This time 4 years ago (yes it’s been 4 years!) we were in the grip of the Covid pandemic, many of us were ‘locked down’ confined to our homes and either on furlough or working out how on earth to work from home. It was a challenging time, however, one of the positives from the pandemic has been the rise of a more flexible approach to working and in particular working from home.
It has allowed people to better manage their weekly working hours to fit their family needs, instead of being in the office daily from 9am – 5pm and the associated commuting time.
I work with women in corporate life everyday and hear first hand how flexible working patterns have become an important element to retaining women in the workplace.
Women often shoulder an overwhelming mental load when it comes to caring responsibilities (with children and older parents, often both). This can result in women leaving the workforce due to burnout. You can read more about the mental load here.
However a more flexible approach to working life gives those with caring responsibilities more time and/or a more effective use of time. For instance they are now available for activities such as the school run, nursery drop off and pick ups or medical appointments or maybe to manage their own health issues and energy more effectively.
It’s interesting to read in the latest McKinsey Women in the Workplace report that women are now more ambitious than pre-pandemic when it comes to achieving their career goals. The data they have gathered shows that women remain highly ambitious and flexible work is helping them to pursue their ambitions.
“Women are more ambitious than before the pandemic—and flexibility is fueling that ambition”
Flexibility has enabled women to stay in their role without having to reduce their hours. The results of flexible, hybrid and remote working patterns means that more women feel less fatigued and there is less burnout. It has also meant that women have more focused time to complete their work when working remotely.
“Women who work hybrid or remotely are no more likely than women who work on-site to consider reducing their hours or switching to a less demanding job.”
Whilst this is a really positive step forward there is still work to be done. What I am hearing from some clients is that they are feeling more pressure to return to the old norm of more hours in the office. This will potentially undo the progress we have made in recent years. I do hope the upcoming legislative changes in the UK around flexible working and family inclusion will help keep us on the path forward.
As I wrote in my LinkedIn newsletter and blog recently there are still too many women leaving corporate life so we need to do all we can to retain them and at the same time work on increasing a more flexible approach to work for everyone – family responsibilities are everyone’s concern not just women’s.
I’m committed to empowering women and want to help as many individuals as possible to feel empowered and achieve their potential. If you’re an individual who wants to thrive instead of just survive, or a leader looking to support your team to thrive, get in touch.
Book in a call if you’d like to have a no obligation conversation about working together.