Yet reports that some large companies are considering doing just that have begun circulating as employers fight to bring people back on site for at least 50 percent of the time.

Late last year, an internal memo to ANZ staff, shared by The Aussie Corporate Instagram page, showed the bank cracking down on staff who worked from home more than half the time.

It warned that if employees didn’t “meet the standards expected [of 50 per cent attendance], it may factor into your performance rating and PRR [Performance and Remuneration Review] outcomes at the end of the FY24 year.”

More recently, PwC’s UK boss warned that young workers who don’t come into office at least four times a week will be replaced with artificial intelligence.

The threat to link on-site work to performance, the pay packet — and even to keeping one’s job — is a sign that post Covid 19 lockdowns, both employers and employees are struggling to find the right balance between working on-site and remotely.

“There is no one simple answer to this,” says Dr Fiona Macdonald, policy director at the industrial and social department at the Centre for Future Work.

“While some employees are happy to go into the office a few days a week, in some places people don’t want to be in the office at all. It’s pretty problematic for organisations in how they manage that.”

While many organisations continue to include flexible work policies following the pandemic years of 2020 to 2022, the creep of presenteeism and messages that those working from home may suffer from being “out of sight and out of mind”, as well as being seen as less productive, are intensifying in some sectors.

“We have organisations which are overwhelmingly staffed by men, and while I don’t think most men consciously think they don’t want women in their workplace, there is definitely less understanding about people’s life circumstances if you don’t have diversity,” says Macdonald.

And while for many the model to return to working how we used to — 9 to 5, on-site — seems easier to implement, experts believe companies need to move beyond that and try harder to offer flexibility.

“It’s well past the time where we’re thinking workplaces need to be based on male models of working in the 1970s,” Macdonald says, but points out that many workplaces have not been structured around hybrid and flexible work.

“Managers haven’t been training to think about it,” she adds. “It takes effort to figure out how to organise staff who are working remotely some of the time, and what is the best way to get them to come together and work well as a team.”

The problem is that the “cat’s out of the bag” when it comes to hybrid working, with people now expecting some degree of leniency from their bosses. For many women, the flex work policies implemented during Covid were a godsend, and enabled a much more reasonable work-life balance.

Demanding that staff return to work physically will disproportionately impact those with caring responsibilities (usually women), says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO at Australian HR Institute.

“Rigid office attendance requirements might inadvertently create barriers to workplace participation for those with caring responsibilities, who we know are more likely to be women.”

Families and home life have always adapted to organisations, points out Macdonald: maybe it’s time that organisations adapt a little to life. Men also need to get on board and fight for the right to hybrid work.

“If we want more men to do more caring, men need to be demanding these changes too,” she says. “Unfortunately change comes slowly: it’s two steps forward, one step back”. 

Fortunately, some data suggests the situation is not quite so gloomy. McCann-Bartlett points to AHRI’s most recent survey, which, after talking to 452 employers, found that while more employers are specifying how many days a week employees should work on-site, most (that can) are maintaining a hybrid work model.

“Very few employers are requiring employees to return to the physical workplace five days a week,” says Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO at Australian HR Institute. “AHRI’s research shows that in 2023, only 7 per cent of employers required full time employees to attend physically all five days”.

The research also found that nearly all (97 per cent) of organisations offered some form of flexible working arrangement aside from hybrid working, such as  part-time work (85 per cent); flexi time (53 per cent); compressed hours or compressed working weeks (45 per cent); and career breaks (44 per cent).

Senior lecturer in work and organisational studies at the University of Sydney Business School, Dr Meraiah Foley, believes organisations are “finding themselves in a pickle trying to work out what is the right balance between having people physically present to build culture, foster innovation and help train new graduates, and allowing the kind of flexibility people have become used to”.

“People like working remotely and having autonomy and flexibility, and in many instances, people aren’t returning to their workplace to the extent organisations would like them to,” she tells Women’s Agenda.

Seemingly every week, cases about “battles” between employees and employers fighting for balance are aired in public, including a sales rep being awarded $26,000 in compensation after being fired by his employer over “lack of commitment” for working from home on compulsory on-site days; a scientist failing to get his job back following the sack for secretly working overseas; and Fair Work upholding that a remote working lawyer was unfairly fired for trawling music, books, comic and PlayStation websites while on the clock.

Foley says any organisations that plan to dock pay based on office attendance are extremely problematic, and a return to the “idea that productivity is time spent in the office… and not based on outputs and outcomes”.

