With more than two decades of international experience and a background spanning finance and management, this HR leader brings a rare blend of business insight and empathy to his role. Based in Switzerland, he oversees around 200 employees across three locations. The workforce is young, with an average age of 32, and highly international, representing more than 40 nationalities. It is also female-dominated, with roughly a 70:30 female-to-male ratio. Operating at the intersection of creativity and science, the company’s work spans research and development, manufacturing, and sales and distribution channels—making people management and HR policy implementation both complex and critical.

His experience gives him a unique perspective on how to support employees through major life transitions, particularly as paid parental leave becomes a cornerstone of modern workplace culture.

1. Gender-Neutral Paid Parental Leave

In 2022, the company introduced a global gender-neutral parental leave policy and in 2024 they set a global minimum of 14 fully paid weeks for all employees, regardless of gender. In this leader’s expereince, many fathers have embraced this benefit, often alternating with their partners to extend the support period at home.

Where it’s been adopted, this change has encouraged a cultural shift, normalizing shared caregiving and giving both parents the chance to experience early family life without financial strain. Fathers who return from paid parental leave often do so with a stronger sense of balance and empathy—qualities that positively influence team culture.

2. Pay Equity and Fair Performance Reviews

The company is committed to paying equitably for similar roles and performance, regardless of gender. The performance approach is underpinned by pay equity analysis. To prevent bias against those taking paid parental leave, performance evaluations exclude time away from work. Raises and bonuses are calculated based only on active working periods.

This approach helps tackle the common parenthood penalty that often hinders women’s career progression and reinforces a culture of fairness that supports paid parental leave as a business norm.

3. Effective Handover and Reintegration Systems

The company strives to bring in temporary replacements are early to manage handovers before employees go on leave. These replacements often remain for a short time after the employee returns, easing the transition back into the role.

4. On-Site and Flexible Support

Practical facilities include dedicated lactation rooms and early medical consultations for pregnant employees working in technical settings.

Work-from-home flexibility, up to 40 percent of the time, has been maintained since the pandemic. This flexible culture complements the paid parental leave policy and encourages long-term retention.

1. Expanding Formal Support Programs

While policies around paid parental leave are strong, there remains an opportunity to expand structured programs for maternity and parental transitions. Most managers are women and while there is an empathetic approach, quality of support can depend on individual management style. Broader training could help ensure that every employee benefits equally.

2. Developing Managerial Skills

Managers are often promoted for their technical expertise and so may not have fully developed the leadership skills to handle conflict, recognize burnout, or manage workload distribution.

A long-term management development program is being implemented to strengthen these skills through continuous learning and practice rather than one-off training sessions. Improved leadership capability can directly enhance the employee experience around paid parental leave and reintegration.

3. Supporting Part-Time Work Options

Many returning parents—especially mothers—express interest in reducing their working percentage to around 80 percent. However, this can be hard to implement in practice. Finding creative solutions to job sharing or flexible work allocation could help retain skilled talent and make paid parental leave transitions even smoother.

The HR leader emphasizes that the most successful returns from paid parental leave are built on open, trusting communication. Employees who feel safe to express what they need—without fear of being judged—reintegrate more smoothly and remain more engaged.

The greater challenge lies in changing the culture that expects returning parents to resume work exactly as before. There is still stigma around asking for help or acknowledging the adjustment period after paid parental leave. Recognizing that recovery and rebalancing take time is essential to building a sustainable, supportive workplace.

When asked what advice he would give to peers in other organizations, he highlights four key lessons:

1. Start with fairness and transparency. Pay equity, clear evaluation criteria, and consistent paid parental leave policies build trust.
2. Train managers deeply, not just once. Real leadership skills develop through practice, not theory, and are essential for successful paid parental leave transitions.
3. Treat transitions like business projects. Plan handovers and reintegration as carefully as any other operational process tied to paid parental leave.
4. Normalize flexibility for everyone. When fathers take paid parental leave or flexible hours, it reshapes workplace culture for the better.

Supporting paid parental leave goes beyond policy compliance—it’s about creating a culture of trust, communication, and fairness. In the cosmetics industry, where creativity and collaboration are central, paid parental leave has become an essential element of modern HR strategy.

Encouraging both parents to take leave, ensuring fair pay, and promoting open dialogue all help create an environment where employees can thrive at work and at home.