Insights from the Webinar: A Workplace Trend That’s Here to Stay

Family-friendly workplace policies are increasingly central to recruitment, retention, and worker well-being—especially for parents and caregivers. The webinar Family Friendly Businesses, a Workplace Trend That’s Here to Stay spotlights Family Forward NC®, a statewide employer certification initiative led by the NC Early Childhood Foundation, and shares results and lessons from Greensboro’s Family Forward NC® Community Certification, North Carolina’s first Family Forward NC®–certified community campaign.

Watch the webinar recording here.

Highlights from Presentations:

• Lisa Finaldi (NC Early Childhood Foundation) introduced the Family Forward NC® employer certification model and explained how the certification process works—from eligibility requirements and policy “buckets” (e.g., paid leave, flexibility, caregiving supports) to document verification and the employee survey. She also described how and why Greensboro piloted a Family Forward NC® Community Certification, and where the initiative is headed next.
• Alexandra Quintero (MPH candidate, UNC Gillings; Total Worker Health® Graduate Certificate trainee) presented findings from her evaluation of Greensboro’s Family Forward NC® Community Certification, including what helped the campaign succeed, what barriers employers faced, and practical recommendations to strengthen replication efforts across North Carolina.

Key Themes and What You’ll Learn:

1. How Family Forward NC® certification works: Understand eligibility requirements, policy scoring, verification, and how employee input informs certification.
2. What it takes to certify a community: Learn how partnerships, steering committees, and time-bound campaigns helped Greensboro achieve Family Forward NC® Community Certification.
3. What motivates employer participation: Explore how peer influence, trusted relationships, and visibility encouraged businesses to pursue Family Forward NC® certification.
4. Implementation challenges: Hear about common barriers, including limited HR capacity for small employers and internal review processes for larger organizations.
5. How to strengthen and scale Family Forward NC®: Learn practical recommendations to improve outreach, communication, and engagement with small and minority-owned businesses.

Key Takeaways:

• Greensboro’s Family Forward NC® Community Certification reached scale: The campaign certified 82 businesses and impacted 50,000+ employees statewide.
• Partnerships drove success: Chamber and local stakeholder networks created trusted pathways to employers and increased visibility.
• The employee survey was the biggest hurdle: Concerns about data sharing, survey fatigue, and employee expectations led to refinements in survey design and thresholds.
• Employer size shaped barriers: Smaller employers faced time and capacity constraints, while larger employers navigated internal bureaucracy.
• What’s next for Family Forward NC®: The Community Certification model is expanding to new regions, alongside development of a return-on-investment calculator to support employers.