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Chapter 6

What It Takes to Keep Women on Track

None of the five women who gathered to talk about how they balanced work and family responsibilities had ever taken an off-ramp. Most maintained a four-day workweek or worked from home one day a week. One worked staggered hours. Several took advantage of their company’s on-site daycare center.

Erin, a researcher, had been with her company for ten years. Almost accidentally, she had pioneered flexible work arrangements in her division. After her son was born, she felt torn between dedicating herself to her career and wanting to spend more time at home. Her hour-long commute was exacerbating her frustrations. When she told her manager about her concerns, he suggested that she work from home every Friday for a few months. If he was satisfied with her work output, the arrangement could eventually become permanent. Three months later, it did. “I was the first person in R&D to work flexibly,” Erin said.

“You were the one who inspired me to work from home,” Amanda told her. “Before you, no one realized we could ask for it.”

Erin nodded. “When I first started working from home, it was still below the radar. I wasn’t comfortable talking about it with coworkers and other managers. But that’s really changed in the last five years. And now everyone’s doing it.”

Tina, an attorney, was seven months pregnant with her first child and planned to return to work four days a week after her eight-week maternity leave ended. She said, “There’s a big stigma against off-ramping in the legal industry. It’s impossible to get back in if you leave.”

The others agreed. “I’ve had friends who off-ramped and then went back to work, but they never come back in the same industry or the same position,” said Erin.

“Or pay level,” Amanda added.

Tina concluded, “It’s so hard to get back in, especially in this economy.”

It is possible for forward-thinking companies to keep women—and men—happy, ambitious, and on track professionally. Even better news for companies is that, in most cases, it doesn’t take much. Women don’t have to work from home four days a week or take a three-year sabbatical to feel that they’re taking care of their families. However, they do want flexibility in the here and now as well as over the arc of the career—the ability to “ramp down” when necessary and then “ramp up” without the frustration of an extended and often fruitless job search.

The Importance of Flex

Many of the women we spoke to said that they might not have left the workforce had a less-permanent and drastic solution been available. Figure 6.1 displays some of the most popular variants of scenic routes, such as reduced-hour schedules, job shares, short unpaid sabbaticals, and flextime. Forty-two percent of women would have stayed if their companies had offered a reduced-hour schedule; more than a third would have stayed for flextime. Job sharing and an unpaid short sabbatical were two other popular options. All told, a full 69% of women wouldn’t have left their companies if one or more flex options were available.

Unfortunately, even in today’s tech-savvy world, the majority of companies still operate under the framework of face-time pressure and rigid office schedules. In fact, face-time pressure has increased in the recession, as even the most talented workers feel the need to prove that they’re committed and indispensable. Fewer than a quarter of companies offer job sharing opportunities and less than half offer sabbaticals—an almost negligible change from 2004.

At many companies, flextime is an informal arrangement negotiated between employees and their managers on a case-by-case basis. Even when companies have these work-life balance options on the books they often fail to adequately publicize them to their employees. This is painfully obvious in Figure 6.2, which shows that in 2009, a full one-quarter of women were “not sure” if their current companies offered part-time tracks.

In contrast to Erin and her colleagues, most women who are struggling don’t go to their managers to see if they can work out an alternative arrangement. Over half (54%) of the women who off-ramp do so without first discussing their options with their supervisors—a number that has changed little in the past five years.

Making employees aware of which work-life balance options are on the books and encouraging open communication with managers are two relatively simple means of keeping women on track.

The importance of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) for women underscores an extremely significant set of findings in our off-ramps and on-ramps research: highly qualified women are motivated by factors that go way beyond compensation. Consider the following chart, Figure 6.3.

In 2010, these findings are actually great news for companies. The fact is, companies can hold on to their talented women with a variety of nonmonetary rewards, such as harnessing women’s altruism by creating community service opportunities and giving them a strong review for good job performance.

As we shall see in the next chapter, creating a rich menu of flex, harnessing altruism, and fostering recognition really do work as retention tools for women. They also happen to be inexpensive or cost-free options: good news for companies facing tough times.

Takeaways

It doesn’t take much for organizations to keep their top female talent on track. Women want flexibility in the here and now as well as over the arc of the career.

 Sixty-nine percent say they wouldn’t have left if their companies had offered one or more specific work-life balance options, such as reduced-hour schedules, job sharing, part-time tracks, short unpaid sabbaticals, and flextime.

 Lack of open communication is a significant barrier. Even when companies offer work-life balance options, they often fail to adequately publicize them to their employees: 54% of women left without discussing their options with their supervisor.

 Highly qualified women are motivated by far more than money: more than half of the women surveyed rate high-quality colleagues, job security, the ability to “be myself,” flexible work arrangements, the chance to collaborate with others, an opportunity to give back to the community, and recognition higher than compensation.