The path forward
The choices companies make could shape the
workplace for women for decades to come—for better or for worse.
The challenges facing companies right now
are serious. Up to two million women are considering leaving the workforce. The
“broken rung” that held millions of women back from being promoted to manager
has not been repaired.
There are two paths ahead. If companies
recognize the scale of these problems and do all they can to address them, they
can help their employees get through this difficult time and even reinvent the
way they work so it’s more flexible and sustainable for everyone. If not, the
consequences could badly hurt women, business, and the economy as a whole. This
moment requires long-term thinking, creativity, strong leadership, and a laser
focus on the value of women to their organizations.
To retain the women most affected by the
challenges of COVID-19, companies need to take steps to reduce the additional
pressures they’re experiencing. Here are six key areas where companies should
focus or expand their efforts.
1) Make work more sustainable
A sustainable pace of work is essential to
helping mothers, senior-level women, and all employees facing burnout get
through this crisis. To make this happen, leaders and managers need to look at
productivity and performance expectations set before COVID-19 and ask if
they’re still realistic. They may also need to reset goals, narrow project
scopes, or keep the same goals and extend deadlines. Currently, only a small
number of managers are doing this.
Additionally, companies have found creative
ways to give employees extra time off. For example, we’ve heard from companies
that have offered “COVID-19 days” to give parents a chance to prepare for the
new school year and from companies that close for a few Fridays each quarter to
give everyone an opportunity to recharge.
2) Reset norms around flexibility
COVID-19 has made it much harder for
employees to draw clear lines between work and home, and many employees feel
like they are “always on.” Companies should look for ways to reestablish work–life
boundaries. For many, this may require setting new work norms—for example,
establishing set hours for meetings, putting policies in place for responding
to emails outside typical business hours, and improving communication about
work hours and availability within teams.
Companies can also encourage employees to
set their own boundaries and take full advantage of flexible work options. Even
when these options are available, some employees worry there may be a stigma
attached to using them. To mitigate this, leaders can assure employees that
their performance will be measured based on results—not when, where, or how
many hours they work. Leaders can also communicate their support for workplace
flexibility—57 percent of employees say senior leaders at their company have
done this during COVID-19. Better yet, leaders can model flexibility in their
own lives, which sends a message to employees that it’s OK to take advantage of
flexible work options. When employees believe senior leaders are supportive of
their flexibility needs, they are less likely to consider downshifting their
careers or leaving the workforce.
3) Take a close look at performance reviews
Performance reviews are an important part
of running an effective organization and rewarding employees for their
contributions. But given the shift to remote work and the heightened challenges
employees are coping with in their personal lives, performance criteria set
before COVID-19 may no longer be appropriate. Managers can relieve employees’
stress—and refocus on key priorities—by reassessing performance criteria set
before the pandemic to make sure those criteria are still attainable. Bringing
criteria into line with what employees can reasonably achieve may help to
prevent burnout and anxiety—and this may ultimately lead to better performance
and higher productivity
4) Take steps to minimize gender bias
The pandemic may be amplifying biases women
have faced for years: higher performance standards, harsher judgment for
mistakes, and penalties for being mothers and for taking advantage of flexible
work options.8 These biases could show up in new ways during COVID-19: for
example, when colleagues see young children playing in the background on video
calls; when coworkers assume, consciously or unconsciously, that women are less
committed to their jobs; or when managers are evaluating women in performance
reviews. Given that managers and team members now have less visibility into
their colleagues’ day-to-day work, they may be more likely to make assumptions
about their performance, and this increases the chance of bias creeping in.
To mitigate the biases that women are up
against, companies need to make sure that employees are aware of them. Leaders
and employees should speak publicly about the potentially outsize impact of
bias during COVID-19. Bias training can also help. In the past year, just one
in four employees have participated in unconscious-bias training, and even
employees who have participated in the past would benefit from a refresher. And
finally, it’s important to track outcomes for promotions and raises by
gender—as well as the breakdown of layoffs and furloughs by gender—to make sure
women and men are being treated fairly.
5) Adjust policies and programs to better
support employees
Many companies have extended policies and
programs to support employees during COVID-19, from offering more paid time off
to providing resources for homeschooling. Companies should make sure employees
are aware of the full range of benefits available to them. Right now, there’s a
significant gap between what companies offer and what employees are aware of.
For example, almost all companies offer mental-health counseling, but only
about half of employees know this benefit is available. The same trend holds
for other valuable programs such as parenting resources, health checks, and
bereavement counseling.
As organizations settle into the next
normal, they should determine how effectively they are addressing employees’
biggest challenges and reallocate resources to the programs that are most
valuable. Given how unprecedented this crisis is, they should also consider
whether their benefits go far enough to support employees.
6) Strengthen employee communication
Open and frequent communication with
employees is critical, especially in a crisis; when employees are surprised by
decisions that have an impact on their work, they are three times more likely
to be unhappy in their job. Yet one in five employees have consistently felt
uninformed or in the dark during COVID-19. This suggests that companies should
share more regular updates on the state of the business and key decisions that
affect employees’ work and lives—and they should directly address what
difficult news means for employees. It’s also critical that leaders and HR
teams communicate with empathy, so employees feel valued and understood.
Research shows that this kind of openness and understanding reduces anxiety and
builds trust among employees
The road to progress
The COVID-19 crisis has prompted companies
to rethink fundamental beliefs about remote work. Ninety-three percent of
companies now say more jobs can be performed remotely, and close to 70 percent
predict a significant share of their employees will regularly work remotely a
year from now. 10 Employees see the benefits of remote work, too—almost eight
in ten say they want to continue to work from home more often than they did
before COVID-19.
This could be the beginning of a seismic
shift in the way we work, with enormous implications. Companies may be able to
tap into larger and more diverse talent pools, as opposed to limiting their
recruiting to specific regions. And they already anticipate these benefits: 70
percent think remote work will allow them to increase diversity in their
hiring. Moreover, remote work will open up opportunities for existing
employees—particularly mothers, caregivers, older employees, and people with
disabilities. If companies can create a culture that supports both in-person
and remote workers, these employees will be able to take on jobs that
previously would have required them to relocate, travel extensively, or manage
a long commute.
The building blocks of a more empathetic
workplace may also be falling into place.
Go forward and learn everything.
KEIKO
SPACES, INC.