“It’s also extremely problematic from a gender equality perspective, as it’s just going to reward people who don’t have caring responsibilities or who have the capacity to work long hours,” she adds.

The post Is corporate’s push to be back in the office harming women? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Last Thursday, Charles Gregory, a man from Adelaide, had his request to work from home permanently denied.

His company, Maxxia, a company that arranges tax-efficient salary packaging services for employees in businesses across the country, imposed guidelines that staff must work 40 per cent of the time in the office. 

However, Gregory said his responsibility as a carer, as well as a health condition he suffers from, hindered him from returning to the office on a full-time basis. He is required to care for his child every second week under a custody arrangement, and he also has an inflammatory bowel condition, meaning he needs to use the toilet “with urgency and more frequently than usual”, the FWC said.

Commissioner Christopher Platt at the Fair Work Commission (FWC) concluded Maxxia’s guidelines were not unreasonable and therefore denied Gregory’s request.

“I accept that it is desirable for there to be face-to-face contact within workforce teams,” the Commissioner said last week.

“Face-to-face presence would allow for observation, interaction and (if necessary) coaching to improve Gregory’s productivity and provide him with greater support.

“Gregory’s knowledge and experience could be more easily accessed by less experienced team members on a face-to-face basis.”

As a result of the decision, Gregory will be expected to return to the office for 40 per cent of his working hours – as per company guidelines – during the days he does not have caring responsibilities.

Striking the balance

The FWC’s decision was the first to be handed down under the Labor Government’s new Secure Jobs Better Pay workplaces laws, which came into effect in June this year.

Among other changes to work arrangements, including bargaining, sexual harassment cases and more, employers are able to enforce return to the office policies.

Brigid Clark, principal lawyer for employment, safety and migration at Macpherson Kelley law firm, told Women’s Agenda that the right for workers to request flexible working arrangements remains in place.

“While working from home is not an absolute right, there are protections and rights for people who have carer responsibilities to request flexible work arrangements under the Fair Work Act,” Clark said.

“(There is) this tension between an employer’s right to direct people to come back to the office and the interests of what’s best for the employee.”

Clark said the role of the FWC is “striking the balance” between the two, and each case brought to the Commission must be determined based on their “unique facts”.

“I don’t think this case is going to set a precedent,” she said. “It’s not the downfall for working from home.”

Women working from home with carer responsibilities

One in nine Australians – equating to about 2.65 million Australians – are unpaid carers for children, elderly parents, relatives and more.

According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), unpaid carer responsibilities tend to fall on women more than men, with 12.3 per cent of all females providing care, compared to 9.3 per cent of all males.

For women with children who want to, or have to, prioritise carer responsibilities more, remote work eases the juggling act.

A survey from HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) found women experienced a 12 per cent increase in job satisfaction while working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given these numbers, Brigid Clark wants to assure those with caring responsibilities that the right to request flexible working arrangements has not been lost due to this case.

“Women who have carer responsibilities do have a legal right to request formal, flexible work arrangements,” she said.

“Some business leaders have come out and said, in light of this case, that you can’t do everything from home… but I think women and workers in general have proved that in a lot of cases, you can.”

Carers Inclusive Workplace Initiative

Last month, the Albanese government launched the Carers Inclusive Workplace initiative, a framework implemented to improve the flexibility of employers for unpaid carers in the workplace.

Women’s Agenda spoke with the Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in an episode on The Crux, the weekly Women’s Agenda podcast, discussing the benefits for unpaid carers and in particular for women.

“There’s a large portion of the Australian community that has those caring responsibilities, and it does predominantly fall on women,” Minister Rishworth said.

“What we want to do is encourage workplaces and employers to have a look at their policies and procedures about how inclusive they are, as an employer, to accommodate someone’s caring responsibilities as well as work responsibilities.

“A small number of changes, a small number of flexibilities… can actually make a huge difference for that carer, but it also means that that employer gets a really valuable employee.”

The post The Fair Work Commission denied an employee’s request to WFH. Is this a precedent? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Critics have cautioned employers of discrimination risks, with remote workers often choosing this lifestyle in order to fulfil caregiving responsibilities— many of whom are women taking on unpaid care. 

The research, released on Monday, comes out of a Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) “Future of Work” global survey. 

About 38 per cent of senior executives in large Australian corporations told the survey that working from home will become a privilege earned through trust and seniority, with 37 per cent revealing plans to pay remote staff differently to in-office staff in the next three-to-five years. 

Thirteen per cent of employers said remote workers will receive less pay and fewer benefits, while unions have argued these workers should be paid more due to the rising cost of heating and electricity. Many have also pointed out that employers save money by downsizing when staff work from home. 

