There is Hope: A Vision for the Post-Pandemic Workplace
Throughout history, there have been significant occurrences in the world which have shaped the course and progress of the workplace. In the 1930’s, legislation in response to the Great Depression created a series of protections for workers from collective bargaining to social security. During WWII, women’s participation in the workforce jumped from 27 percent to almost 37 percent, and by 1945, nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home. The social upheaval in the 1960’s led to the passage of the Civil Right Act, which included banning discrimination in the workplace.
And the list goes on. The question on the table therefore is what will the long-term impact of the current pandemic have on the future of work?
Prior to the pandemic, it was abundantly clear that the gap between women and men was insurmountable in this lifetime. Statistics indicated it would take nearly 40 years to achieve pay parity with specific groups of women waiting even longer. Regarding board representation, although women finally hold 20% of board seats in the USA , progress remains slow and the numbers are low. Other areas from childcare flexibility to paid sick leave had no “end date” in sight as such changes demanded either legislation or enlightened employers.
But, there is hope.
The pandemic has accelerated widespread understanding that previously-named “women’s issues” around work are truly societal ones. At an individual level, families are being forced to figure out how one or both parents can work (in close quarters) while ensuring child and elder care safety are prioritized as the options available were vastly different in a non-pandemic world. At the organizational level, employers have had to re-focus their priorities from ensuring transparent and ongoing communications with employees to basic sick pay and other benefits for those who were not previously eligible.
Thankfully, this list goes on too. The outpouring of support, emotional and financial, from companies and their leaders has shown that when situations and circumstances are at their worst, people rise to their best. Our history has shown this to be true many times over.
When situations and circumstances are at their worst, people rise to their best.
So, let’s not waste it.
At this juncture, there are many conversations about “going back to the way things were.” On the surface, there are obvious aspects about the pre-pandemic workplace that many are eager to return to but we should not squander this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring forward workplace changes which we know can and should be done. In fact, many changes are already well-underway.
When my daughter does a google search in 20 years about “workplace changes resulting from CIVO-19,” this is what I would want her to see:
1. Workplace flexibility becomes a standard benefit – Employers finally understood that “what” you get done is far more important than “where” or “when.” Both the traditional workday and workplace became vestiges of a prior era. Employers recognized that caring for children and elders required a permanent change to how work is structured. Following the pandemic, flexibility was no longer a perk only afforded to employees who worked in the tech sector.
2. Sexual harassment in the workplace is no longer a significant issue – Harassment typically occurs in person. It happens in private offices and in informal group meetings. Now that employees and teams are truly distributed and not co-located in an office, the incidence and opportunity for harassment has been greatly reduced. The pandemic and its aftermath on company financials and overall organizational health ensured that boards and leaders had zero tolerance for this behavior.
3. Elimination of conscious and unconscious biases – Whether it’s gender, race, age or other factors which highlighted differences, employers and employees learned firsthand that these differences ultimately made families stronger during the pandemic and enabled companies to thrive once the pandemic ended. Millennials learned that Boomers can Zoom. Individuals were finally able to look beyond their own assumptions, realizing that everyone plays a vital role.
4. Women reach equality at all levels in business and government – Women leaders paved the way for the world to recover from the pandemic. From the foresight of female politicians to proactive measures taken by business leaders, the trajectory of women’s inequality was forever altered.
Ultimately, the pandemic taught everyone that work and life simply cannot be separated by walking into an office. Every aspect of our life is inextricably linked and often caught in between one another -- family, job, friends and community.
The workplace of the future will understand, value and embrace these needed changes.
I hope.