For some of us, the thought of quiet quitting sounds like a far away, unattainable dream. For others, the idea of quiet quitting being a viral sensation causes us to roll our eyes and ask the question (which many others are also asking), ”Isn’t ‘quiet quitting’ just called ‘working’?” Where you fall on this spectrum depends on two main variables: your personal ability to set and maintain boundaries, and the culture on your team at work.
Women’s Equality Day and the Equal Rights Amendment
August 26th is Women’s Equality Day. The day marks the anniversary of the 1920 passing of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote. The date was officially marked as Women’s Equality Day by Congress in 1971. In 2022, this day comes on the heels of a lot of conversation around Constitutional rights for women following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. That conversation has me thinking a lot about two things—The Equal Rights Amendment and the importance of voting.
Case Study: Navigating Burnout with VMware's CodeHouse
In addition to working with VMware’s Women Connecting Women over the years, this summer we were also invited to deliver short programs on Navigating Burnout to VMware’s CodeHouse participants.
CodeHouse is a three-day technical experience for students. The Atlanta session was targeted at undergraduate Black and Latina women in Computer Science and the Palo Alto session had an audience of graduate-level women in Computer Science.
How Workplaces Feel the Reversal of Roe v. Wade
It’s been a month since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the Constitutional right to abortion. I have started to consider more and more what this means for the women in the workplace and the work we do focused on gender equity at work. I’ve rounded up a few articles and resources that explore what employers need to consider in the post-Roe world.
Identity and Boundaries: A different type of balance for working women without children
In past posts, we’ve explored the unhealthy habits and unrealistic expectations that have led to burnout and women stepping back from the workforce. While we’ve been mindful to note that this applies to working women both with and without kids, we’ll be the first to acknowledge that much of the press we’ve seen in this space has been around working mothers.
In a recent Elle article focused on working women without children, we see the more raw side of the experience of women who have pushed themselves to the brink when it comes to “picking up the slack” where mothers have left the workforce. Countless women share their stories of exhaustion to the point of passing out on video calls, ending up in the hospital, or simply losing any semblance of separation between “work” and “life.”
#BreakTheBias: Women’s History Month Recap
As Women’s History Month and the celebration of International Women’s Day comes to a close, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the organizations we had the privilege of working with during such a pivotal month for so many companies to drive gender equity action forward.
With this year’s International Women’s Day theme of #BreakTheBias, individuals were called to take action for collective progress. At Gild Collective, we worked with our clients to approach this theme in different ways—providing tools for interrupting bias in big ways within workplaces and small ways within our own interactions.
Understanding the Allyship Gap for Women of Color
In February, we celebrated Black History Month, and in March, we celebrated Women’s History Month. As we come off two months celebrating distinct identities, it is important to take a moment to revisit the experiences of individuals who face double discrimination as a result of intersectional identities. In the 2021 Women in the Workplace report, the trend continues that women of color, and specifically Black women tend to face more microaggressions than white women or an aggregate of all women.
Transition, Body and Boundaries: A Discussion with Dr. Casen of Drugless Doctors
After a great conversation with Dr. Casen of Drugless Doctors on burnout in December of 2020, we came together once again to discuss the topic that is top of mind for so many as we head into year 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing hybrid work—transition, setting boundaries, and creating healthy habits along the way.
What Effective Inclusion Efforts Look Like
In our recent posts breaking down the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report we’ve focused both on key findings and recommendations to address burnout through boundary setting. This month we turn our attention to the recommendations focused on advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) through intentional training.
The report finds that the overall number of employees receiving training related to DEI is increasing, but there are key steps to take to ensure that training is actionable in order to drive change and increase inclusion within the organization.
Critical Boundary Setting: Organizations, Managers, Individuals
“As companies embrace flexibility, they also need to set clear boundaries”
The 2021 Women in the Workplace report summarizes this key recommendation so clearly. Pre-pandemic, boundaries were important, but to an extent some of them were ‘built in’ to our daily lives—the commute to the office, closing up the computer at the end of the workday, a peek at email on your phone but a response saved for tomorrow.