This debate comes off the back of former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett’s proposal in July that remote workers should be paid less because they are saving “thousands” of dollars in transport costs by not having a daily commute. The Australian Council of Trade Unions rubbished the proposal, however, with ACTU secretary Sally McManus saying the proposal didn’t take into account the financial pressure Australians face in the current economic climate.

“Whenever there’s an issue affecting workers, it seems the Liberals have one answer, cut people’s pay,” she said in a statement.

“It wouldn’t matter the problem, it’s always the same solution, cut workers’ pay.”

The HSF report said the biggest risk for employers was beginning conflict among staff as remote workers may feel relegated to “second-class status”. 

This risk affects employers’ talent strategy considering “workers told they must wait months or years for the right to work from home may not stay long enough to earn the privilege,” said the report.

There are also legal risks for employers around discrimination considering many workers choose this flexibility due to disability or to take on caregiving responsibilities. 

Compared to other countries, it seems Australia is pushing back against work from home, with data showing the nation’s employers topped all other regions for staff who work entirely in the office at 18 per cent versus 11 per cent globally. 

About 83 per cent of Australian employers expect more in-person work in the next two years, compared with 70 per cent globally. And only 8 per cent of Australian employers expect more hybrid work. 

The effects of artificial intelligence on the future of work was also highlighted in the report, with 56 per cent of Australian employers believing AI will significantly affect the size and make-up of their workforce within the next three to five years. 

Sixty five per cent of employers are preparing to substantially change their automation strategy, and a third expect job losses to spark employee activism.

The post Should remote workers be paid less? New research reveals how Aussie employers feel appeared first on Women's Agenda.

I was lying in bed this morning, 15 minutes before my 8:30am start at work, when I read the insights from the KPMG 2023 CEO Outlook. The global survey found two-thirds of Australian CEOs see all white-collar workers returning to the office in the next three years.

What’s more, 75 per cent of CEOs said they would reward the employees who “make the extra effort” to return to the office with pay increases, promotions and more interesting work.

I tried to picture my life that way – a 45 minute commute, spending $10 on coffee and, most likely, wasting time chatting the day away with colleagues, before hopping on a bus home for another 45 minutes.

If a pay rise was on the line, I guess I could make that “extra effort” (in this economy). As much as I love working from home, it would be easy for me to go to an office. I am a young person living free from kids, pets and a lot of responsibility. 

So what about those who take on household and domestic responsibilities? In other words, what about the majority of white-collar working women in Australia?

Although the shift from working in an office to remote work has been difficult for some, it’s been a blessing for others. Parents can pick their kids up from school, families can live in cheaper suburbs further away from the office, and people can enjoy a flexible work-life balance, all the while being as productive as ever at work.

If anything, it’s levelled the playing field for male and female colleagues. We know that women bear most of the household and domestic responsibilities, so shifting to remote work has eased the pressure for a lot of working women to do it all – commute to the office, care for the kids, cook, clean, shop etc. etc.

It worries me that workers will be incentivised and rewarded for returning to the office, if the CEOs fulfil their promise. Because it will be the same group of people who receive the promotions, the raises and the privilege in the workplace. In other words, the majority of white-collar working men in Australia.

The survey says a lot about leadership in the workplace. Unfortunately, most CEO roles – 91 per cent of CEO positions on the ASX 300, for example – are held by men who take care of their own.

If hard-line return-to-office policies return, the Boys’ Club lives on.

Remote work has also enabled people to move out of urban Australia to regional parts of the country, with a slower pace of life and cheaper rent. A report from March this year found migration from capital cities to regional Australia averaged 8 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2018 and 2019.

Forcing workers back to the office means forcing people to move back to the city, where the rent is high and the vacancy levels are low. Aren’t we trying to control the housing crisis, not aggravate it?

My thoughts are simple: if the work can be done at home, let your workers stay at home. If your productivity levels remain unchanged since pre-pandemic times, why force people to sacrifice their home lives?

I know how lucky I am to work from home and how lucky I am to enjoy the flexible working lifestyle. Not everyone is afforded this opportunity.

Who knows, I might actually enjoy working in an office, chatting to people, getting coffee, doing what the corporate girlies do?

All I know is that for a lot of Australian women out there, returning to the office means returning to the same workplace hierarchies that have excluded working women for decades.

The post If you believe two-thirds of Aussie CEOs, the end is nigh for working from home appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Gillard shared her concerns on Wednesday, as she moderated a panel discussion hosted by the ANU’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.

