the world need support – not just in the US. As we look ahead to 2024, we’ll continue to find ways to make our services available to individuals across the globe.
The term “working mom” gets used A LOT, but how often do you hear someone described as a “working dad”? (Often, it’s “he’s a [insert career title]”, without mention of other roles, or “he’s a dad” outside the context of a career discussion). But in a reflection on our year, we’ve seen a rise in 2023 of the normalization of putting the 2 roles together – the “rise of the working dad,” if you will. Part of the reason is we are anecdotally seeing more and more fathers take their (entire) parental leave. According to SHRM, roughly 4 in 10 employers offer paid parental leave. Unfortunately, fathers have historically been reluctant to use this benefit as there is a fear it can negatively impact their jobs or careers. Company culture also plays a large role – if the benefit is offered but no one uses it or encourages fathers to use it, it’s not really a benefit. However, with our clients at Josie, we are seeing an increase in the non-birthing parent utilize their full leave. This has enormous implications on the health of the birthing parent, non-birthing parent and child. It also impacts the father’s ability to bond with their child, and their partner’s career trajectory. With all these benefits, we hope this shift continues to trend in the right direction, as families benefit when available leave is used! Here’s hoping that 2024 is the year of the “working dads” – and we can’t wait to host our first working dads webinar of the year with one of our employer partners in Q1!
In reflection on our year, nearly every conversation we’ve had with employers in 2023 included a discussion about how to support caregivers in their workforce. From becoming a new parent to supporting an aging loved one, employers want to help their work force navigate the ups and downs of these major life changes and events. We see employers at varying stages of this journey. Many are “stuck” and not sure where to begin. Some are making 2024 a year of discovery – building a fact base of how many caregivers exist across their organizations, and what their top concerns are. Others are starting the ERGs mentioned above and building a robust calendar of events and support to create community among team members. Those a bit further along are engaging with companies like ours to replace outdated and underutilized EAP programs with our signature coaching journeys for working caregivers, signaling a real investment in this population.
As 2023 comes to a close, and in reflection on our year as a new one begins, we wish you the very best. Thank you for being part of our community this year. We are so grateful for your support. Cheers to 2024!
