At Wyloo, we are proud to have a supportive and flexible work environment that allows our people to bring their whole selves to work every day.
Recently, our Chief Development Officer, Joel Turco, spent the morning exploring the transformative journey of fatherhood at an event held by CEOs for Gender Equity. Hosted by Sarah Maconachie, Founder and CEO of Work Hard Parent Hard, The Future of Fatherhood event explored how the role of dads is shifting and what that means for families, workplaces, and society.
For Joel, it was an inspiring event and an opportunity to learn, reflect and share his experience as a father of two. “The expectation of fatherhood is transforming,” he reflected. “And the way we show up for our children today will shape their own expectations of fatherhood when they’re parents themselves. That’s how change happens across generations.”
One idea explored at the event, that stuck with Joel, was just how far-reaching the benefits of supporting fathers at work can be. Supporting fathers in the workplace supports everyone: the father themselves (as an employee), their partner, their children, other current or prospective fathers in the organisation, and other employees across the organisation who observe this attitude towards supporting employees to bring their whole self to work.
Joel knows this first-hand. Balancing a busy professional life with the daily rhythms of raising a family isn’t always easy. There are mornings that feel rushed and bedtimes that stretch long into the evening. But he left the event with a new perspective, shared by parents in the room with older kids: those small, everyday interactions – breakfast before school or a bedtime story – are the moments that matter most. These interactions are something to treasure and to look forward to.
Research shared at the event reinforced this point. When fathers are positively involved in their children’s lives, outcomes improve across the board for their kids: better mental health, improved numeracy and literacy, stronger relationship building and better decision making.
Workplaces play a critical role in enabling dads to be engaged fathers. At Wyloo, we’re proud to role model a lot of the recommended practices for supporting fathers in the workplace. As an organisation, we provide and encourage flexible working for all employees, whether that’s working from home or adjusting hours to be there for school drop-off and pick-up. Our parental leave policy makes no distinction between primary and secondary carers, aligned to our commitment to ensure all parents can take time to bond with their child as a family. We aim to make parenting visible and to support the fathers in our organisation to role model active, hands-on fatherhood.
“It’s important to communicate that support for fathers is not a ‘special consideration’ but an extension of the support we give to all our employees (parents or otherwise) that enable them to bring their entire selves to work every day. The future of fatherhood is here,” Joel said. “And by embracing it, we’re building stronger families, better workplaces, and healthier communities.”