She said that while the increased flexibility that comes with remote working is great for many employees, it has the potential to leave women invisible in their workplace and could see them missing out on promotions and mentorship.

“We know domestic and caring labour are not equitably distributed,” Gillard said at the event. “If nothing else changes in five years’ time, what we’ll see is that women — particularly women in the family formation stage — have chosen disproportionately to work at home and men have been much more regular attenders of the office.”

“And if nothing else changes that will show in who is being considered for a promotion, who is being considered for sponsorship and mentorship, and who is being put on the best training opportunities.”

Gillard said many women were shouldering more of the domestic labour in families while working from home, which also leaves them “invisible behind a screen”.

Other speakers on the panel on Wednesday included Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency Mary Wooldridge, Commissioner for Gender Equality in the Public Sector Dr Niki Vincent, KPMG partner Dr Jane Gunn, and Non-Executive Director at Future Super Geraldine Chin Moody.

Gillard and Wooldridge also spoke about other issues relating to gender equality in the workplace, including how requiring private companies to publish gender pay gap data can help improve pay outcomes for women. Wooldridge also noted that WGEA is looking towards collecting cultural diversity data.

Gillard took the opportunity to congratulate new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the swearing in of his new cabinet, which boasts a record of 10 women.

During the election campaign, Gillard threw her support behind the Labor Party, and specifically backed ACT Senator Katy Gallagher for re-election. Gallagher is now one of the 10 women in the new cabinet and was sworn in on Wednesday as Finance Minister, Minister for Women and Minister for the Public Service.

The post ‘Invisible behind a screen’: Former PM Julia Gillard warns work from home could halt women’s careers appeared first on Women's Agenda.

#1 You don’t need a door to be a real business

When I started my law firm in 2016, I used a home office. At the beginning there was niggling doubt. Clearly I wasn’t a serious lawyer. I didn’t have an office with rooms full of law reports and a receptionist. I didn’t have a proper business at all. 

But I’ve been proved wrong time and again. I’ve gone from solopreneur to a team of 6 who all routinely thank me for creating a flexible work opportunity. Revenue has grown year after year. Our client list is long and referrals are regular. No one ever goes elsewhere because they can’t walk through a door.

Don’t listen to your limiting beliefs about what is a ‘real business’. Do what works for you.

#2 It expands your thinking

Although it’s 2022, the legal profession is still very traditional. It’s dominated by law firms with surnames in the title, big fancy CBD offices, and high hourly rates. 

Letting go of the expectation to have a fixed central address led me to consider the entirety of the legal practice model. To question the “this is how you do it” thinking. There’s no surname in my business name. Hourly billing – no thanks. Instead, we have productised services, fixed fees and we’ve recruited from across Australia. The flexibility of location has provided space to think flexibly more broadly about how work is performed.

#3 It’s not for everyone

All of the roles in my business are 100% remote-able. But not all people are suited to working remotely. People might love the idea, but they don’t always love the reality.

Last year I hired a new team member.  They were ideal. A parent who lived in the outer suburbs of the City, who wanted less time commuting and more time with family. They’d experienced working remotely during lockdowns and wanted more. It lasted 3 weeks. 

Turned out they couldn’t switch off at night. Their workstation was central, so work was never far from thought. They missed the physical interaction. 

People who work remotely need to be self-motivated, able to form relationships quickly, and able to self-regulate, to set and uphold their boundaries with work. The last thing you need is people resigning, or worse, burning out, because they don’t have the environment or personality to work remotely. Choose wisely.

#4 You need to get onboarding right

The first days and weeks of a new job are crucial for both employee and employer. In an office, it’s easy to do lazy onboarding. You walk people around, introduce them to those you see, sit them down with work to do, and tell them to visit with any questions. Job done.

When working remotely you need to think about how you can make people feel part of your team when they aren’t physically with you. We do this through a combination of a welcome gift, a “getting to know you” welcome meeting, and a clearly scheduled sequence of events including training, 1:1s and team meetings. 

#5 It can be lonely

In 2019 37% of workers surveyed in Australia reported feeling lonely at work. You can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. It can be even worse when you work remotely. There are no casual chats in the kitchen while making tea, or “popping” into someone else’s office for a chat. Workers can be left alone for days without ever needing to talk to anyone.

My own loneliness experiences working remotely led me to try co-working arrangements but what has worked best is ensuring that I schedule regular catch-ups with my team. We make time to connect. We don’t just talk about work. We share stories about weekends, tell jokes, send each other gifts, and generally show we care. 

