Covid, The Impact on Women & How Organisations Need to Adjust

Linkedin Editor Natalie MacDonald asked me this week to comment on the fact that working women have been disproportionately impacted by Covid.

To give you some stats: globally, women’s job losses are 1.8x greater than men’s, with women 30% less likely to plan to return to work than their male counterparts.

Here’s my article that I’d love to share with you…

Any ecosystem needs balance to function effectively whether that’s an ocean, an African plain, a household, a family or a workplace. The massive biodiversity of an ecosystem is exactly what produces its strength.

Currently there are still huge imbalances both in corporate and domestic ecosystems and it’s not just the individuals who suffer, but the groups as a whole: the organisations and the families too.

In a general sense, Covid has simply amplified existing disfunction both domestically and at work.

Research is already showing that, as we return to ‘normal’, women are more likely to choose to work from home whilst men are more likely to return to the physical office.

The inevitable outcome will be /is the fact that men will have higher visibility and continue to be first in line when potential career opportunities go live.

As a Career Success Coach for women I have seen over the last decade how common it is that women are excluded from these opportunity conversations.

They are simply unaware of upcoming promotional opportunities, not being part of ‘the men’s club’ and being discriminated against due to affinity bias.

I think still, so many men view the world through their own lens and assume we are all having the same experience of working life as them. This is far from the truth for the majority of women and other minority groups.

We are definitely not all having the same experience.

 

 

So what needs to change?

We need to see:

• More senior men AND women publicly championing women, showing their support and genuine backing for equality and diversity of thought.

 

• Potential promotional opportunities need to be shared simultaneously with all genders to give everyone an equal chance of success.

 

• More MEN leading Women in Leadership initiatives within organisations (these groups are often run exclusively by women for women and I think that’s a mistake).

 

• We need to see more MEN invited to take part in audience discussions about gender discrimination and bias and have them sharing their views on what needs to change.

 

• We need MEN to be very much part of the conversation otherwise we women are only ever preaching to the converted.

 

And what about at home?

Covid has exacerbated the mental load for women. Home-schooling and household chores have landed firmly on the laps of most women.

And yet no woman I know relishes housework, or cooking after a long busy working day!

These are not gendered tasks and when help from a partner is ‘provided’ it is too often because the woman has had to ask for it, “Can you set the table honey?” / “Do you think you could pick up some groceries on the way back?” / “The bedsheets need changing.”

Men and women are equally responsible for living in a clean home and having food cooked and provided.

 

 

And it is vital that our children see both parents, both men and women, tending to our everyday needs such as cooking and cleaning.

We also need to teach children the skills of personal responsibility early on which includes helping around the house (collecting dishes, fetching groceries, cooking, tidying the house).

Boys need to see their fathers doing housework and not just the ‘manly’ gardening chores, but cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the toilets, doing the laundry, making dinner, changing bedsheets.

I stress: housework tasks are not gendered.

I know many men who ‘get it’.

I know many men who are exceptional fathers.

I know many men who strive hard to understand the needs of their female colleagues, work hard to champion them and to support their professional ambitions.

But we need more men to do this.

It’s exhausting for women to bare the responsibility alone.

We thrive both as families and organisations when we have collective understanding, collaboration, freedom of thought, diversity of skillset, encouragement and celebration of success. This is what makes us human.

Without it, the ecosystem just breaks down and both our individual and group success goes with it.

What are your experiences of the impact Covid has had on your household?

How has it impacted your working life? Share your comments below!

As always, I’d love to hear from you.

Rebecca

BIO: Rebecca Allen is a Career Success Coach and has coached hundreds of female managers and early leaders over the last decade to help them own their value, get promoted and get paid their worth. 

© Rebecca Allen, Illuminate Personal Growth. All rights reserved. To replicate part or all of this article please seek written permission first.