Anna Meller believes it’s high time we #Upcycled our jobs and careers to fit today's lifestyles and meet women's changed expectations. Her PROPEL model offers ambitious working mothers new possibilities for progressing their corporate careers.
In this book, Anna leads you through an evidence-based six step process that supports you in finding the balance you need. Practical exercises enable you to craft a working arrangement that meets your employer’s expectations as well as your own aspirations, and to develop the key skills you need to maintain it.
Anna Meller believes it’s high time we #Upcycled our jobs and careers to fit today's lifestyles and meet women's changed expectations. Her PROPEL model offers ambitious working mothers new possibilities for progressing their corporate careers.
In this book, Anna leads you through an evidence-based six step process that supports you in finding the balance you need. Practical exercises enable you to craft a working arrangement that meets your employer’s expectations as well as your own aspirations, and to develop the key skills you need to maintain it.
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Overview
Anna Meller believes it’s high time we #Upcycled our jobs and careers to fit today's lifestyles and meet women's changed expectations. Her PROPEL model offers ambitious working mothers new possibilities for progressing their corporate careers.
In this book, Anna leads you through an evidence-based six step process that supports you in finding the balance you need. Practical exercises enable you to craft a working arrangement that meets your employer’s expectations as well as your own aspirations, and to develop the key skills you need to maintain it.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781788600767 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Practical Inspiration Publishing |
| Publication date: | 03/29/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 180 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The three things we need to #Upcycle (or why women struggle to lean in)
Introduction
As I was writing this chapter the UK based Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released a report revealing the wage gap in average hourly earnings between men and women had dropped to 20%. The gap has been closing gradually for all but graduate women.
The research also revealed the gap widens 'gradually but significantly' as women enter their late twenties and early thirties. At this point a woman's earnings are likely to plateau and the gap will continue to widen after she has children. The key factor in this according to the IFS is the impact that children have on her participation in the labour market. By the time her first child is 20 a working mother will – on average – have spent three years less in the labour market and ten years less in full-time paid work.
The evidence has been around for many years that having children impacts negatively on a mother's career and has costly implications for her lifetime earnings. In this first chapter I will be looking at the three persistent hurdles that get in the way of women's career progression in the corporate world: our difficulties with work–life balance, inflexible corporate cultures and the illusion of choice that holds women back.
There's no doubt women in today's Western economies are better educated than their mothers and grandmothers. They both attend university and enter the workforce in equal numbers with men. They're smart, ambitious and willing to put in the effort to achieve career success.
Fast forward ten years and the workplace around them begins to look very different. As they embrace motherhood they also begin to lose their foothold on the career ladder; and as they look along the ranks towards senior management men increasingly outnumber women.
In 2013 the UK Women's Business Council reported that women make up only 33% of managers, directors and senior officials. More recently the Chartered Management Institute noted that to have a 50:50 gender balance of management jobs by 2024 the UK needs an extra one and half million female managers over the period.
Meanwhile at board level in the UK numbers have risen to around 26% women for FTSE 100 and 22% women for FTSE 350 companies. (Globally the average is just below 15% female while in the US S&P 500 it's just under 20% and in Australia just over 23% for the ASX 200.)
Despite the fact that women have been entering the corporate world in large numbers since the 1960s and 1970s it seems the workplace revolution has stalled.
Why is this?
Is it because – as Sheryl Sandberg argued in her recent book Lean In – that women do too little to progress their corporate careers? Her advice was based on having a supportive spouse – a luxury not every woman has. Nevertheless, as we shall see in Chapter 4, it's possible to negotiate roles at home to support roles at work when both partners are willing.
Or is it because – as others have suggested – the constant bias and sexism women face creates a 'glass labyrinth' that's virtually impossible to navigate?
Years before Sandberg encouraged us all to 'lean in' women were already active in campaigning for workplace change. In Chapter 2 I will talk about how they made inroads into corporate practices that formed the beginnings of a roadmap for today's working women.
The interplay between corporate culture and women's lives is a complex one. The corporate world was built on the notion of the 'ideal worker' whose time and attention was focussed solely on his job. A job he would carry out day in day out until he retired. It's easy to underestimate the culture clash that occurs when we try to mesh women's more fluid life experiences into this model.
A further challenge is to recognise that both women's life experience and senior roles are complex; and that individual circumstances often require customised solutions. The purpose of this book is to introduce a new framework for this customisation – the PROPEL model – offering a new way for women to lean in on their terms. I'll provide an overview of the model in Chapter 2. But first: in order to navigate we need clarity about the things that get in our way and which we must upcycle.
Working mothers (and increasingly fathers) face three major hurdles.