#6 You don’t need to sit in the same office to connect, but it helps

For an effective and productive team, you need great relationships built on trust and connection. A significant part comes from small talk and socialising. 

We have made sure to build this into our remote team interactions, but I’ve also found that a solid in-person get together, at least once a quarter, can be a great reinforcement and take the connection up a notch. It’s also something to look forward to – a fun strategy session or just a casual lunch.

#7 The benefits outweigh the challenges

It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it. Going remote has given me and my team the ability to work flexibly when and where we want to suit our lives. There’s no better time than now to decide how you can reinvent your business to take advantage of the opportunities from remote work.

Oh, and don’t forget the essential item for all remote businesses, an internet connection that works!

The post 7 things I’ve learnt running a business where everyone works remotely appeared first on Women's Agenda.

With the latest lockdown restrictions closing childcare to non-essential workers, Emma has been able to call on some limited support from busy grandparents, but it’s irregular and she’s worried about increasing their risk of catching the virus on top of everything else.

Now as she manages these competing demands from her work and her toddler, she’s nearing the end of her tether, very aware how unsustainable the situation is. 

I am hearing stories exactly like Emma’s every day as lockdowns continue in Melbourne and Sydney.  The pressure on working mums in particular keeps building with women carrying the majority of the increased physical, mental and emotional load of caring for children in lockdown.

The closure of childcare and schools again has been the final straw for many and they have made the unhappy decision to stop work completely or take personal leave to care for their children full-time.

The alternative is to just keep doing the exhausting and often demoralising home-learning/Zoom-working/domestic juggle as best they can. 

I’m sure this feels very familiar to many women reading this.

The good news is that eventually as the vaccine coverage grows lockdowns will become less likely, but it is becoming sadly clear that the long-term impact will be felt in workplaces for years and it will be women who will be most disadvantaged.

A recent report by the Grattan Institute revealed Australian women have suffered a “triple whammy” of job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic which will compound women’s lifetime economic disadvantage.

Not only did women lose more work than men – almost 8 per cent at the peak of the crisis, compared to 4 per cent for men – but they took on more unpaid work and were less likely to receive government support.

Single parents, the majority of whom are women, have also struggled. While single mums employed in retail and hospitality were on the frontline of the early job shedding, the Grattan report says only 13 per cent of single mothers received the Jobkeeper subsidy. The research also notes that single parents were more likely than double-income couples to drop out of labour market participation during the crisis.

And let’s not forget about other carers. For those of us with ageing parents and other caring responsibilities, keeping our loved ones safe and well is a huge concern. That job almost always falls to women in a family.

Economists and workplace academics warn breaks in labour force participation could set women’s superannuation and long-term financial security back and further erode equality gains made over time.

It’s already happening.

In disturbing proof progress made on gender equality outcomes can quickly disappear, figures released this month by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) show Australia’s national gender pay gap has widened, up 0.8 percentage points to 14.2 per cent. That means women working full-time are now taking home $265.50 a week less than full-time men.

WGEA announced that “Equal Pay Day 2021” as August 31 this year, marking the 61 extra days women have to work from the end of the financial year to achieve the same annual pay as men. 

So what can we do to stop this negative trend?

Returning to the office feels far away at the moment, but in coming months we expect to return, even if only part-time.

What is clear though is that hybrid working is here to stay for years to come so let’s not waste this opportunity. We need to learn the lessons from the past 18 months and make it work more fairly. 

For a start, initial research has found that women are more likely than men to continue working from home when we can go back into the office. We know many men have appreciated the flexibility that working from home has provided when it comes to looking after kids, helping with homework, cooking and shopping. But we may also expect many such men may fear asking for more flexible hours once lockdowns end and more offices reopen.

It’s a reasonable fear: research has shown that men are much more likely than women to have requests for flexible work rejected and are also much more likely to be overtly stigmatised if they work flexibly. We can never achieve equality in our workplaces and an equal sharing of unpaid housework if managers continue to treat men and women differently.  

The new hybrid working culture that is likely to emerge may offer some advantages in flexibility, but also brings new types of potential discrimination. The most obvious is working from home can easily result in a lack of visibility in the office. If the boss doesn’t bump into you around the office, you may not be front-of-mind for a plum project that could help your future career progression.  

And for many, remote work has also created a culture of feeling the need to be “always on”, which also creates pressure with many describing struggling to switch off. They fear their career progression will be adversely impacted if they aren’t seen to be always available.   

