How to Make Hybrid Schedules Work for Men AND Women

Women, Men and Hybrid Work

Have you been thinking of hybrid work as just a “women’s issue”? The recent Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and LeanIn.org debunks that narrative — but it also finds  some inequity between women’s and men’s experiences with hybrid work schedules. Based on the report, as well as my own conversations with clients and other business leaders, I want to share some ideas that will help you maximize the benefits of hybrid work for everyone in your organization, as well as make return-to-office initiatives less contentious and more productive.

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Flexibility Benefits Everyone

First, some good news. In large numbers, both men and women said that hybrid work has improved their work-life balance and reduced feelings of fatigue and burnout. Additionally, 83% of all respondents said one of the biggest reasons that they like hybrid work is that it helps them be more productive. 

It’s great to see this confirmation that it isn’t just women who value hybrid schedules. All too often, there’s a perception that women want to work remotely, while men prefer going back to the office. But, in reality,  women and men want control over where and when they work. Flexibility is one of the key benefits that attracts an employee to a company and keeps them there.

I was also happy to see the report address a trend I see playing out every day with the high-performing women I work with. In our new hybrid world, women are more likely to feel set up to succeed than they did in the past. Hybrid work has taken away a barrier to their ambition by making it easier to balance their career with other priorities, such as childcare and eldercare (both of which are still disproportionately handled by women).

Men Benefit More from In-Person Work

The Women in the Workplace report also points to some areas for improvement when it comes to how organizations are handling hybrid work.

It is disappointing to learn that men are still more likely than women to receive mentorship and sponsorship, to be looped in on information, and to be praised and rewarded when they work onsite. However, I wasn’t surprised, especially when it comes to sponsorship. While both mentors and sponsors give you advice, sponsors also advocate for you within your organization. They’re vital to career advancement, but there’s a long-term trend of more men than women having sponsorships.

The report also points out that women — especially women with traditionally marginalized identities  —  experience microaggressions at the office  more often than men do. Women are a little more likely than men (29% vs. 25%) to like hybrid work because it cuts down on unpleasant interactions with their coworkers. Another finding hints at what may be driving those interactions: There’s a big difference (53% vs. 36%) in how many women over men said that hybrid work reduces the pressure they experience about managing their personal style or appearance.

Recommendations for Organizations

So what actions should organizations take based on the Women in the Workplace report? As a firm that has a long track record of helping high-performing women succeed, we offer these ideas:

Right now, both men and women who work flexibly aren’t worried that it will affect their careers. However, as we see more news articles reporting that remote employees are more likely to be laid off, concerns could start rising. Make sure that your managers are trained to evaluate remote workers. For example, face time at the office should not be a key performance metric. You can also look at your performance review process to make sure it treats all employees fairly, whether they work onsite, remotely, or on a hybrid schedule.

While workplace conflict is unavoidable, keep in mind that employees may also be experiencing microaggressions, such as comments on their appearance. If your organization is pushing for more in-person work, consider offering some refreshers on microaggressions. When employees, especially women and other marginalized groups, feel more welcome and accepted, it’s only natural that they will want to be in the office more often.

Level the playing field for men and women, remote workers and onsite workers. Everyone should feel that they have access to the information, relationships, recognition and training that will benefit them. This was one of our big motivators in creating our New Lens® learning platform, which can be accessed 24/7, no matter where an employee is. (Go here to see it in action.) Also consider implementing programs that pair women with mentors and sponsors.

Hybrid work is here to stay. To reap its benefits and minimize disadvantages, organizations must be deliberate about shaping policies to promote equity and inclusivity. What is going well — and what isn’t — with hybrid work at your organization? What else can you do to make sure that hybrid schedules work for everyone?

Flexible Work Schedules: The Unwritten Rules — 2022 Update

I first published this article about how to lead successfully when you have a flexible work schedule almost three years ago. Of course, a lot has changed since then! The pandemic dramatically accelerated the trend toward flexible scheduling. What hasn’t changed are the “unwritten rules” for sending the right messages about your leadership when you are working a flexible schedule. Today, I want to update my strategies on how you can do that in our dramatically reshaped work environment.

Demands for Flexibility Grow

When I originally wrote this article, it was already becoming clear that flexible scheduling was on the rise and that it was especially important to women. One study found that having flexible hours reduced the wage gap between working moms and women who don't have children. We were also starting to see how flexible schedules support women's ambitions. At companies with flexible work arrangements, more high-potential women aspire to the senior executive/CEO level compared with firms without such arrangements.

