3 Ways Companies Can Retain Working Moms Right Now

It has become alarmingly clear that the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening women’s careers. In September 2020 alone, 865,000 women in the United States left the work force, compared to 216,000 men. Furthermore, 1 in 4 women in the country are considering leaving their job or reducing their work hours.

A stream of advice has suggested how working mothers can work from home with children, manage work/ life boundaries and handle anxiety over school decisions. Yet when we interviewed working mothers about these challenges this summer, we learned that many have had to take it upon themselves to address the problems they’re facing, with little support from employers and managers.

These women were all employed, had children under the age of 16 at home and had partners. Our conversations revealed a situation that is not sustainable and could further push women out of the workforce. As we brace for a spike in Covid-19 cases and many areas consider new lockdowns, our findings suggest three ways that managers can ensure mothers remain on the job— during the pandemic, and beyond.

1. Provide certainty and clarity, wherever possible

In our interviews, we frequently heard that uncertainty about the future was adding stress and chaos to participants’ lives. General anxiety about the pandemic, worries over job insecurity and apprehension over calls to work from home or return to the office have all caused them stress. One information technology analyst said her employer was assessing each week whether employees would have to return to the office or keep working from home on the following one. For working parents, the oneweek windows were far too short to adequately plan for child care.

Recommendation:

When possible, provide employees with certainty. Be clear about job expectations and performance standards. Communicate policy changes in a timely manner, informing employees about what decisions are being made and why, and sharing the plan for what’s coming next.

2. Resize job expectations

As work and children simultaneously stormed into our homes, many people were not prepared for the collapse of boundaries between the two domains. Nearly all of our participants were still recovering from the upheavals of March and April. While they wanted their lives to return to normal, child care demands remained consuming and self- care nearly unattainable. For many mothers we talked to, it was impossible to perform as they had before the pandemic. Still, we heard from some women that their employers were proactively responding to the constraints by calibrating expectations. “If you are able to operate at 50% right now, I’ll consider that a win,” one senior leader told one of our interviewees. The woman said that this recognition made her feel like her struggles were being seen.

Recommendation:

Implement parent- friendly scheduling policies, and ensure that everyone knows it’s OK to use them. Studies show that a compressed workweek or a shorter workday can reduce burnout. To help accommodate working parents, managers can also update job descriptions, enact organizational development processes or allow employees to job craft. Taking everyone’s circumstances into consideration can create developmental opportunities for employees with more bandwidth, which can foster career development. In a work- first culture, however, such policies may not be easily embraced by all managers; companies should therefore train their leaders on how to implement the changes successfully and reinforce to them that the organization is serious about providing support to its workers.

3. Continue the empathy

Several of our participants told us that managers had been responsive and compassionate with them earlier in the pandemic, but that during the summer the empathy seemed to run out. Arriving late to a Zoom call or having a child running around in the background were forgiven in April; however, multiple participants said the mood has since shifted. “It’s like people forgot that the pressures were still there. My kids are still home!" one participant said. A part of empathy is understanding the challenges that working mothers face— something not all managers might be personally familiar with. This is complicated by the stigma that is often associated with working mothers. A manager at an accounting firm described how the weight was put on the shoulders of employees to ask for help, and noted that doing so was not made easy, as the act of asking was perceived as a sign of weakness or lack of commitment.

Recommendation:

Managers should continue to (or begin to) proactively ask employees what they need, how they feel and if they feel comfortable in how they work. Leaders can also discuss suffering and show vulnerability, to help normalize such conversations. Workplace compassion is associated with a series of desired outcomes, including enhanced collaboration and lower turnover. A very simple approach is to start all meetings with a check- in. Just as it is recommended to start virtual meetings with a time for team members to share "wins," there can also be time spent to check in on how people are doing. This generates an understanding of lived experiences that may not be familiar to all on the call. Remember that life and work are still far from normal. Employees— particularly working mothers— need compassion, empathy and understanding more than ever.

Your employees are paying attention

It is no longer an option for managers to pretend that their employees do not have lives outside of their jobs, as these evaporated boundaries between home and work are not going away anytime soon. As we heard from our participants, employees are taking notes right now, paying attention to how their employers are handling this crisis. Our evidence suggests that managers who follow the suggestions we outlined above will be most likely to motivate and retain their working- mother talent, an important source of human capital.

“I went to my boss and made a different schedule," a specialist in a law firm told us. "Small adjustments made things so much better. My boss asked ‘Are you OK? I know this is so bad for you with the kids.’ They are such incredible people. It makes me want to work my butt off for them.” This commitment will likely persist even after the pandemic subsides. While our study focused on working mothers, creating a workplace environment that is supportive of them extends support to all employees. Organizations have the opportunity to stay ahead of the curve by providing the support that their workers need. We hope employers and managers heed the call, as the productivity, well- being and retention of their employees are on the line.