How BlaBlaCar empowers working parents
At BlaBlaCar, I feel supported as a parent. Here is why.
As an adult in my thirties, combining a fast-paced job with raising young children, there is one important factor that radically affects my quality of life and dedication at work: whether my workplace welcomes me as a parent as well as a professional.
It can be challenging to fit the demands of family life with those of a performance-driven job. In addition, there is still often a stigma attached to being a mother in the workplace. At BlaBlaCar however, I have felt fully welcomed as a parent, and at no point have I felt treated differently for being a mother.
Having experienced a healthy work environment, free of stigma and supportive of who I am, I share what has mattered most in my journey as a parent at work hoping it might be useful to managers seeking to evolve towards a parent-friendly workplace, or employees wondering which companies have the right mindset.
Men are parents too
Being a parent is not associated with your gender. Whether a father or a mother, the environment allows anyone to live their parenthood fully.
BlaBlaCar’s founders are young fathers themselves. Frédéric Mazzella, Nicolas Brusson, and Francis Nappez understand the joys and complexities related to being a working parent and their respect for family life has trickled down deep into the company culture, including the decisions BlaBlaCar has made to build a safe work environment for parents.
Childcare @ the ExCo: Culture having a strong multiplier effect, BlaBlaCar’s executive team have naturally conveyed the same values. As I returned from maternity leave, I noticed that Olivier Bonnet, CTO, and Rémi Guyot, VP Product were sharing in their calendars (visible to anyone in the company) the time at which they were leaving the office to take care of their kids under “kid duty” or “kindergarden”. This single act was incredibly powerful. It sent the signal that we can be transparent about who we are as a person, not just an employee. Olivier later told me that he had been inspired by Amélie Seguret, VP Marketing, in doing so. A reminder that small gestures can inspire others to change. Thanks Amelie, Olivier & Remi — your transparency on your role as parents helped me free myself from the stigma attached to motherhood at work.
Parental leave going the extra mile: Equality at work is inseparable from sharing family responsibilities too. Last year BlaBlaCar introduced a 1-month parental leave across its offices globally for second parents as part of the Parental Act (thank you Celine Lazorthes!). Fathers at BlaBlaCar like Thibault Ambard, Olivier Paillard, or Benjamin Retourné foster change by taking their full leave. I now frequently hear male team members exchanging proudly on the first weeks of life of their newborn, and the experience of being a parent. This move confirmed which side of history BlaBlaCar wanted to be on: a company that helps shape a society where parents, whatever their gender, can thrive both in their professional and personal lives.
Level playing field
Being a parent is understood as being part of employee life, and checks and balances ensure that team members are assessed on the basis of their merit only.
“Parental leaves are healthy for teams”: Having had three children in four years, and feeling very dedicated to my job, I did feel a little weary as I announced to our CEO Nicolas Brusson that the third child was on the way. I felt even more so as two colleagues who could have replaced me in my absence, had just announced that they were expecting children too. I popped the news early-on so that we could plan for what looked like a pretty disastrous scenario to me. Yet Nico’s reaction could not have been more positive. The news got welcomed by a warm smile, possibly a joke on what size family I was aiming for :) and a reassuring message: “The average age of our team is 32 years old, so we need to learn how to live with parental leaves”. And he added “It’s a healthy test for teams too, and an opportunity for some to try new responsibilities. Take the time you need, and we look forward to having you back afterwards”. A team is a living body, it’s not static. Its agility also gets tested by these life events. Nico understood the worth of teams knowing how to navigate these events to create the right spirit and ultimately, a strong performance too.