Since the pandemic, professionals, especially women, have been loud and clear in voicing their desire for flexible work schedules. One survey found that two-thirds of employees would consider changing jobs if they had to go back to the office full time. Harvard Business Review calls flexibility the “key to retaining women.”

But while women want flexibility at work, we also can feel hesitancy about taking advantage of it. Many women worry that nontraditional working arrangements will keep them from getting promoted.

So how can we balance the benefits of flexible work schedules with being an effective leader?

Managing Assumptions and Expectations

Working fully or partially from home and working unconventional hours have become more common and more accepted during the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean everyone is on board.

You may still run into others' perceptions of what a typical workday should look like and what it says about you when you're doing something different.

During my last executive role at Deloitte, I incorporated some informal flexibility into my schedule. Some of my team members were in different time zones, and I had a 2-year-old son at home. So, it made sense for me to leave the office a little earlier in the afternoon, go home to spend some time with my son and then do some more work after he went to bed.

This was great for managing both my personal and professional priorities. But because of my after-hours emails, some of my team members, especially those in other cities, thought I worked nonstop and all the time. Even worse, they thought I expected them to keep similar long hours, which just wasn't the case.

The Hidden Messages in After-Hours Emails

As I discovered, when people get an email from you that has a time stamp that is outside regular business hours, it raises questions. I remember discussing this with a couple of clients, one who often works a few hours late at night and the other who starts before her small children wake up, often sending her first emails before 7 a.m.

Neither of these clients feels overworked or overwhelmed. In fact, they are well in control of their schedules and are far from burnout. But the optics of their email habits convey a different message to people who don’t understand their schedules. Their team members may assume (as my former colleagues did) that they:

• Are constantly checking email

• Expect their teams to work well beyond regular business hours

• Are approaching burnout and are up at all hours working

• Can’t effectively manage their workload, delegate or ask for help

If you put yourself in others’ shoes for a minute and reflect about your own behavior, what might it say to people about you?

Communicate Clearly About Your Schedule

Especially as we continue to experience an unpredictable work environment, don't leave it to others to draw their own conclusions about your capabilities or your stress level. Consider proactively sharing how the strategies you’ve implemented increase your productivity and effectiveness as a leader. Remember that most people have difficulty working in a way that is sustainable and sharing your approach may give them permission to start making changes.

That's what I did with my colleagues at Deloitte. When I realized that they thought I never unplugged, I knew that I needed to explain my approach and “connect the dots” for them. I told them that I wasn't always working — and that I didn't expect them to, either. I also encouraged them to adapt their schedules to fit their own needs (as long as business needs were also met).

But sometimes you may have to tweak your approach to better fit the culture. For example, if you frequently send emails outside of normal business hours, you may inadvertently set an expectation that others have to change the hours they work to accommodate you. So, unless it’s urgent, I suggest that you save your draft emails to send during business hours. This will reinforce your commitment to everyone working in a way that honors their personal and professional priorities. With burnout on the rise, that’s something your team really needs.

I want to challenge you to take 5-10 minutes to identify the assumptions people may be making about you, based on how you work. Are they taking away the right messages about your leadership? 

If you’re looking for ways that your organization can develop and support leaders as they navigate the challenges of hybrid work, I invite you to schedule a demo of my New Lens app. Unlike traditional approaches, New Lens makes learning digestible through bite-sized lessons that employees can access whenever and wherever they work.

Retain Women Amid ‘the Great Resignation’

I’ve written before about “the Great Resignation” — the record number of people who have been leaving their jobs this year. Now we’re seeing more and more headlines that women are driving this phenomenon.

Photo by Alexander Suhorucov from Pexels

The Women in the Workplace 2021 report from McKinsey & Company and Lean In highlighted the growing crisis:

One in three women says that they have considered downshifting their career or leaving the workforce this year, compared with one in four who said this a few months into the pandemic. Additionally, four in ten women have considered leaving their company or switching jobs—and high employee turnover in recent months suggests that many of them are following through. … The risk to women, and to the companies that depend on their contributions, remains very real.

As we look toward the new year, I wanted to share some ideas about how organizations can turn this situation around in 2022. Hopefully, you’ll find at least one strategy on this list that you can bring to your own workplace.

