Citi, Joint Winner 2012, Best for Fathers Award

Citi is a large global banking group, who employ more than 8,500 people in the UK, of whom 6,000 are men. A number of years ago the Bank recognised that men were less likely to connect with information held on the intranet about policies and opportunities around fatherhood than were mothers. In 2009 Citi launched their ‘New Dads Workshops’, which is a highly interactive and participative classroom based session, to bring together new and expectant fathers, to provide an opportunity to discuss combining fatherhood and work at an organisation as demanding as Citi is of its employees. The Workshops cover a range of topics: practical advice on paternity leave, pay, flexible working, childcare and family healthcare. It also covers items like managing boundaries and the changing role of the father.

Citi have ensured that their policies for fathers are aligned with the ones which are offered to mothers. They were one of the first UK organisations to announce matching APL pay with maternity leave pay when APL was introduced last year, and are carefully monitoring the fathers who have taken APL so far at Citi to learn from their experiences of transitioning from and back to work.

Citi recognises the critical role line managers have in making our fathers’ experience of balancing work and home life a good one.  Which is why Citi has also adjusted and rebranded their manager training to include fathers, where previously it focused on managing maternity.

Citi have put a lot of effort into getting fathers to register when they are taking Ordinary Paternity Leave, and monitor attendance of fathers at their parent workshops. Those taking Additional Paternity Leave are also monitored, and their performance rankings and pay reviews are reviewed fairly to ensure they are bias free. Citi is proud to say that with evidence from the staff survey it suggests that fathers have good engagement and feel supported in their efforts to achieve a good work-life balance.