Emma is all too familiar with the constant tug of war between work meetings and fostering and participating in her child’s learning. She described a particular work meeting interrupted by her toddler who required urgent assistance in building a triceratops out of paper plates. She’s lucky she has colleagues who are either in the same position themselves or understand the difficult juggle that COVID has wrought on primary carers.

Understanding and caring bosses and colleagues will help get us through this current tough period, but until we address the structural and cultural drivers that work against women’s equality, including outright discrimination, unconscious bias and rigid gender role expectations, real progress will be slow.

Obligations under the new Victorian Gender Equality Act, which provides the authority for my role as that state’s first – and Australia’s first – Gender Equality Commissioner for the Public Sector will see 300+ organisations publicly accountable for making meaningful progress in addressing the systemic and cultural drivers of gender inequality. The Act requires transparent reporting, and it has real teeth – my role has the strongest powers to enforce compliance than any other equality legislation in the country.

These aspects combine to give us the strongest chance of addressing these gender equality gaps – and showing the rest of the country how it’s done.

The post The loads working mothers carry in lockdown get heavier by the day: So what happens next? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

It’s almost surreal to think that just over a year ago, many of were were travelling to work five days a week on crowded trains, only to sit in offices with no fresh air for eight hours straight, often next to colleagues who refused to cover their mouths when they coughed.   

To state the obvious: the way we work has changed dramatically in the last year. Many of us are now working remotely from home, wearing a steady rotation of activewear and spending our former commute time sleeping in, working out, or spending time with our families.

When you think of how much things have changed for the workforce in the space of year, it’s hard to imagine what the future will hold – so we asked two HR experts to do it for us.

“In the last 20 years, I’ve seen the HR industry transform from being all about recruiting, compliance, checklists and health and safety regulations to being about building and leveraging human potential in business,” says Karen Gately, who worked as a HR director for eight years before launching her leadership consulting practice 16 years ago.

“The old-fashioned command and control approach to leadership is dying out and the future of HR will be leading with authenticity.”

Dr Stacey Jenkins, the Acting Head of the School of Management and Marketing at Charles Sturt University, has also seen the HR industry evolve during her career and predicts more change to come.

“There’s going to be a growing focus on empathy, creativity and innovation in the HR roles of the future,” she explains. “Fostering a healthy work environment so team members are productive and engaged has never been more important.”  

At work and beyond, change is inevitable. Here’s how to prepare for and embrace the imminent revolution…

THE NEW NORMAL

In the thick of lockdowns last year, more than 32% of Australian employees were working from home, according to a Roy Morgan survey. Looking to the future (and a University of Sydney survey), that number will only increase, with 75% of workers saying their employers are more supportive of working from home plans since COVID-19 hit. It may have taken a pandemic to normalise remote working, but commuters around the world are rejoicing.

“Flexible work practices are no longer a competitive advantage; they’re the baseline expectation,” says Gately, noting that productivity has skyrocketed since more people started working from home. “I don’t believe we’re designed to work in marathons; we’re better off working in sprints. For some people that means getting up early to walk their dog, doing a couple hours of work, having afternoon tea with their family, then doing some more work before dinner. Allowing employees to set their own schedule is far more effective than micromanaging them.”

CULTURE CLUB

The biggest change facing human resources in the near future is managing remote workforces, finding new ways of working as a team and building culture from afar. While fostering a happy workplace has always been a part of the job description, HR representatives have had to completely overhaul the way they do so. “My biggest focus right now is culture,” admits Dr Jenkins. “I’m trying to be more in touch with how staff are feeling, more aware of their change fatigue and more available to provide motivation to keep them engaged.”

Top tip: to nurture culture while working remotely, don’t make after-hours Zoom drinks compulsory, advises Gately. “Online happy hour is completely ineffective for introverts and can be draining for extroverts, as well. Making small talk to a screen is exhausting unless there’s a purpose. I think the evolution of Friday knock-off drinks at the pub could be online trivia games or fancy-dress competitions – depending on the team,” she says. “Getting people to laugh is a really powerful way of building team spirit.”

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS

A recent study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence found the increased stress of the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health of 78% of the global workforce. Moreover, 76% of workers believe companies should be doing more to support the mental health of their employees. The future focus of HR is – undoubtedly – holistic wellness. Band-aid solutions like complimentary yoga classes and generic mindfulness brochures in the office kitchen will no longer cut it.

EVERY COMPANY: We’d like to promote mental health in the workplace.