Offer More Flexibility

Remote work and flexible schedules skyrocketed during the pandemic. Now some companies, including tech giants, are making those changes permanent. For example, Microsoft now allows employees to work from anywhere for half of their work week, and even 100% remotely with manager approval.

Flexibility is especially important to women. That makes sense, considering that women make up 75% of caregivers. However, simply offering remote or hybrid work options is not a cure-all when it comes to retaining women. Such changes must be implemented thoughtfully to ensure that women who are working remotely are not penalized for being less visible at the office

Promote Mentorship and Sponsorship

Understandably, women are leaving their jobs when they don’t see opportunities for advancement. And one reason that women don’t move up the ladder at the same rate as men do is that men are sponsored more often. 

What’s the difference between a mentor and a sponsor? While both provide valuable career advice, sponsors also connect you to opportunities and advocate for you.

A program that connects women to mentors and sponsors sends a powerful message. That’s what companies like HERE Technologies have found.

Emphasize Wellbeing

During the pandemic, more organizations began to embrace the idea that employee wellbeing isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s essential for sustainable success. Because women are more stressed and burned out than men are, wellbeing initiatives are a powerful tool for retaining women employees. 

Your company can support employees by offering wellness subsidies, as Deloitte and DocuSign do. Or you could help employees access mental health services, as Starbucks and Target do.

Resources You Can Use

At Newberry Executive Solutions, our focus is providing resources that organizations can use to engage and retain the women leaders that are so crucial to their future. As your company makes plans for 2022, I invite you to explore our programs, books, New Lens app and other offerings that can help you invest in women.

The Great Resignation: How Leaders Can Respond

The headlines just keep coming about a phenomenon that’s being called “the Great Resignation.” A record number of Americans have been quitting their jobs. In August alone, the number was 4.3 million. With this trend showing no signs of reversing anytime soon, what can you do as a leader to retain employees in your organization?

Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels

Why Are So Many People Quitting?

First, it’s important to understand what’s driving this wave of resignations. The reasons vary across different fields. But there are a few common themes among professionals:

• Necessity. Childcare has long been expensive and, in some regions, scarce. But now the field is experiencing its own labor shortage, which makes it even harder for families to find workable options. As a result, some moms are forced out of the job market.

• Burnout. According to the Women in the Workplace 2021 report from McKinsey & Company and Lean In, 42% of women often or almost always feel burned out. 

• Flexibility. Many of us got used to working from home and having more autonomy to control our own schedules during the pandemic. Now some professionals would rather quit than return to the office full time.

• Changing values. The pandemic has made us take a new look at what’s really important to us. That’s led some people to shift their focus away from work and seek new careers that offer them more balance and meaning.

How to Improve Retention

So what should leaders do to retain employees amid these rapid changes in the work environment?

• Adapt and evolve. We aren’t going “back to normal.” The pandemic-driven changes in how we work are here to stay. To retain employees (and recruit new ones), organizations must embrace this new reality and update their policies on things like flexible schedules and working from home. 

• Focus on results. As a leader, as much as you have autonomy to, emphasize outcomes instead of processes. In other words, evaluate your team members on what they accomplish vs. when or where they do their work.

• Prioritize well-being. This was one of the three key recommendations from the Women in the Workplace report. Promoting well-being goes beyond offering flexible schedules. It also involves understanding what else employees really need to honor both their professional and personal priorities, whether that’s a childcare stipend or quarterly mental health days.

• Collaborate, align and adjust. The solutions that will most improve retention are those that you develop with your employees to address both their needs and your organization’s. This isn’t a situation you can address once and then consider everything solved for good. Instead, check in with your team members regularly to see what’s changed for them and how their work arrangements need to change in response.

As you lead during these challenging times, products and services from Newberry Executive Solutions are a great way to support yourself and others. You can learn how to bring out the best in your team and stay centered yourself, even amid constant change.

Share Your Ideas

“One in three women says that they have considered downshifting their career or leaving the workforce this year, compared with one in four who said this a few months into the pandemic. Additionally, four in ten women have considered leaving their company or switching jobs—and high employee turnover in recent months suggests that many of them are following through. … The risk to women, and to the companies that depend on their contributions, remains very real.”

-Women in the Workplace 2021

How can companies hold on to their female employees? In an upcoming article, I’ll be sharing examples of strategies that work. And I’d love to hear from you about what’s happening at your organization. Drop by my LinkedIn page to share your ideas and join the discussion.