1. We need a better way of tackling the problematic issue of 'work–life balance'. By going deeper with our understanding we can be more successful in finding what we're looking for.
2. We need a new strategy to navigate the career barriers that 'man made' corporate cultures create.
3. And we need to acknowledge the illusion of choice that pushes women into career limiting and costly decisions.
1. Our problems with 'work–life balance'
Is the search for work–life balance compromising your corporate career?
A wealth of both research and anecdotal evidence confirms that achieving a semblance of work–life balance is a top priority for women with caring responsibilities. Many are prepared to trade both income and career aspirations in their efforts to find it.
For example, a 2018 survey of London (UK) mothers by recruitment agency Feel Communications found half of those returning to work had changed jobs for family commitments; and that their degree qualification played no part in their current job. Six in ten respondents were willing to put flexibility ahead of a job that used their academic or professional experience.
The 2018 release of the Modern Families Index by the charity Working Families further revealed that almost one in five parents had stalled their careers and one in ten had refused a job or promotion in order to safeguard work–life balance.
In the previous year (2017) a Boston Consulting Group survey: 'Dispelling the myths of the gender "ambition gap"' reported 60% of both genders holding themselves back from promotion because of the perceived challenges of balancing increased job responsibilities with home ones. The report concluded that making flexible working more widely available would help overcome this.
A second Boston Consulting Group report from the same year ('Getting the most from your diversity dollars') acknowledged the provision of flexible working as a 'proven measure' for supporting women's careers. Other 'hidden gems' include targeted interventions around key moments of truth in women's careers such as return from maternity leave or promotion.
The Women's Business Council report mentioned earlier also identified the middle phase of women's working lives as the point when those with children experience a downward shift in career trajectory. This is often coupled with a downward shift in status brought about by unconscious bias – which we'll discuss later in this chapter – and a lack of flexible working options.
Thus, while countless research reports recognise flexible working arrangements will support women's progress, the reality is bleak. Research conducted by Timewise in 2016 revealed that demand for flexible jobs (47% across all salary levels) far outstripped supply at a mere 6.2% of all quality vacancies (defined as those paying at least £19,500 per annum).
Among women the most popular strategy for achieving flexibility is to opt for part-time hours. A quarter of the employed workforce works reduced hours and the vastmajority are female. The pay and progression penalties they experience in doing so are also well documented as we saw in the IFS report mentioned earlier.
As an aside, both the Working Families and Boston Consulting Group research found little difference in the desire for work–life balance between women and men – a reflection of the changing social expectations held by younger fathers. This is both a cause for optimism and something we will revisit when we get to Chapter 4 which looks at how we can negotiate our roles at home to be mutually supportive.
Regardless of whether they have access to flexible working or not many women assume seniority equals a much heavier workload. Thus – as Sandberg observes in Lean In – women often hold themselves back from higher powered jobs as they anticipate increased demands on their time and family life.
Anecdotally this has also been my experience in working with high potential women. As we shall see in Chapter 6when we work through the PROPEL model this need not be the case. It is possible to craft a flexible senior job – but it will require skill to succeed in the new working arrangement.
Are you clear on what work–life balance means to you; and what it is you're looking for?
Several years ago as part of a conference panel I took a question from the audience. Introducing himself as a coach the man in front of me asked:
'So what is the formula for a perfect work–life balance?'
I was unable to give him an answer – simply because no such formula exists.
Contrary to popular belief the solution to individual work–life balance is a complex matter. Thirty years of social science research reveals we have individual preferences for the way we choose to tackle it. Unfortunately there's a wealth of bloggers out there reducing the whole concept to a trivial formulaic solution. For example: women are regularly offered suggestions such as finding more 'me time' – the implication being that an hour in the gym or a relaxing massage will solve the problem. While both of these activities add to our wellbeing – essential for good work–life balance – they provide little clarity on how to develop an arrangement that feels comfortable for us.
Adding to the confusion the media has recently begun moving the goalposts – suggesting we should be aiming for work–life blend or work–life integration. As we shall see in Chapter 3, some of us will feel very comfortable with work–life integration but others will have a preference for separation. Encouraging a Separator to integrate or blend can be self-defeating.
A further complication is that when we combine preferences with individual circumstances we arrive at a variety of solutions. Consider, for example, the following coping strategies adopted by women I've met over the years:
Amy qualified at the same firm of accountants as her husband. After they married and had children she decided her best option was to return to work part-time. She realised – as we discussed earlier – this might potentially have a negative impact on her career. She might be given less challenging jobs and held back from promotion. But in order to feel in control of her work–life balance she was willing to make the compromise.
