Time for women-centric workplaces!

Here are the facts: As of November 2020, roughly ten months into the pandemic, women in the USA held 5.3 million fewer jobs than they did before the pandemic began (CNN, Business, December 17, 2020).?Many women are dropping of the workforce altogether!

A Flexjobs report points several other differences between women and men (Quoted in Thinkremote, May 14, 2021). For instance, 68% of women prefer a remote workplace post-pandemic compared to 57% of men. In addition, 80% of women put remote options as a top benefit in a job position, versus 69% of men. Without remote work options, 60% of women would quit vs. 52% of men.?

Women have made their preferences clear- they prefer the flexibility of working from home. In my research, I found out that at a high level, yes, there is a clear preference for working from home- schools and childcare centers are still closed in many places, working from home provides flexibility, saves on commute time, etc. Yet- it is not that simple. At a deeper level, there are different kinds of challenges women face when working from home, especially women with children. What challenges, you may ask? Here are just a?few:

Family challenges. At home, the mom is the default first parent for the child. I know I am generalizing here, but in most cases during my research, the mom was the person who took the lead in feeding the child, taking them to the loo, putting them to bed. Also, many routine household chores fell on the women- doing and folding laundry, preparing food, cleaning the house. Some partners did lend a helping hand (often when specifically asked). However, in most cases, as far as the home front was concerned, the women had a larger share of responsibilities and encountered, at best, patchy partner support. Without school, childcare support, or the absence of nannies and grandparents, women have been managing an additional workload while also working from home. Of course, there are exceptions, but I think many centuries of home-life algorithms (where women are supposed to manage the household functioning) are difficult to change- so women have had to take on more during the pandemic.

Professional challenges.?While many organizations and leaders have been very sympathetic and considerate of what families, particularly women, are going through while working from home, it hasn't been easy for women. One woman told me that she noticed that more women had children crashing into zoom calls than men did. She also said that she calculated that more women had to pull themselves out of a meeting to attend to something urgent at home than men.??All?of the women would come back later to apologize to the rest of the participants for having had to go off-camera to attend to an 'emergency.'??

Such unplanned but necessary situations bother women deeply. They feel they are letting their colleagues down. One lady also said that she was the only female in her team and thought that these 'mom' breaks gave her team just one more reason to 'feel that she is different!' Another lady turned down a promotion when her organization expanded her territory. As the businesses opened back up, she realized that she had to travel more, leaving her young twins, something she could not just reconcile to.

Personal challenges.?Of the twelve women and eleven men I interviewed for my research, seven women pointed out stress they experienced on weight gain, unhealthy eating, and life patterns (less sleep, for instance) during the pandemic- not one man did. One woman acknowledged that 'in the overall scheme of things facing all of us, the weight issue may be trivial, but it adds to pressure on me, especially if this pandemic situation prolongs!' Some women also expressed discomfort in front of the computer camera, preferring only the audio, as it puts additional pressure on them to dress up and 'look good!' One lady told me that her female boss advised her to be more 'spiffy' when she was on camera. Not one man expressed any such concern.

Despite all these challenges, women still overwhelmingly vote to work from home. Why? Not because working from home is without its issues, but because for many women,?working from an office is even more challenging!?Working from home is the lesser of the two evils!

At a deeper level, women are letting us know that the office work environment, company policies, management assumptions, and practices are?not in sync?with their needs. So when organizations proclaim the return to 'normal,' for women, it means a return to sub-optimal conditions where they need to choose between work and family. As long as organizations maintain their current mindsets regarding workplace policies and standards, women will prefer to work from home.?Until the pandemic hit, we did not know any better- most women had put up with their office environment. The pandemic, however, has made women realize the choices they need to make to balance their work, family, and life.?

Most workplace policies were formed when women were a tiny part of the workforce. Now such policies need a shake-up. Here are some provocations for decision-makers to think about creating a more conducive work environment for women in the workplace:

• I love the Scandinavian model of parental leave. In Sweden, parents are entitled to share 480 days of paid parental leave per child. Each parent can transfer part of their leave to the other parent if they wish. In other parts of the world, many women agonize over the fact that they have to peel away from their newborn within three months and have to often contend with extreme 'mom' guilt.
• We should avoid framing working from home as a 'benefit' instead of making it a legitimate workplace arrangement. It is not a 'benefit.' A benefit makes it appear that the organization is doing the individual a favor! Legitimizing working from home as a proper mainstream workplace arrangement will permit women to feel less conscious about needing to take time out to attend to urgent family issues when necessary.
• Recognize and welcome women back to the workforce if they take a career break. This group of women is one of the richest talent pools that is not fully leveraged. But it also demands workplace flexibility, progressive leadership, and other supporting policies and perks.?
• Rethink benefits and perks. We need more women-centric benefits: childcare financial support, home meal delivery, in-premises childcare, even 'mom' rooms in offices.
• Women do not just need career networks; they need support networks to help them navigate work and life. If you don't already have one, institute a women's network, but go further, create networks and communities for appropriate sub-groups (One organization has a vibrant network for new-moms!" Have special mentors exclusively for women working from home. One organization has even come up with a coaching service solely for women working from home.

It is time for us to rethink the workplace and make it women-friendly. Organizations cannot claim they are people-first or human-centric unless they are also women-centric. We have learned some valuable lessons during the pandemic. We should not let it go to waste.?

I recently read that for the year 2021, the Wharton school has admitted more women than men. Over the last many years, the trend of women in higher education has been increasing. Yet, many women don't seem to make it to the top. Somewhere along the line, they make choices (or organizations impose restrictions) that prevent them from moving up the ladder. Progressive leaders need to understand that pushing for diversity is not just about more hiring women. It is also about reducing the opt-out decisions that women make, given their other commitments.?

We need to make our workplaces better for the many talented women out there. I know, as a man, I may not have done justice in this newsletter to bring out all the issues or solutions properly, and I apologize in advance. What I do want to do is to provoke a new dialogue.

Do you agree?