With all of the changes COVID-19 has brought, burnout is one that we have talked about extensively in the past two years. As we face yet another period of transition (back to the office, no wait—back to remote) it is a critical time to revisit the boundaries that organizations can set to create a sustainable flexible workforce that can readily adapt to the seemingly endless change and uncertainty.
Women in the Workplace 2021
In anticipation of the 2021 Women in the Workplace report, which was published in September, I was prepared for more bad news. Specifically I was preparing myself for a dramatic reduction in the representation of women in the corporate pipeline. After all, millions of women have left the workforce since the start of the pandemic. However, this year I was also surprised—more positively—to find that representation of women was still able to improve despite the challenges the pandemic has brought.
Case Study: Givaudan Return to Work with Intention
We love working with our repeat clients to develop tailored content to best meet their audience’s needs. Over the years, we’ve gotten to know the leaders of Givaudan’s We Lead women’s initiative with programs focused on communication and burnout. As 2021 is coming to a close and organizations are continuing to adjust and re-adjust their return-to-office plans, it seemed like the perfect time to address this upcoming transition. While we have a standard topic on Equity in Hybrid Work, Givaudan’s workforce has varied working structures—some hybrid, some all in-person, some all-remote—which has been true throughout the pandemic. Through our planning we chose to deliver a workshop focused on Intentional Transition regardless of each person’s particular working situation.
Three Steps to Stopping Collaborative Overload
A few weeks ago we introduced you to the bad side of collaboration: the collaborative overload that has led so many of us into a nonstop burnout cycle before we could realize what was happening. We asked you to take a good, long look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Why do I take on too much? Why is it so hard for me to say ‘no’?” Getting to the root of your “why” is the first step in reducing collaborative overload, so if you missed the first part in this series, start there. Once you understand your “why”, you can begin to tackle your “what” in taking tactical steps to reduce unnecessary collaboration.
Case Study: Inclusive Hiring with Prysmian Group
Stop Collaborating and Listen To Yourself
Collaboration, on the surface, is good. But the reality is that collaboration and burnout have become inextricably linked. As organizations have become increasingly focused on constant innovation, communication, and output, employees have been required to collaborate with colleagues and external stakeholders more than ever before. Time for deep, focused, individual work is gone – which leads many employees to feel like they can never get anything done. Which leads us to ask the question –
Case Study: DriveWealth Communicating Confidently and Assertively
DriveWealth has been in a period of hypergrowth in the past year, adding over one hundred new employees to the organization. In March of 2021, a new group was started to support women in the organization through networking and development opportunities. Women at DriveWealth meets monthly with varying topics and activities during the virtual sessions. Since the group has begun, there has been a desire to provide structured professional development opportunities to the group participants. Based on participant feedback, the planning team chose to offer Gild Collective’s Communicating Confidently and Assertively workshop.
Return to Work: A Conversation with Katy Tombaugh of Wellness Collective
Like a lot of you, we’ve been talking about the so-called “return to work” for a while—thinking about how to maintain equitable practices in remote work, and how to support women and caregivers in the return to work. We’ve been chatting with our clients and those in our networks about their unique approaches, and the keys to ensuring equity along the way. I recently had a conversation with a connection we’ve had since the early days of Gild Collective—Katy Tombaugh of Wellness Collective.
Career Advancement: A Conversation with Paula Gorman of Lift Up Career
Write a resume that proves you are THE candidate, not A candidate
I’ve been the applicant and the hiring manager many times, so I know firsthand what works and what doesn’t. Whether you are writing your first resume or your 100th and are not hearing back from recruiters or hiring managers and want to re-evaluate your resume, these best practices are for you!
Your resume should reflect you and there is not a rule that says it has to look any specific way, however after reviewing hundreds of resumes, ranging from entry level to C-Suite level folks, I do feel strongly about a few things…
Returning to Work as Caregivers: Insights from Katelyn of Mother Nurture
Mothers and caregivers have unique challenges, and therefore unique needs, to take into consideration as organizations are establishing their “return to work” plans. We invited Katelyn Denning of Mother Nurture. Katelyn is a life coach who helps busy, working moms manage their time, be more present, and truly enjoy their lives. She herself is a mom of three young kids, and has navigated a “return to work” pre-pandemic several times.