The word “advocate” can be scary. Does it mean that you need to be the one person solely responsible for bringing change to your organization? Do you need to rally dozens of people behind the cause all on your own?
Take a deep breath. Being an advocate – especially one that is trying to bring fertility and family building benefits to your workplace – can mean so many things. And no, it doesn’t have to be intimidating!
Amanda Lesesne, infertility advocate and VP of Sales at Progyny, recently sat down with Selena Yang, VP of Communication and Strategy, to talk about the various ways you can advocate for a family building benefit at your workplace. Here’s the good news: Amanda says that being an advocate can be as simple as talking to your close colleagues about your family building journey. Sparking these conversations can reverberate across your entire organization, and result in real change.
Beyond just starting a conversation, there are also other ways you can play an active role in advocating for a fertility benefit.
You can bring your cause to existing employee resource groups (ERGs) that you’re a part of and get them to help you advocate for a robust and inclusive family building program. You could even start a petition with those groups. In larger group settings like these, advocacy can seem a lot less scary because you have so many people supporting you.
So, you’ve started the conversation with your friends, a supportive group of colleagues backing the cause, the next step is to start a conversation with your HR or benefits team. Understandably, this can be the most difficult part. But Amanda has some really great tips on what to say when you approach your HR team about implementing a family building benefit for your workforce.
Your voice, especially when it comes to advocating for benefits, is incredibly powerful. Take some of these tips and apply them to your own situation – you’ll be surprised by the impact one voice can have!
If you’re interested in learning more about what to look for in a fertility benefit, check out this blog post with more tips from Amanda.