Beth was slow to qualify as a Chartered Surveyor after switching careers in her mid twenties. She decided to return to work full-time after the birth of her son so that she could meet her employer's expectations and keep her feet on the career ladder. Her parents offered to look after their grandchild. While the arrangement seemed to make sense, the reality was that her long working hours created friction at home both with her husband and with her parents.
Claire wanted to spend time with her young son and knew her employer wouldn't agree to reduced hours working in her managerial role. So she decided to take a 'career break' and focus on becoming a 'mumpreneur'.
Deborah was the higher earner in her marriage and had negotiated a working arrangement with her husband where he did much of the childcare support while she worked long hours. But as her daughter moved into her teenage years Deborah began to feel she was missing out on her children's lives and realised it wouldn't be long before they were off to university. She felt she'd paid a high price to keep her career on track.
Every one of these women ostensibly faced the same work–life balance challenge, yet solved it differently. Moreover, as their circumstances change over the course of their lives, so will their work–life balance needs.
The European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) has identified three main phases of working life – each with different work–life balance challenges.
The 'entrance phase' is when we first join the labour market; and typically before we become parents. The challenge here is to establish a career and find a living space of our own. We are likely to defer starting a family while we do this.
The next phase – which it terms the 'rush hour of life' – is our main working and parenting phase. Challenges during this phase include managing conflicting work and family demands as we try to combine career progression with taking care of children and elderly relatives. We've joined the 'sandwich generation'.
While more and more women work outside the home, they still do the bulk of unpaid work in most households, regardless of the number of hours of paid work they do. Hence, for women in particular, the main working and parenting phase carries a double burden of work and family commitments.
Finally we enter the 'late phase' when parents are faced with 'empty nests'. We'll see later – when we look at the differences in men's and women's career patterns – that this can be a productive phase for women who find new energies for work as caring responsibilities diminish. Sadly, career policies in most workplaces neither understand nor are set up to accommodate this.
Achieving work–life balance through the various stages of our lives depends on a complex range of factors that include our own preferences for the way we play our multiple life roles (mother, carer, friend, employee), our family circumstances and the possibilities offered by our employers.
Trivialising what is a very real challenge for women by reducing it to 'ten top tips' in a blog is not helpful. We need to go deeper with our understanding of what work–life balance really means for us and to find clarity on what will work in our current circumstances. That's the promise of the PROPEL model.
Can you tell your employer you want work–life balance without being judged negatively?
Many organisations are inconsistent about work–life balance. On the one hand they acknowledge its importance for wellbeing; on the other they continue to operate with cultures that penalise those who openly seek it.
Ask to work flexibly and you're likely to be judged as less committed to your career. In addition you may be passed over for those challenging assignments that would develop that career – on the assumption that you want an easier life. More of this later when we look at how man-made cultures stand in the way of women's progression but for now let's simply acknowledge that in many organisations people are still forced to choose between balance and senior careers.
In a 2015 Harvard Business Review article Professor Erin Reid investigated 'Why some men pretend to work 80-hour weeks'. Looking at a global consulting strategy firm she found that women formally adapted to the situation where they were unable to work long hours in an Always On culture by reducing their work hours thereby revealing they were less than 'ideal workers'. As a consequence they became marginalised by their employer. Men – on the other hand – had evolved subtle under the radar strategies to 'pass' for ideal workers while maintaining a 50–60 hour predictable schedule. Shockingly when she revealed her findings she was met with negative comments such as asking how women could be taught to 'pass'. It seems she was disappointed that the organisation itself saw no reason to change its expectations.
Corporate cultures continue to uphold the myth that senior jobs must be worked full-time, require long hours and generally need to be office based. This is exacerbated by connected technology that perpetuates the Always On culture.
In recent years the corporate world has pushed work–life balance to the margins of the wellbeing agenda. Corporate solutions often mirror the trivialisation discussed earlier – with offerings such as on-site health activities, concierge services and limited access to emails during evenings and weekends. At the same time employers continue to 'help' staff cope with long hours by providing resilience training. For the most part employees are expected to take sole charge of their work–life balance. Very few organisations embed work–life balance thinking into mainstream policies and practices.
A further source of confusion is the conflation by many employers of work–life balance with flexible working. Flexibility does not necessarily lead to balance – particularly in the absence of structures that enable managers to craft working arrangements focussed on realistic outputs which can be delivered in manageable hours.
Given this context is it any surprise that women with caring responsibilities self-select into jobs where they know they can work part-time or at least without the constant pressure of long hours? As we shall see later in this chapter this choice is really no choice at all. And as we have already learnt women pay the penalty – in terms of both pay and progression – for this privilege.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "#Upcycle Your Job"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Anna Meller.
Excerpted by permission of Practical Inspiration Publishing.
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