Creating Workplaces that Invite and Retain Women In 2023
The importance of having women in leadership positions has been a hot topic of discussion for many years, but in recent times, has become more relevant than ever. With the seismic changes taking place across the business landscape including digital transformation, remote work, and AI and automation to name but a few, an increasing number of companies spanning many sectors, not to mention countries, are sitting up and recognising both the fiscal and cultural benefits to organisations of having more women in the workplace, alongside the risks of losing them. In this article, I’ll explore why.
Looking at women in MENA
Women lead to increased organisational productivity and have a big impact on the bottom line.
Zooming in on the MENA region, just 19 percent of MENA’s labour force is female, the lowest globally. A recent PwC analysis showed that increasing the number of women in the workforce to match the male employment rate “could increase the GDP by 57%, or as much as $2 trillion[1]”. McKinsey’s work further reinforces the impact of having women on the payroll, finding that companies with more than 30% female executives tended to outperform those with 10% to one-third, as well as those with fewer or no women in leadership positions[2]. Not only that, but women who had been with their company for a longer period of time reported higher job satisfaction compared to men – another promising and compelling argument for working hard to keep women engaged[3].
A separate 2020 report by McKinsey tabled its findings as to why MENA women continue to be held back, highlighting that they experienced “significant challenges at work, including limited interactions with senior colleagues, inadequate support from coworkers, and a lack of exposure to key role models”. Other indisputable, albeit generalised inhibitors, include cultural and social norms, the burden of childcare and entrenched gender roles, low wages, and gender-related biases in hiring.
Such findings, no doubt, are a wake-up call. There is work to be done in the boardroom; alas, we ignore women’s crucial place at our peril. So then how best do we encourage more women to return to the job, or, in some cases, enter the workplace for the very first time? More importantly, how do we simultaneously encourage and support them on their way to the top?
Flexible Work Arrangements
Women will give us their best performance if we can offer them our trust and flexibility.
There’s no question that one of the first steps in creating workplaces that invite and retain women is to provide flexible work arrangements. Harvard Business Review’s findings that offering flexible work arrangements was positively associated with lower turnover rates, particularly among female employees, will come as no great surprise.
With COVID-19 accelerating the shift towards remote and hybrid work setups, the change has been beneficial for many women who wish to prioritise balancing career and family responsibilities. It is widely acknowledged that by offering flexible work arrangements, employers can help reduce stress and burnout while allowing women to better manage their work-life balance. We have been guided by this research at Atteline, and are open to offering part-time work options, late starts, hybrid work arrangments, and other forms of flexible scheduling to accommodate women who may have other passions and commitments outside of work.
Diversity & Inclusion
Women are champions of gender and racial equity in the workplace.
Employers not prioritising actual diversity and inclusion (outside of buzzwords in a company deck) are not doing their companies nor their employees justice. This means fostering a culture where not just women, but all gender identities and ethnicities feel welcome, valued, and respected, regardless of their background or personal circumstances.
And what better way to achieve this? Well, according to research – hire more women. Previous insights from McKinsey’s revealed that women leaders were more likely to take public stands on ethical issues such as gender and racial equity, and are also more likely to mentor and sponsor other women, particularly women of colour. Not only that, but they were also champions of employee-friendly policies that fostered an inclusive workplace, and encouraged the recruitment and retention of female talent.
In our own offices at Atteline, we’re proud to be home to 16 different nationalities with 15 languages spoken. Achieving and maintaining this level of diversity has been possible through inclusive recruitment processes, training and education, and ongoing employee engagement initiatives. Diversity and inclusion are inherently built in at all levels of the organisation, including senior management, to ensure that not only women but all at Atteline are adequately represented and have equal opportunities for advancement.
Training, Mentorship & Networking
A workplace culture that fosters women’s advancement is a workplace that will succeed.
Right across my own public relations career, I have greatly admired workplaces that provide access for women to training, mentorship, and networking to help accelerate their professional development. It is no secret that customised education and training programs helping women acquire new skills, and update existing ones, are vital to their success.
There are countless opportunities to facilitate and nurture these processes, including offering employees ongoing access to both internal and external training, conferences, workshops, roundtables, and networking events. By doing this, women are given the opportunity to hone and develop their skill set, build meaningful relationships with other professionals, expand their insights, and receive guidance and support as they navigate their careers.
Work-life Balance
Collectively, we need to change what is expected of women.
Those who work with me at Atteline also know that I am an advocate for work-life balance. We don’t always achieve this every day but it does mean always trying our utmost to ensure the team is not overburdened with unreasonable workloads and out-of-hours expectations and that they have the resources, flexibility (especially if a parent), and support they need to succeed both professionally and personally.
According to research by the Center for Work and Family at Boston College, millennials (both women and men) are making a stand to in fact prioritise their personal lives over career advancement. Unlike their predecessors, who study co-author Brad Harrington said “were more willing to sacrifice their personal lives for their job”, the study found that only one-fifth of Millennials wanted to further their careers if it meant having to sacrifice on the “life” side of the equation.
This mindset indicates a significant generational shift in values and may indeed pose a challenge in industries that by the very nature of the work, require long days and late nights – yet these industries arguably also represent careers that will only ever attract and retain a certain type of individual, who has the desire, willingness, and ability to commit as such.
That said, as proposed by Kathleen Gerson, a professor of sociology at NYU, “We can only change norms if we have collective policies that apply to everybody and that we all agree on and that people use. And that’s how norms begin to change.” In a nutshell, we need to work together. I also believe that before can even close to 50% of the workforce is represented by women, we need to change what is expected of workers.
When it comes to female employees in particular, we can address their specific needs by listening (and I mean listening) to what work-life balance actually looks like to them as individuals. Understanding their unique mix of priorities and responsibilities is key, and then implementing strategies which may include paid time off and personal days, flexible work arrangements, and where possible for the organisation, providing resources such as on-site fitness programs and childcare support to help women manage their family responsibilities and wellbeing more easily. We can only encourage work-life balance by “walking the walk” and promoting a positive work culture in real, tangible ways – not via a culture of suspicion and shame for arriving at nine and leaving at four, and asking for real-world inspired flexibility.
Pay gap
We must reward women fairly and equitably, as well as their male counterparts.
Finally, and most importantly, women globally continue to face a significant pay gap, with women in the US earning just 83 cents on the dollar compared to men in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau. To address this, companies should be conducting regular pay equity audits and take steps to close any pay gaps that exist. It is without question that employers should similarly be providing equal benefits, including health insurance, retirement plans, and other benefits, to ensure that women are adequately supported both professionally and personally.
Creating workplaces that invite and retain women requires a holistic approach that addresses the unique challenges that women face in the workplace. Entrenching diversity and inclusion policies at all stages of the employment cycle, providing ongoing training and mentorship opportunities, setting performance targets that offer fair assessments for women, reinforcing supportive workplace cultures, and ensuring equal pay and benefits, are all critical steps for employers to effectively attract, recruit and retain talented young women. It is our job to work together to reconfigure the bedrock of the global workplace, if we are serious about creating greater prosperity within our families, our organisations, and our nations, alike.
[1] https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/media-centre/2022/women-in-mena-workforce-could-increase-gdp-by-2-trillion-pwc-me-survey.html
[2] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/middle-east-and-africa/women-at-work-in-the-middle-east
[3] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/middle-east-and-africa/women-at-work-in-the-middle-east
Words By: Sophie Simpson, Managing Director and Founder at Atteline