Mid-Career Momentum: Giving women in professional services the flexibility to succeed

What should employers take from these findings?

• Jane Van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, the UK's national charity for working parents and carers

  “The findings of this research reflect the most systemic of barriers that women face in career progression – that we still live in a patriarchy, where men predominantly hold the most senior positions. Those in positions of influence tend to promote and support those who work in the same way as them and whilst no one gets to the top of an organisation without working incredibly hard and making sacrifices, if those at the top have never worked flexibly, never taken time off and expect others to do the same, it is unlikely that different ways of working hard will be recognised and rewarded. For this to change, established views and systems need to be unpicked so that there is more diversity in the most senior positions – and this will take time.  

  Today, there are more women in senior roles than there were a decade ago, but as Grant Thornton’s International Women in Business Report shows, this increase in representation is starting to plateau – and if equity is the goal, investing in progress should be a priority. Equalising leave for new parents of any gender is an important step in tackling this embedded societal problem, as it establishes a culture that encourages and supports men who want to be more involved in home and family life.  

  It is also important to challenge the view that flexible working is just for women. For employers looking to embed a culture of flexible working, transparency of policies makes it clear that flexible working is something everyone can access and normalises different working patterns. Good first steps to take include publishing flexible working policies externally, advertising every role as flexible unless it really can’t be, and investing in good job design to help manage risk, increase output and focus on outcomes.   

  Another challenge for women, outlined by the findings of this research, is returning to work following parental leave. Providing coaching for line managers focused on supporting returners helps to ensure that returning to work is a consistent experience, and not one that is dependent on individual line manager preconceptions. Formal training will also help to ensure that senior people understand the needs of families, but also the expectations of the business. A comprehensive view of childcare is also vital to address this challenge, as the current system is broken, not in terms of quality of provision but in terms of affordability and access.” 

• Jenn Barnett, Head of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

  “Creating an environment that mitigates the negative impact of parental responsibility, the need to work flexibly, and the challenges of balancing competing priorities on careers is complex, and there’s no magic solution.  

  We know this still has more of an impact for women that it does for men as they're still taking on the majority of childcare responsibilities. We can't get to equality in the workplace until businesses enable more equality in childcare responsibility in the home. Policy changes in family leave to improve paternity leave or shared parental leave can help as well as giving people more support, eg, through mentoring and flexibility.

  A good place to start is seeking to understand your own business challenges and the unique barriers faced using data, employee surveys and focus groups. Data can help to build a clear, evidenced picture and insights can be used to educate leaders about the subtle issues women in the workplace and therefore the actions that need to be taken. It can also help you to compare how your flexible workers and returners are performing and progressing, as well as specific business areas or levels where there may be issues to address.

  Potential challenges you may uncover could include everyday actions like microaggressions – for example, men talking over women in meetings, or finding that within teams most office admin tasks such as organising socials or remembering birthdays default to women and aren’t recognised or rewarded in the same way. It could be that part- time people aren’t progressing to more senior levels in your organisation or socialising is mainly completed in the evenings, which doesn’t help those trying to juggle other responsibilities. 

  The challenges could also go beyond the everyday. Studies show that women are far less likely to put themselves forward for promotion, and that affinity bias (the tendency to gravitate to people who are like us) exists in choosing people for high-profile projects and work allocation. Are the processes around promotion and work allocation in your business clear and equitable? Do managers understand and have training on what equity is and the hidden barriers that exist for women, and have the tools and support to have conversations about these issues?

  Culture also plays a key role in creating an environment for inclusion. People can only perform at their best if flexible working is normalised and people feel safe to talk openly and share their concerns and ideas. Leaders should role-model openness, creating psychological safety for people to speak up, as well as openly displaying the behaviours that they want to see embedded across the organisation. For example; being openly flexible with diaries, being open to different ways of working, embracing the digital tools to share information work out loud, that enables job sharing to work.

  Job sharing is clearly an area that many businesses have yet to fully embrace, with only 2 of our 600 respondents saying they were part of one. At Grant Thornton we’ve been encouraging job shares and are gradually increasing the number of people who work in this way. The more people that try it, the more we can see what works, what doesn’t and hopefully create role models for best practice to demonstrate the benefits.”