Six & Flow's parent inclusive work environment

Life as a working parent has always been a juggling act. You are managing your own life, your work-life, and your child’s life.

Having just returned from a stint of paternity leave, I thought it would be great to let others know the experience I had (aside from the obvious points - would you like a side of, ‘Crying for 4 hours’ with your main of ‘Well-done tiredness’?). I’d like to share how being able to have that time with a newborn really benefitted me and my young family.

My experience with parental leave

I began working with Six & Flow in 2020 with a young daughter. One year later, I am now the dad of two beautiful girls. 

When I first joined, I was very kindly asked to assist in reviewing our parenting policy. The Ops and HR team were looking to bring the policy up to date with current working practices (pandemics included) and give the policy a bit of a refresh. They asked about my previous experience with paternity leave at my last employer and what an expectant father would want from their parenting policy. 

In marketing, we learn about the importance of getting feedback from our customers. While I may not be a customer, that’s exactly what Six & Flow did. They asked for my input as a parent - which I found unique and humbling! 

I already knew that the culture of people here at Six & Flow was something special but the latest paternity leave guidelines they put in place made me realise how much Six & Flow cares about their staff. When my second daughter was born, I was provided with the flexibility to support my wife and my already young family, whilst also being able to decompress from the rigours of agency life and give them my full attention. 

My paternity leave consisted of 2 weeks statutory leave at full pay. I had the option to choose a further week at full pay or 2 weeks at half pay. With Christmas looming, I decided to take the 4 weeks to ensure a great Christmas with all the family.

Whilst remaining considerate to the business, I also wanted to factor in what I felt was needed, given my previous experience, and to have the right amount of quality time with my newest member of my young family. There’s a shiny new policy that now sits in place for parents at Six & Flow. To all the potential starters reading this, I hope I helped contribute to a great policy! 😁 

In addition to being a new parent, there has also been a pandemic to contend with. 

Life as a working parent during the pandemic

Colleagues have had to juggle meetings and kids - quite literally in some instances - on top of having to home school. All under the shroud of COVID.

We’re all human - things are hard enough as it is but with kids, that can be doubly hard and add to stress levels. Six & Flow understood this implicitly and worked with a number of colleagues during lockdown to ensure client work was maintained whilst ensuring the well-being of staff was adhered to. 

The agency has a desire to be excellent at everything they do. And, they are. They also have a tendency to be a little disruptive along the way… provided it gets the right results. But, that’s also what I love about the agency and the team. 

At Six & Flow, I do not have to make a decision between my career and my family. The time with your family is incredibly important and Six & Flow actively encourage you to take time with loved ones, especially during those early stages. Having downtime from work helps everyone get back into the swing of things of working for a fast-paced, hustle and bustle agency like Six & Flow.

Why you should consider SAF

Having been with the business for a little over 12 months now, I cannot speak highly enough about the business and the people that make up this fabulous team. Knowledgeable, helpful and understanding. The agency actively encourages discussion and collaboration. Everyone helps one another out.

Our MD, Rich Wood consistently wants everyone to grow and in turn, that will only help the agency grow in return. But you have to have fun whilst doing it also! And when your new fun is watching episodes of In the Night Garden or the latest Disney release as opposed to Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders - then that too is absolutely fine!