The tipping point for women at work

It’s no secret that cham­pi­oning women in the work­place brings tan­gi­ble busi­ness ben­e­fits. But, as organ­i­sa­tions make the shift towards hybrid work­ing mod­els, women’s needs may be under­es­ti­mat­ed.

Despite a proven abil­i­ty to deliv­er pro­fes­sion­al­ly with­in male-dom­i­nat­ed sec­tors, many female employ­ees still strug­gle, par­tic­u­lar­ly in lead­er­ship roles. The abil­i­ty to be heard, influ­ence change, and advo­cate for their well-being con­tin­ues to be a sig­nif­i­cant stum­bling block.

“Increas­ing lev­els of burnout and a lack of tai­lored sup­port when it comes to women’s pro­gres­sion is lead­ing to decreas­ing job sat­is­fac­tion. This is all ampli­fied by a dis­rupt­ed work-life bal­ance and a lack of inter­nal net­work, as our ways of work­ing have become increas­ing­ly hybridised” warns Ella Vize, head of acad­e­my and learn­ing pro­grammes at All­Bright.

Vize describes a Venn dia­gram that con­verges on what many female employ­ees view as a prob­lem for which res­ig­na­tion is the only clear solu­tion. If left unchecked, busi­ness­es risk stok­ing the flames of the Great Res­ig­na­tion, or the ‘qui­et quit­ting’ phe­nom­e­non.

“On the flip side, we’re see­ing busi­ness­es who invest in women’s upskilling and com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing, and who under­stand the unique chal­lenges women can face real­ly turn things around. Organ­i­sa­tions have to wake up to it and com­mit to change, or they’re going to lose a huge por­tion of their work­force” Vize con­tin­ues.

Deloitte’s Women@Work 2022: A Glob­al Out­look report found wide­spread burnout among female staff post-pan­dem­ic. A need to seek out flex­i­ble work­ing pat­terns has meant leav­ing oth­er­wise estab­lished roles, with 40% of women active­ly look­ing for a new role due to burnout. As of 2022, only 10% plan to stay with their cur­rent employ­er for more than five years.

Remote work­ing has meant that many women have lost vital sup­port net­works. There is a demand for busi­ness­es to help women con­nect, upskill and thrive, in per­son and online. “The abil­i­ty to get togeth­er and share ideas and advice, to know that there are groups of peo­ple you can reach out to, is a very pow­er­ful tool in help­ing women rise to the top,” says Vize. “In 2022, the hybrid work­ing mod­el has a great many ben­e­fits but one of the draw­backs has been a dif­fi­cul­ty in re-estab­lish­ing those net­works.”

A sig­nif­i­cant cohort of women between the ages of 45 and 55 are increas­ing­ly vocal about the lack of sup­port from their employ­ers. Mak­ing up the largest work­force demo­graph­ic, these women are like­ly to be high­ly expe­ri­enced, occu­py­ing vital senior lead­er­ship roles. The threat is clear, a great res­ig­na­tion here could prove dis­as­trous for busi­ness sta­bil­i­ty.

Many com­pa­nies are start­ing to take an active role in sup­port­ing this key group, look­ing to sup­pli­ers such as All­Bright to deliv­er for­malised train­ing and com­mu­ni­ty resources to sup­port their female work­force in every area of the busi­ness.

The new­ly launched All­Bright Alliance is a glob­al coali­tion that brings these busi­ness­es togeth­er. Mem­bers receive access to exclu­sive research, insights and events as well as work­shops, mem­ber­ship pack­ages and com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, tai­lored to cham­pi­oning women in the work­place. “All­Bright is all about dri­ving change through upskilling, net­works and com­mu­ni­ty, and All­Bright Alliance brings those things togeth­er for our part­ner organ­i­sa­tions. Employ­ers who join will be part of a pow­er­ful com­mu­ni­ty – it’s an oppor­tu­ni­ty to fos­ter real, last­ing change”, Vize con­cludes.

This invest­ment allows busi­ness­es to meet their goals for suc­cess and equi­ty whilst pro­vid­ing sta­bil­i­ty for women and the organ­i­sa­tions they work for. Mem­bers will also be enti­tled to the ‘Bright­Mark’ cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, sig­ni­fy­ing their com­mit­ment to cur­rent and prospec­tive employ­ees. A badge of hon­our in the ongo­ing war for tal­ent.

To find out more about cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, train­ing, and mem­ber­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties, vis­it allbrightcollective.com/allbrightalliance

Pro­mot­ed by All­Bright