Despite experiencing and working with companies facing challenges of COVID-19 on their female workforce, with last year’s release of the 2020 Women in the Workplace report, I was still unpleasantly surprised by how bad some of the data was for women.
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.
Representation and Challenges
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. The big disclaimer here is that the data shown below is from the start of 2021, so it does not reflect the women who have left the workforce in the past 11 months. We’re still waiting to see the impact of year 2 of the pandemic.
Data from the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report
Even with these modest gains, many of the issues we’ve seen in the past are still part of our present:
Burnout continues to run rampant, with “42% of women say they have been often or almost always burned out in 2021, compared to 32% a year ago.”
The “Broken Rung” is still causing a drop-off for women between entry level and managerial positions.
Women of Color are still having worse experiences at work—despite employees believing they have taken allyship actions, women of color are still on the receiving end of a greater number of microaggressions from their colleagues. (Note: A future post will follow exploring this allyship gap further.)
Managerial Support for Employee Well Being
When it comes to supporting employees through the pandemic and championing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in organizations, women managers are outpacing their male counterparts.
Women managers are promoting employee well-being with activities like “checking on team members, helping them manage workloads, and providing support for those who are dealing with burnout or navigating work/life challenges.”
Data from the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report
Women leaders are also up to “twice as likely to spend substantial time on DEI work that falls outside their formal job responsibilities—such as supporting ERGs, organizing events, and recruiting employees from underrepresented groups. They are also more likely than men to take allyship actions such as mentoring women of color, advocating for new opportunities for them, and actively confronting discrimination.”
Data from the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report
While this work is critical to organizational success, it is often going unnoticed and unrewarded. The support provided by managers leads to more positive employee outcomes, but less than 25% of organizations are formally recognizing these actions.
Data from the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report
Data from the 2021 Women in the Workplace Report
Recommendations for Improvement
With the state of the workplace in mind, the real value comes from committing to drive impact moving forward. The Women in the Workplace report outlines a few areas of recommendations for advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in your organization:
Address representation through training in both hiring and performance reviews
Track representation and hiring and performance outcomes while holding those who execute these tasks accountable
Demand senior-level support for DEI efforts in both attendance, championing and resource allocation
Ensure all employees are aware of the challenges faced by underrepresented employees and are equipped to serve as allies with clear organizational expectations and support
Continue to address and support employees dealing with burnout, especially with continued transition in flexible and hybrid work environments
Each of these recommendations is backed by research and filled with nuance, so we encourage you to explore the full Women in the Workplace report. While we can’t do the comprehensive report justice in a single post, we will continue to explore many of these themes and recommendations in the coming months. Let us know in the comments below which area you are ready to tackle next.