3 ways to keep women from leaving the workforce

As organizations begin to transition their workforces to something resembling normalcy, a study by Perceptyx warns that changes wrought by the pandemic could widen the gender gap if firms don’t actively address it in their return-to-work plans.

Brett Wells, director of people analytics at Perceptyx, said in a statement that the pandemic has had a significant effect on women. In fact, he said, “our research indicates the gender gap will widen even further if the realities organizations face aren’t acknowledged and addressed.”

“Women have fundamentally changed the way they want to work,” he said. “It’s critical these desires be taken into account as organizations make plans to get their employees back into the office.”

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Almost half of women say they are less likely to return to a physical workplace full-time than they were six months ago, according to the survey.

They aren’t alone. Almost a quarter of women and men would prefer a hybrid work arrangement, but men are looking to spend more of their work time in an office — three to four days, compared to the two to three days that women said they would like to spend in an office.

The survey also found that although women are just as likely as men to say they will return full-time (35%), prior to the pandemic, they were more likely to be in a physical office full-time: 62%, compared to 57% of men.

“When we look at all these factors—fewer women in the physical workplace, the effect of working remotely on recognition and promotions, and challenges in retaining talented women—there is a real concern this could result in a notable regression of the inroads women have made into executive suites and boardrooms over the past few decades,” Wells added.

“Many organizations spent 2020 more worried about retaining jobs than employees, but as things return to normal, understanding the drivers of voluntary turnover through people analytics and making the necessary adjustments should be a top priority.”

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Perceptyx suggested ways that organization leaders can prevent losing women to the long-term effects of the pandemic.

1. Consider how the company recruits new hires. As the paper notes, job listings that require new employees to be in the office all the time will turn away a lot of female applicants.
2. Plan for how to address performance reviews with more remote workers. Perceptyx found that roughly four in 10 employees who work from home at least part-time are evaluated less frequently, receive less recognition, are less likely to have been promoted and are 20% less likely to have gotten a raise that was at least equal to earlier raises.
3. Build retention strategies around individual motivations. An earlier study by Perceptyx found that women value autonomy at work, and are more likely to leave a job when they can’t make their own decisions about how to get their jobs done. Company culture and performance management were more important triggers for men, the study found.