I recently gave a talk at Bryant University Women’s Summit, and the topic resonated strongly with the audience. I began by sharing my observation of a common scenario that began to play out in women’s personal/professional lives once the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Working women (and even more so, those who are also parents) found themselves dealing with much more than their previous efforts toward work/family balance. They now needed to integrate everything from remotely schooling their children, to increasing work commitments and pressure, planning grocery orders, and staying up late at night answering emails that they had no time to address during the workday. As more men return to the office, women may now be finding themselves left with this intensified home-based juggling act even as their spouse returns to the office.
Many of the women we coach at SHAMBAUGH have told us that they are at their limit—stressed and sleep-deprived while worrying about what their employer will think if they are not able to return to the office. Some are concerned about how they can keep their job, reputation, and visibility when working at home while their colleagues are in meetings face to face rather than virtually. Others are wondering if they can continue to do both what’s needed at home and in the office, and after having gained a new perspective during the pandemic, are asking themselves if the pull and pressure of their career is really worth it.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 2.2 million fewer women in the labor force in October 2020 compared to the same month the previous year. What’s more, recent research has shown that 1 in 4 women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce entirely due to burnout. The latest Women in the Workplace study by McKinsey & Co. and LeanIn.org reports that women—particularly women of color—are exhausted from the situation that I described above and are planning to leave the workplace in droves.
As noted by the Center for American Progress, if just 1 percent of women exit the workforce, the result is an “estimated $8.7 billion economic hit to working families.” With this in mind, it’s imperative that companies gain a clear understanding of the challenges women face in today’s environment as we look ahead to a post-pandemic transition. Management must realize that if they are not proactive in addressing key issues that are important to women who have been overstretched and disproportionately burdened, it will be a loss not only for their women talent, but for their teams, organization, and customers.
While action from companies is key, it’s equally important that women lean into their life and career, particularly during this inflection point. They need to take steps to ensure that they have the right tools, support, and strategies to make optimal decisions and manage the increased complexity both professionally and personally. I’ve seen firsthand that in some cases, women felt that they had no choice but to leave their companies, when if they had recognized and leveraged their influence and power within their organization, they may have chosen differently.
This is clearly a challenging time in the context of women at work, but it also offers an opportunity for talented women to champion their path forward, aligning with what’s most important to them. In my next post, I’ll share four key practices and techniques that SHAMBAUGH uses help women navigate and manage the emerging workplace terrain.
Contact me directly at rshambaugh@shambaughleadership.com or link to SHAMBAUGH’s offerings to learn more about SHAMBAUGH’s coaching for women as well as our eWILL Program, which are timely in demand solutions for helping women to navigate the new work environment. I’d be happy to speak at your company on how women can champion their life/career and lean into their highest leadership.
To learn more about recent best practices and solutions for organizations to create a new and more sustainable path forward for their women talent read my newly published article in Leader to Leader, “Unprecedented Times Call for Gender-Balanced Leadership”.
Rebecca Shambaugh is President of SHAMBAUGH Leadership, and Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning. Rebecca is a contributing writer to Harvard Business Review, the HuffPost, and a TEDx speaker. Rebecca has been featured on CNBC, Forbes, Training Magazine, and US News and World Report. She is author of the best-selling booksIt’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor andMake Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results.