Will COVID be the game changer for Women in Leadership?
Historically rigid work hours and lack of remote working options have kept numerous women away from the job market. Recent pandemic has proved the WFH concept successfully with heightened productivity. Many are thus valiant enough to hope that by removing the stigma attached to WFH, and by cutting commuting time and the insidious “face time” norms that can add hours to the workday, women can maintain full-time jobs and avoid losing traction in their careers during their care giving years. It’s intriguing to think that such flexible work options will be a big equalizer for women in leadership. COVID has been a reset button for a lot of things but will it be the much-needed game changer for gender parity?
Why did we not have enough women to promote to leadership positions in the first place ?
Contrary to popular belief, the glass ceiling is not the biggest obstacle to women’s progression to leadership positions. It is actually at the first step up to manager — or the “broken rung”. The biggest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership is at the first step up to manager. This broken rung results in more women getting stuck at the entry level and fewer women becoming managers. Not surprisingly, men end up holding 62 percent of manager-level positions, while women hold just 38 percent. This early inequality has a long-term impact on the talent pipeline.
In a traditional setup ,challenges for not achieving parity is primarily driven by women not able to receive as much sponsorship and women being judged by different standards. The lack of sponsorship for women are driven by networking and critical assignments. In a non-WFH setup , Women find it harder to get the career benefits that come with being in easy contact with mostly male decision makers and not getting the opportunity to raise their profiles and experience needed for a promotion. Unconscious bias also plays a large role in determining who is hired, promoted, or left behind. Evaluators at the early stage and sometimes beyond make unfair, gendered based assumptions about their future potential and leadership styles thus judging women by different standards and making that first step up to manager far more difficult for women than their male counterparts.
What will change in the post COVID era ?
In the post COVID era , flexible and remote work hours will most certainly allow more women to manage and focus more on career than before and thus provide more availability of women at junior level to promote . This does sound like a favorable outcome . What will be the impact of this change?
With WFH setup , there will be lesser opportunity for face to face networking that will accelerate the underlying inequality. More women will miss out on “the stepping stone” assignment that transform managers to leaders and the informal coaching /feedback that happens post a key meeting/ big pitch that helps create critical rapport. Inadvertently will lead to career plateaus rather than career advancement.
The unconscious bias of present-ism and potential has always existed. There is a general tendency to reward and discuss more critical items with those who are present. While some organizations might go completely remote, most might choose a mix. With WFH, there most likely be a gender skew where more men are on road or in office setup than remote work. With more women being out of sight , there will be increase in the bias for rewarding those present and this disproportionately harming more women. Unwittingly ,the advancement opportunities available will reduce and the standards by which women are judged will just get more complex.
What can organization do to tackle gender parity post COVID ?
Over the years , companies have put diverse effort to improve gender parity. While the numbers have improved, we have a long way to go and post COVID there will be newer challenges that organizations need to plan to address. Organizations will need to pivot to establish clear evaluation criteria to counter not just unconscious bias but also present-ism caused by WFH. To avoid losing the talent pipeline, organizations will need to create more opportunities to raise women profile with a renewed sense of urgency through leadership training, sponsorship and high-profile assignments. To reach true equality, changing the number is not enough , Companies will also need to invest in creating a strong culture. This means putting three important foundational elements in place: Equal opportunity and fairness , Work-life flexibility and A safe, respectful workplace.
Undoubtedly, the remote work concept does hold some promising benefits . As organizations transform with the pandemic, the hope is to NOT undo the years of progress made and pivot to address the new challenges and provide equal opportunity for growth and development, help women navigate through unconscious bias , organizational politics and manage career path to attain a much-needed gender parity at leadership level.
