16 September marks the Day of Working Parents, a date celebrated in various parts of the world to honour the dedication of those balancing the dual responsibilities of career and caregiving. At Julius Baer, we too embrace this moment to recognise our working parents and – by creating an environment of empathy, structured support, and flexibility – reaffirm a simple, but strong belief: being a parent enhances rather than hinders one’s capacity to lead, innovate, and thrive. 

Understanding the pressures of modern parenthood

Starting a family and raising children is a formative time and profoundly rewarding experience in every parent’s life, yet it also involves daunting challenges and significant stress, especially for working parents. A 2024 report by the US Public Health Service shows one in three parents regularly experience high stress levels and nearly half report their stress at times feels unmanageable – patterns that are mirrored across the globe.

With the right support, however, the situation can be different. To Stefania, a compliance officer at Julius Baer, having a support system not only at home but also at work is essential. Following the birth of her second child, Stefania embarked on a significant career transition, joining Julius Baer to take on her current role. “For me, it has been really important to work at a company that, on the one hand, appreciates the qualities that working parents bring, such as resilience, flexibility, patience, or time management. I often call them ‘my parent superpowers’,” she explains. On the other hand, Stefania emphasises, it is equally important for employers to understand the needs of working parents and provide the necessary support during this pivotal stage in life. “At Julius Baer, this aligns with our core value, Care, which is deeply ingrained in the bank’s culture,” she says.

The power of community

Two years ago, after spotting an internal news with a call for volunteers, she helped set up Parents4parents – today a thriving global employee network that brings together parents and caregivers from all over the company. “Juggling work and family isn’t easy, but easier when you’re not alone,” says Stefania, a core team member ever since. “Through the community you can meet colleagues in similar situations and share the joyful and challenging sides of parenthood.” 

From sharing resources and advice to organising learning sessions and family events to mentoring and discussions with senior leaders, Parents4parents is helping working mums and dads at Julius Baer to connect, learn, and grow.

Fostering connections to unlock collective wisdom

A space where the network’s strong sense of mutual support becomes particularly visible is the community’s active chat forum, where members can freely exchange advice, ask questions, and share valuable tips on a wide range of topics, including bedtime routines, childcare, schools, and family-friendly holiday destinations.

For employees who have relocated for work and are navigating a new cultural environment as parents, it provides an endless resource and an easy way for accessing local knowledge and insights on location- and culture-specific aspects of family life, such as childcare and school systems. “The forum has become our virtual town square,” says Stefania. “However, it merely amplifies what we see in the community at large – a remarkable willingness to help each other and pass on valuable advice.” 

John, who is leading the bank’s Agile team and a father of three, experienced this firsthand when his children struggled to settle into school after his family moved from England to Switzerland. Through the community, he met a fellow parent at Julius Baer who advised him to request an interpreter for a meeting with the teacher, which proved to be a game-changer.

For John and Stefania, facilitating such connections with other parents across the organisation is one of the network’s greatest strengths. As John notes, “Shared experiences and challenges foster trust and an environment of collaboration and empathy that we strive to maintain within the bank.”

Building a learning-centric network

Another focus area for the Parents4parents community is learning. Its regular webinars with parenting and education experts have become widely popular among community members and provide resources and practical strategies on topics such as raising resilient children, supporting kids with friendship issues, or balancing technology and digital media consumption. They are also a favourite of Evelyn, a mother of two and Deputy Head of Legal at Julius Baer’s Hong Kong office. 

“As professionals, we are capable and competent, but as parents, we often struggle with feelings of guilt and falling short of meeting our children’s needs,” she explains. “Through learning and knowledge sharing, we can build confidence and become more effective parents. It reduces the mental load and makes us more focused, productive, and satisfied at work, benefiting both us and the organisation.” 

A business lawyer by training, Evelyn spent her entire career in the finance industry before joining Julius Baer 13 years ago. At the bank, she became actively engaged in its women’s network in Asia, chairing the Hong Kong chapter for the past eight years. “My motivation for helping to establish the Women@Julius Baer Asia network stemmed from a desire to create a supportive space where working mothers like myself could empower and uplift each other,” she notes. 

To leverage synergies between the different communities, Evelyn actively cross-promotes learning opportunities, best practice sharing, and supports joint initiatives that encourages interaction across regions and units. For instance, she organised a heartfelt activity for International Women’s Day, where community members’ children were invited to submit drawings of women who inspire them. 

Similar to Evelyn’s efforts, the Parents4Parents core team also seeks to harness the collective strength of Julius Baer’s diverse employee resource groups to drive meaningful impact. Partnering with the company’s sustainability network, for example, they have developed a couple of virtual workshops on sustainable living, helping families address climate change together.   

Inspiring and supporting growth 

Although the community is only two years old, Parents4parents has already become one of the bank’s most active. Its success, as Stefania points out, also conveys a vital message: “At Julius Baer, parenthood doesn’t mean your career has to stagnate. With the right support, parenthood and professional growth can go hand in hand.” 

The Parents4parents mentoring programme directly contributes to this ambition. Mentors who are seasoned working parents share their experiences and advice, helping new or first-time parents find solutions that work for them and their families. “The bank supports personal and professional growth, and we shouldn’t limit ourselves or place unnecessary boundaries just because we’re working parents,” notes Evelyn. “If you have a child and strive to grow your career, you can make it work.”

This can-do attitude is genuinely carried across the bank and outward in the community’s ‘Inspiring Leaders’ sessions with Julius Baer’s most senior leaders, who are also working parents. John, who as a senior leader participated in one, is convinced that “having honest conversations about working parenthood – including what works and what still needs improvement – is absolutely vital in living our belief that family and career can grow side by side.” 

For Stefania, moderating these sessions has in itself been a development opportunity, pushing her out of her comfort zone to fulfil a passion of hers for public speaking and interviewing prominent figures. When a member of the bank’s Executive Board agreed to participate, she seized the opportunity and took the plunge – encouraged by a community that champions both parenting and professional purpose and reminds us that collective support fosters collective success.