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Keep gender balance in clear line of sight

August 19, 2020

Over recent years, many firms have worked hard to improve their gender balance. Even before the pandemic, achieving gender balance at the most senior levels of a firm – ie board and executive team membership, equity partnership and practice leaders – was still a work in progress.

With the pandemic and the deluge of new issues that executive leadership teams have had to deal with as they stare down new and harsh realities, it would be easy to lose momentum and sight of longer-term gender balance initiatives that were already underway; but losing momentum will mean losing ground and squandering earlier investments as firms emerge from the pandemic.

For some, the pandemic has shone the spotlight on issues that may not have been apparent to work colleagues pre-pandemic; from seeing more of a person’s homelife over calls – home set-up, partners, children and pets – to the challenge of juggling childcare and work, often simultaneously. And for many, the issue of domestic responsibility has still fallen disproportionately on women.  Disrupted life has affected different people in very different ways.

The business case for achieving gender equality at the most senior levels has been made often enough with those organisations that have advanced strategies in place generally seeing the benefits of greater profitability, growth, innovation and a more loyal and stable workforce. It therefore makes sense for leaders to not only remain an active driver of gender balance, but also be hyper-vigilant to the risk of inequities and invisibility becoming more entrenched – it’s just makes good business sense. 

For firms that want to continue to drive gender balance forward, here are some ideas:

  • Stay close to the data – ensure that the firm’s leadership team is receiving regular updates and analysis of the demographic data and employee pulse surveys to keep the issue top-of-mind. Digging deep into the firm’s data on matters – especially how work is now being assigned, who it is being assigned to and what is being assigned ie stretch projects and high-quality work vs. the routine or mundane – would also be informative.
  • It is now more difficult for people to connect with their senior leaders – moments of bumping into a leader in the cafeteria or water-cooler no longer exist – so leaders will need to be attuned and commit to connect with individuals and groups if they wish to continue to hear the voices that matter on the issue of gender balance.
  • WFH reveals more about a person (and especially what makes them different) so watch out for unconscious biases that may have crept back into decision-making, interviews, and online meetings etc.
  • Like-minded groups and networking events that in the past, met regularly may have disappeared or now be less effective. Check to see if these gatherings are still operational and if so, assess if they are still providing a platform for meaningful discussion and forward looking action.
  • Flexible working – for most firms, reviewing their flexible working policies and schedules would be beneficial. Flexibility is now more highly valued than ever – especially so for women – so re-evaluating policies to check if they are meeting current, and now changed needs, could be an opportunity for leaders to build further engagement.
  • Development time – if business has slowed because of the pandemic, why not use the time to actively bring your women leaders forward? Firm leaders could steer the development of more relevant internal networks and workshops or enhance mentoring and sponsorship programs. Another option is to encourage women leaders to share their success stories through virtual meetings where they can tell their histories and provide tips to the next generation. External trainers can provide different perspectives and guided learning to assist in developing strong programs to enhance leadership competencies.
  • Greater effort required? – if you find that gender balance activities have waned, and that divides or gaps have emerged, then it may be time to become more active – find new sponsors and allies who are intentional, deliberate, prepared to connect, and will invest their time to listen and understand the issues that have arisen from WFH – task them with finding ways to drive gender balance forward in the virtual world.

The pandemic is showing that the issue of gender balance cannot be forgotten or go unaddressed, despite the urgency and importance of many other issues that are currently vying for centre stage. Firms that continue to address inequality and discrimination will see the rewards.

We would be delighted to hear your thoughts and continue the dialogue with you. We hope you’ve found this Insight to be constructive and thought-provoking. We share comments and ideas of a general nature, with the aim of helping firms contend with current challenges. As such, the content above is unlikely to be complete and comprehensive enough for a firm to re-imagine the future. Rather, it may be a beginning or a conversation starter, as each firm is different and the challenges each face are unique. If you would like to continue the conversation, then please connect with us for a confidential conversation at click here.

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Jennifer Milford

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