Outmoded cultural expectations that remain deeply embedded in many organisations, are contributing to a gender imbalance at management level. Anna Meller offers some solutions
During the past 50 years, increasing numbers of women have gone to university and chosen to pursue careers in the corporate world.
While women typically make up half of ‘entry level’ jobs, their numbers drop sharply as seniority rises. Globally, the majority of corporate boards continue to be dominated by men. This skewed gender balance represents an enormous loss of talent at a time when the topic of skills shortages has become a mainstay of HR conversations.
It’s also likely to disadvantage those workplaces where women’s voices go unheard. Women’s life experiences differ from men’s; and sharing these in the workplace will bring new insights that result in better products and services for customers.
Research has frequently shown that men working alone rarely take gender differences into account. But in recent years, concerted efforts to increase the number of women on boards has led to progress being made globally. The bigger challenge for many employers, however, lies in building a gender balanced talent pipeline.
The search for the ‘missing middle’
In the UK only just over three in every 10 managers are female, which means more than half a million women are missing from management in terms of gender balance.
Research has shown both that women are no less ambitious than men; and that those that are mothers are holding themselves back from promotion in their efforts to maintain a semblance of work-life balance. As a consequence their lifetime earnings are likely to be £250,000 lower than that of men.
A key factor driving ambitious women to compromise their careers in this way is the prevalence of working practices based on outmoded cultural expectations that remain deeply embedded in many organisations.
Navigating the ‘man-made’ corporate culture
Despite radical changes to both social expectations and workplace technologies since the start of the 21st century, many workplaces still operate on corporate cultures developed in the early part of the 20th century. Commentators have called these ‘cultures built by men for men’; although in reality they are less and less in line with the needs of either gender.
For example, access to flexible working at senior levels has been identified as a proven strategy for supporting women’s careers. But cultural expectations established in the days when a working man had a non-working wife to address his work-life balance needs remain rife. Many employers remain reluctant to allow flexible or reduced hours arrangements in senior roles. A request to work less than full-time is still all too often viewed as evidence of a lack of career commitment.
Working mothers frequently assume their request for flexibility will be turned down; and often don’t bother to ask. Instead they fix the issue by moving themselves onto a less demanding ‘mommy track’ job, or they opt out of the workplace seduced by the notion of becoming a ‘mumpreneur’. These choices are made voluntarily so the underlying reasons remain invisible to employers who can turn a blind eye to the work-life balance challenges faced by their talented women.
In those instances where mothers are granted permission to work flexibly things may not be any better. The technologies that enable us to remain connected to the workplace anytime and anywhere are leading to what’s been called #AlwaysOn working which risks compromising our health.
Mothers in particular have been shown to be at risk of burnout as they juggle work with childcare. Grateful to be allowed this ‘work-life balance’ they struggle with setting boundaries between home and work.
Time to #Upcycle jobs
The solution lies in upcycling jobs – creating improved flexibility and better balance by design rather than simply allowing people to work it out for themselves. And when it comes to redesigning jobs there has never been a better time to do it. Over the next decade many workplaces are likely to experience a seismic shift driven by the combined rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the gig economy, both of which have major implications for the way jobs are structured.
Skilled workers are increasingly opting into the gig economy in their search for better work-life balance. Employers seeking to access this talent pool will need to get smart at designing jobs that make the best use of scarce skills. At the same time we’re being told that AI will increasingly automate routine tasks leaving humans to focus on the creative aspects they do best.
This in itself will not change corporate culture but does provide an opportunity for rethinking the way we work; and for actively supporting both productivity and wellbeing. To get there we must factor work-life balance into the equation; which is not as simple as it sounds since thirty years of research into the subject has demonstrated that it is both personal and dynamic.
A work-life balance that works for us will rest on two foundations. The first is our natural preference for separating work from the rest of our life or for integrating the two. Technology is making it more difficult to separate work and non-work; but multi-tasking is not always efficient. Psychological research has unequivocally demonstrated the need for ‘recovery time’ when we give our full attention to something other than work if we are to avoid burnout.
The second foundation lies in choosing to play our roles as parents and workers in ways that enhance each other rather than leading to conflict. This means redefining what we expect of ourselves as professionals in the workplace; and how we define our parenting role.
Embracing the notion of balanced working opens the way for a new conversation about balanced leadership. An approach that values the entire life experience and is therefore more likely to resonate with women. One that is more likely to sustain human beings as we continue to navigate an increasingly complex and fast chnging world.
Anna Meller is a work re-balance expert. She works with professional women seeking to balance corporate career with family life . She is the author of #Upcycle your Job.
AMBA members can benefit from a discount on #Upcycle your Job, courtesy of the Book Club. Click here for details.
Further reading
Invisible Women Caroline Criado Perez https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/28/invisible-women-by-caroline-criado-perez-review
Dispelling the Myths of the Gender “Ambition Gap” Boston Consulting Group (April 2017): https://www.bcg.com/en-gb/publications/2017/people-organization-leadership-change-dispelling-the-myths-of-the-gender-ambition-gap.aspx
WF Modern Families Index : https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/app/uploads/2017/01/Modern-Families-Index_Full-Report.pdf
Women earn on average £223,000 less than men over a lifetime study shows (The Independent) :https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gender-pay-gap-wages-young-womens-trust-reporting-deadline-discrimination-a8279186.html
