A study came out today that nearly 60% of women are planning to leave their jobs in the next 2 years — with a full 21% planning to leave before then and 25% considering leaving the workforce all together. The number one reason? Companies have not been making the transitions necessary to help women manage their workload and their home life. Whether we like it or not, women bear the brunt of childcare — which has become nearly impossible to find this last year when schools and daycares shut down — but women are tasked with working like we don’t have children. You can’t have it both ways, and now women are burnt out, and leaving their jobs en masse, creating a new form of labor shortage.
So, if you want to keep your workforce and have a more productive, rested, and agile team, check out these tips.
1. Convert long trainings to asynchronous webinars
I don’t know who thought a six hour zoom training was a good idea, but I guarantee they don’t have kids at home. The average attention span of adults is twenty minutes. Trying to maintain attention for longer than that is doing a disservice not just to the required attendees, but also the presenter who is not going to feel as respected by participants lack of attention.
2. Cameras on is optional
There’s no legitimate reason to require cameras — if people want to see one another, they can turn their cameras on, otherwise, it’s just an unnecessary intrusion into people’s lives. I can guarantee you no one wants to see me changing a poopy diaper during an all company.
3. Flexible hours
If they’re getting the job done, who cares when they work? If a team member works best after 11, would you rather them be inefficient for two hours to maintain the illusion of a 9 to 5, or would you rather they work when they’re most effective?
4. Most meetings can be emails, and for those that can’t, have someone take notes to send after.
This is really just a courtesy for those who need time to process or who have to step out. There are times I’ve had to leave meetings for a few moments to handle things, and have come back to an entirely new conversation. Not wanting to break up the flow, I just try to follow along rather than contribute. Sending a meetings notes — or better yet, having a running document that all can see — helps to keep everyone on the same page.
5. Mental health days are sick days.
If your company doesn’t already have a counseling service, buy in and encourage and normalize using it. There are so many services now that any size company can find something that works for them.
6. Encourage sabbaticals and required PTO
Burnout of essential players will bankrupt your business faster than being momentarily short staffed — though you should have enough staff to be down a player without issue. I talked to the development head of a company that had a required PTO policy and he put it best: we do what works to make our developers their best. if an employee hasn’t taken vacation in a while, their manager will go to them to talk about a plan for vacation as soon as possible. They require three weeks of vacation to help their employees stay refreshed and better focused on the mission.
7. Value the amount completed over the amount worked
The 40 hour work week is a myth. Set a task list for the team to complete that seems reasonable. If it’s completed early, congratulate them on efficiency, if it’s not completed quickly, review blockers. Counting hours doesn’t equal hard work.
8. Trust your employees
If you don’t trust them to get the job done, don’t think they’re on mission or working for the common goal, why are they with your company? If they work best after 9pm, let them work after 9pm; if they need time off to run an errand, trust that they’ll make up the time — if you cant trust your employees, they probably shouldn’t be your employees. You need to trust your team to be fully engaged for them to work best. No boss has ever had an effective team that felt disrespected, burnt out, or stacked with impossible expectations. Listen and trust your team.