Checks and balances for equitable remuneration & promotions: Two years ago, BlaBlaCar introduced Job Levels, a process assigning a level to every role in the company, according to a scale of 1 to 7, and defining expected responsibility, autonomy, seniority, impact, and remuneration bracket. One of the objectives of job levels was to ensure fairness in promotions and salaries. The process involves peers from the same level leading a cross-review of the levels of all the team members, with the ability to openly challenge why a person is considered at one level versus another. Many female professionals still fear that maternity leave might interrupt their career progression. This process makes it impossible for a manager to give-in to unfair practices, whether they involve discrimination or favouritism. Promotions upon returning from maternity leave are not uncommon at BlaBlaCar, with recent cases including Amélie Seguret who was promoted VP Marketing, Elina Roetynck who was promoted Head of Community Relations, or Audrey Wolfovski, General Manager France, who further expanded her scope to integrating new bus operations. The job levels also allow to spot immediately any remaining salary inequalities and adjust for it. This process is about people and their performance, not about gender or any other part of our identity.
Flexible & remote set-up
Employees are trusted to manage their time as they see fit around their professional and personal responsibilities.
Flexibility, rooted in trust: key to combining work, family life and serenity is flexibility. The flexibility for a team member to work from home or adjust working hours to the demands of family life, in return for their commitment to do their best to deliver at another more convenient time. I joined BlaBlaCar when my first-born was three months old and chose to work four days a week to achieve a more balanced split between work and family life. I have kept this work arrangement for the past six years which did not stop me from gaining in seniority in my job, being involved in strategic decisions, or joining the Executive Committee in 2017. Doing so required the trust from my manager and team mates that I would organise myself to deliver. It also meant that I knew when to put in the extra effort. Many topics not dealt with on Thursday night could wait for Monday morning. But if not, it was a no brainer that I would get it done beforehand. Several parents at BlaBlaCar, men or women, ask if they can move to a four-day week upon becoming parents. Flexibility is incredibly valuable, but it can only succeed in a culture deeply rooted in mutual trust and commitment. BlaBlaCar managers and teams share such values. They get it. So it works.
Work is going remote, big time : One step beyond flexibility, is remote work. Working from home can help better balance work-life and personal objectives. BlaBlaCar has always been a remote-friendly environment, gradually improving its remote policy over the past years. However, the Covid-19 crisis gave us the disruptive kick we needed to leap towards a mostly remote set-up. Until the end of 2020, BlaBlaCar employees are free to choose, on a voluntary basis, whether or not to work from the office. From January 2021 onwards, a new permanent set up, mainly remote, will be in place, while we’ll continue over-indexing on preserving our strong culture and social bonds. Working most days from home over the past weeks (with children back at school!) has meant gaining on average 1.5 hours a day compared to weeks in the office, whilst still feeling close to the team. That’s an incredibly precious amount of time. In a pre-covid fully-optimised life with zero slack, every minute counted. This new remote organisation has created the space to breathe and do everything a little better as some of the unnecessary pressure is lifted.
Closing note…
Back in 2017 I was invited as a speaker on a panel organised by INSEAD to celebrate 50 years of women being part of the MBA programme. I shared my experience working in an environment where you can be fully yourself, with no unnecessary consideration for your gender, and how liberating it is to just focus on delivering the best performance. Hearing the surprise and reactions to what I was describing, I realised then that what I was experiencing was still way too rare.
So… to the old guard that is still recalcitrant to change: the best talents will seek diverse workplaces where they are appreciated for who they are, and empowered to thrive in all dimensions of their lives. To remain competitive, it might be worth reconsidering your position.
To Fred, Nico & Francis: Thank you for creating an incredibly inspiring culture, respectful of our other life adventures. And thanks for standing for it across your decisions.
To Frédéric Altenbourger, and our brilliant People team: Thank you for continuously turning these values into tangible actions and progress.
To parents at BlaBlaCar: Thank you for reminding us that combining both ambitions successfully is possible. Your example is empowering.
To all talented parents out there, and to anyone else who is attracted by a genuine workplace that values who you are, join us!
Thanks to the following people for sharing their insightful point of views: Thibault Ambard, Emilie Baliozian, Olivier Bonnet, Remi Guyot, Perrine Labesse, Judith Lavedrine, Mariana Maal, Olivier Paillard, Benjamin Retourné, Elina Roetynck, Amélie Seguret, and Audrey Wolfwoski.