EMPLOYEES: How about hiring more people so we feel less pressured & increase our pay so we can keep up with the spiraling cost of living so we’re not so stressed out.

EVERY COMPANY: No not like that. Try Yoga.

— Patrick wears a mask (@PatJD) March 20, 2019

“Workplace stress claims have risen since COVID-19, and organisations are having to rethink how they manage mental health issues when people are working in isolation,” says Dr Jenkins, who suggests hiring specific ‘working from home facilitators’ to look beyond the logistical challenges (technology, policies, safety and ergonomic spaces), and to the spiritual needs of staff members (mental wellbeing, balance and emotional resilience).

In addition to complimentary yoga classes, Gately says HR departments should build effective mental health and wellbeing strategies. “Team members need to feel trusted, valued and respected in the workplace – and all of those things can be done from afar when working remotely. Say thank you, celebrate achievements and foster a sense of purpose,” suggests Gately, who encourages leaders and HR representatives to practice what they preach when it comes to mental health. “If you do a staff survey and ask for honest feedback, then don’t deliver outcomes on said feedback, people will stop speaking up. It’s important for employees to feel like they’ve got a real voice and can influence the future.”

DRESS CODES ARE OUT

Casual Fridays will soon be an everyday option, says Gately and Dr Jenkins (to collective cheers from every single person who has ever worn office-mandated stockings and circulation-cutting pencil skirts). “As we start to realise the power of authenticity, outdated dress codes will become a thing of the past,” reveals Gately, with the authority of someone with purple hair, a nose ring and visible tattoos. “Even in financial services we’re starting to see blokes putting their ties away, which is saying something.”

Dr Jenkins goes as far as saying ditching homogenous office dress codes will help teams with their aforementioned, all-important emotional wellbeing. “I’m a big believer in respecting diversity and allowing people to dress the way they want; whether that be a pretty dress or trackies and a hoodie,” she says (to another round of applause and cheers).

DIVERSITY IS IN

Out with the old, and in with the long-overdue. As HR teams wave goodbye to dress codes, they’re eager to welcome real inclusion and diversity. “Of course, organisations need to have a diversity policy and strategy, but it needs to become a key strategic goal. We must take concrete steps to address unconscious bias, move past tokenism and embrace meaningful change,” explains Dr Jenkins, listing blind resume screenings as a practical way to do just that.

Real inclusion is more than having one woman or a POC on a board, says Gately. And to get to that point, HR representatives need to accurately assess candidates irrespective of agenda. “Thanks to unconscious bias, women are either seen as too soft or a cow. There is a growing awareness around these assumptions, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” she admits.

EMPATHY IS EVERYTHING

For proof that empathy is becoming increasingly important in workplaces, one need not look further than our very own Parliament House. In the wake of serious harassment and abuse allegations this year, empathy training has become the solution du jour. But can empathy be taught? Dr Jenkins says yes: “If we can teach leadership and emotional intelligence, we can teach empathy. Of course, it should be taught from a young age, but I hope to see more leaders undertaking such training.”

In addition to empathy, Gates says accountability is key for people in positions of power. “If a leader – say Scott Morrison – doesn’t know that inappropriate behaviour is commonplace within their workforce, they’re not doing their job,” she explains. “Going forward, leadership needs to be seen as the service role it is, and marked by compassion, integrity, accountability and the absence of ego. For HR representatives, it will be our job to coach leaders and build their capability in these areas.”

THE C-SUITE SHAKE UP

Looking into her HR crystal ball, Dr Jenkins clearly sees a people-centred approach taking over offices and transforming executive floors. “Going forward, HR managers will shape organisations and lead business strategy,” she says.

When it comes to picturing the boardrooms of the future, Gately sees HR directors sitting at the head of the table. “There’s a growing awareness that actively engaged teams with an emotional investment in the business achieve dramatically improved commercial outcomes,” she explains. “I believe HR directors will replace CFOs to become the 2IC to the CEO in the near future. Whereas now board directors come up through law, finance and sales, it’s rare for them to come from a HR background. That’s going to become far more common.”

OPPORTUNITIES AWAIT

With greater responsibilities and ever-evolving roles, both Gately and Dr Jenkins agree the HR field will continue to grow in the future. Like all industries, artificial intelligence will make some parts of the job redundant, but the role of engaging a skilled workforce, developing leaders and fostering a purpose-driven culture is intrinsically human. “The next generation of HR workers need to be willing to evolve, have a curious mind and the ability to analyse data and pull insights to inform decisions,” says Dr Jenkins. “HR is such a growing industry,” adds Gately. “We have the knowledge and capabilities to create serious competitive advantages for organisations. We have the power to unlock people’s potential. We have the ability to change the world.”

