This year, in 2021, United Nations International Women's Day (IWD 2021) has been designated with the theme Choosetochallenge. It's completely fitting that in a year where the world has been completely upended, we have lost any semblance of life and business as usual that we recognize the need for change. In the last year, countless organizations have opened up even more conversations among women and people of color to share their experiences of their professional and personal lives. In sharing these stories, we create powerful experiences that create greater awareness among colleagues, particularly in creating a more effective approach to leadership. Sharing stories can be viewed as a knee-jerk reaction to a specific event. Still more powerful, these conversations become the basis of transforming leadership and management relationships. Every story will provide clues and insights for any manager to understand what they can do to improve their teams. In a previous Forbes article, I discussed how leaders need to prepare for the next normal to navigate ongoing uncertainty and turbulence in the workplace and society. In essence, this means managers and leaders need to be better prepared to think differently and find new solutions to the challenges of scaling up work again. This may be about the basic principles of where and how we work, responding to the changing nature of work, and how roles and jobs have transformed. There will also be the impact of juggling domestic demands and work impacting mental health and stress. Research by Boston Consulting Group across Europe highlighted how the global pandemic has affected the careers of women. The survey with 2000 respondents identifies stark findings for men and women returning to work. The key results show women bearing double the workload of unpaid domestic work due to the lock-down periods during the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact on stress is differentiated by identifying more caregivers (predominantly women) feeling the stress in response to three areas; their career perspectives and physical and mental well-being. The main western European countries in the survey, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, showed respondents who had caring responsibilities were far more likely to leave their current employer. Individuals caring for an adult were more likely to leave their current employer; with responses in Germany at 25% and France and UK at 20%, parents of children aged 12 and under followed closely behind. The survey findings paint a bleak picture for women’s careers particularly as organisations navigate the minefield of physically returning to offices. In adapting to ways of working during Covid, a substantial amount of effort has focused on the practical elements of working from home and providing flexible working; 45% of male managers view the news of working positively on driving diversity in their leadership teams. This is contrasted with 29% of women who feel the same way.


All data is taken from the source: http://forbes.com
Article Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaheenajanjuhajivrajeurope/2021/03/07/leaders-need-to-are-essential-to-minimize-the-pandemics-disruption-to-womens-careers/


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