Empowering Employees to Be the Best Parents They Can Be

In today’s demanding workplace, businesses can easily overlook the fact that their employees bring more than just skills, they bring entire worlds: their homes, families, aspirations, and life stresses. When the household of an employee feels supported, the ripple effect elevates performance, loyalty, and organisational culture. That’s why organisations like Rainbow Chicken and SIQALO Foods, have successfully implemented the DO MORE FOUNDATION’s Eat Love Play Talk (ELPT) programme in 2024 and 2025. Offering employees an empowering to improve their parenting with knowledge and skills that would also foster team psychological safety, individual resilience, and ultimately team performance.

Creating Safe Spaces at Work Through Storytelling and Shared Learning

We all know how good it feels to be really heard, whether that is to share a story, have someone nod, smile, or say, “Me too.” In a workplace setting this is often referred to as psychological safety. It’s simply knowing you can speak up, try something new, or admit a mistake without fear of being judged.

This is exactly why the Eat Love Play Talk approach of working with parents within a business setting has been so powerful. By using storytelling, small group discussions, and reflective exercises, we create safe spaces where employees can open up, learn from one another, and build support together. When people share their personal wins, worries, or lightbulb moments, they connect on a human level. Parenting is often a lonely journey and creating groups that connect and support each other through the 4 sessions allows for parents to be supported while learning and having fun along the way.

Eat Love Play Talk in Action at Rainbow Chicken and SIQALO Foods

Eat Love Play Talk was originally designed for local communities but has been thoughtfully adapted to suit business contexts. This ensures flexibility and relevance in corporate environments. This approach bridges the gap between parenting skills, public health messaging, and the workplace. In 2014, Rainbow Chicken sites in Centurion and Rustenburg and SIQALO Foods in Boksburg raised their hands to have their staff participate.

Experienced facilitation is a cornerstone of the Eat Love Play Talk programme, ensuring that participants feel encouraged, equipped, and inspired throughout their learning journey. Among the skilled facilitators is Renée Lighton, whose dynamic, hands-on training style brings energy and practical insight to every session. Her expertise not only enriches the programme content but also helps create an engaging, supportive environment where participants can confidently build their skills. Renée founder of Lighton Education trains NGO's, cooperates and foundations across the country.

At Rainbow Chicken, employees whose world extends from factory lines to professional offices were introduced to ELPT’s four pillars:

• Eat: practical nutrition guidance.

• Love: building emotional connections at home

• Play: simple, joyful activities that spark learning.

• Talk: fostering communication that aids emotional and cognitive development.

One of SIQALO Foods’ Operations Managers shared:

“It was brilliant, it was fantastic! What we have learned today is fundamental skills that us as parents can take away and implement in our communities. Especially targeting the little ones, thank you so much”.

Real‑World Impact: Stories from the Field

Rainbow Chicken, SIQALO Foods and RCL Foods employees have been candid about the shift in their home dynamics. One anonymous participant shared:

“I've always thought being a great employee was key, until I became a mom. Boy oh boy, then I've strived to being a great caregiver. Then 2 years ago, I attended the Eat Love Play Talk sessions at RCL Foods Randfontein factory. It was an eye-opening experience, and I've learnt that our kids need mindful and present parents. I've been practicing daily with my daughter to be permanently in touch with self, comfortable and let love lead our daily activities. Each day is an opportunity to eat, love, play, talk positively with my daughter, family, friends and community.”

Such feedback reveals a profound truth: programmes like EAT LOVE PLAY TALK at businesses don’t just educate but they improve confidence and support positive behaviour change.

SIQALO Foods, through its partnership with DO MORE FOUNDATION, has also rolled out Eat Love Play Talk in communities like Boksburg and Bushbuckridge, training caregivers and employees alike. With a focus on caregivers of children aged 0–5, the programme has reached over 260 families to date, nurturing households and creating a generation of engaged, healthy, emotionally attuned children.

Benefits the Business

Investing in employees’ households is far from a "nice-to-have" extra but it’s an investment in organisational health. Psychological safety grows organically when employees feel cared for as individuals. That means:

• Higher morale – knowing your business supports your whole life.

• Loyalty – one Rainbow employee pulled back from resigning when Eat Love Play Talk made her feel seen and supported.

• Greater engagement – people show up, even on off‑days, because they feel part of something bigger.

• Reduced burnout – when home feels calmer, work doesn’t tip over into exhaustion.

These outcomes align with Rainbow’s broader ESG strategy: by caring for employees and communities, they demonstrate authentic responsibility, not just sustainability in resource use.

Taking Care Beyond the 9–5

Unique elements of the programme:

• Accessibility – short, practical sessions scheduled during work hours.

• Relevance – messaging built on trusted Road to Health materials.

• Psychological safety – employees are encouraged to share, voice their hopes, and try small things without pressure.

• Follow‑up support – facilitators remain reachable via voice note or WhatsApp for ongoing guidance.

Lessons for other Organisations

Rainbow and SIQALO Foods’ experience offer valuable insights for any corporate team looking to invest meaningfully in programmes that support caregivers and families. It begins with listening—taking the time to understand caregivers’ most pressing challenges and designing interventions around their lived realities, rather than around idealised agendas. Content must be adaptable, facilitated by confident trainers who can ensure tools are easily understood and applied. Keeping initiatives practical is equally important; four focused sessions proved to be the most effective format in a business context where competing priorities are a reality.

Creating safe, non-judgmental spaces that welcome employees from all job levels fosters genuine engagement and trust. Crucially, visible support from leadership, at both executive level and on the shop floor. Participatory feedback and measures of impact through retention and engagement data, combined with anecdotal evidence of behavioural change and robust MEL processes, strengthens the case for sustained investment and integration into core business strategies.

Lastly, one of the survey questions usually asked is, “What is the one change you have noticed since attending ELPT?”. Below are some of the responses from the Rainbow Worcester team:

• “I am spending more time with my child, and he is improving better on the scale”

• “There is a huge change in my 4-year-olds lifestyle and rearing and it has also helped me to help him with the things I have learned”

• “My child is more open to talk and ask questions”

• “Spending more time with my grandchildren”

• “My child was struggling in his grade but since I have started attending the class my son improved a lot, and his class teacher called me in to say how much he has improved, and this brought me a lot of joy”

• “I have learned better ways to help my child and to have more patience and I have learned that anything in my house can help him with his homework”

• “Employees who didn’t even know each other now beginning to interact”

• “I have become so much more aware of what must be done in the presence of my children"

• “Using waste material to teach kids”

Closing Thought:

By investing in employees’ home lives, businesses make a deliberate choice to build people up, giving every employee reason to say, “My employer truly supports me as a parent.” When companies see their staff as whole people, which includes families, stories, and responsibilities beyond the workplace. This means we create happier teams, and resilient, staff who are positioned to thrive as parents and employees.

If you would like to host an Eat Love Play Talk workshop at your business, contact:

Dr. Jessica Ronassen

Advocacy & Innovation Lead and ELPT Programme Developer

Jessica.ronassen@domore.org.za