If you’re rethinking your career and considering further study, you can check out Charles Sturt University’s post graduate options here.

The post What human resources will look like in 2030 appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Jo Palmer was promoting and advocating for remote work well before the events of 2020.

She founded Pointer Remote four years ago, a jobs platform connecting businesses with remote workers, particularly those living outside of major metropolitan areas, and especially women.

The platform had been getting a lot of attention and growing fast – so fast that Jo was named the 2019 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award National Winner.

But then “remote work” took on a whole new level of momentum in 2020, as businesses everywhere needed their staff to work from home.

“It’s progressed at the speed of light,” Jo tells Women’s Agenda. “Remote work is the expectation, the norm, even as people are returning to offices.” The idea that “work is what we do, not where we go” swiftly became a reality across the spare bedrooms and kitchen tables all over the world.   

And now Jo’s seen first-hand the shift the remote working revolution has created in the opportunities now available across Australia, especially for those living regionally and remotely who never had access to some of the roles city-based workers were able to pursue. She says job candidates are now saying upfront where they live and negotiating their positions accordingly – rather than waiting until halfway through the hiring process before revealing their location. 

“It’s a game-changer,” she says. “People have been wanting this flexibility forever, but it’s taken COVID to push the change from employers. And what they’re finding is that even when people were juggling kids and home school and everything else in lockdown, there were still productivity benefits in having people work remotely.”

This revolution is not just transforming the lives of individuals and their families, it’s transforming communities: great talent is more willing to stay put, rather than move into cities. And the “trailing spouse” – which Jo says has often hindered a community’s ability to get great teachers, doctors and other key roles in towns – now have considerably more opportunities to pick up work. 

Indeed, it’s giving those who may have always expected to be living in cities due to their work the opportunity to pursue a different lifestyle. So much so that in some regional areas, property prices have jumped more than 40%.

“When you give people access to work, when you remove those barriers to entry, they pay taxes and spend money,” Jo says. “That’s how you recover from COVID. That’s how you build resilience against drought and flood and fire.”

Palmer grew up in Jindabyne NSW, went to boarding school in Sydney, and travelled and worked internationally before returning to regional Australia. She studied primary school teaching at Charles Sturt University and taught in small rural schools across the Riverina.

With two kids at home, she now works from a co working space in Wagga Wagga – one of many such spaces popping up in regional centres all over the country, to offer workers an alternative to working from home.

Palmer says that it was her own experience working remotely and managing remote teams that inspired her to found Pointer. She could see a vast pool of talent in friends – especially the partners of farmers – who were missing out on work purely because of their location.  She recalls running a team remotely herself when she supported a friend in getting a remote role, and then saw an opening for creating a platform that could connect employers with professional women.

Now that the remote working revolution has occurred, she wants to see it not only stick but actually reset how we think about work. 

Indeed, she wants more employers to adopt a “remote first” attitude to their staff, promoting remote work as expected rather than something to be requested. 

“If you have one person working remotely, you need a companywide attitude of remote work. If not everyone is going to be in the room, then not everyone does the video conference. Don’t just have one person on the screen,” she says.

“You really have to actively manage that company culture, which can be even trickier when you’re pursuing a hybrid style remote working policy,” she says. “But if you have that remote first attitude towards the whole company, it really sets the bar and becomes so much more inclusive for everyone.”

Jo describes the events of the past year as an “emotional rollercoaster” given how her business has adapted and changed during the process. But as she speaks with Women’s Agenda, she says she’s close to signing off on a significant deal that would see a major employer promoting roles on her platform for the first time. 

Much of what she’s been able to achieve, she says, was made possible thanks to winning the AgriFutures Rural Women Award. It opened doors, granted her access and respect from key decision-makers. 

“One of my goals for the Award year was to meet as many federal and state ministers as possible,” she says. “The Award definitely gave me the courage to reach out directly to ministers.”

The post The remote work revolution is transforming opportunities for rural women: Jo Palmer wants to go one step further appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In Lewis Carroll’s Victorian classic Through the Looking-Glass, Alice steps through a mirror into a world that is a reflection of the one she already exists in. This fictional account of a familiar yet topsy-turvy reality resonates with our lived experiences during the pandemic, where we must navigate work, school and leisure through a screen.

Using our combined observations of hundreds of Zoom meetings and scholarly insights from the fields of anthropology and psychology, we explore these questions to consider the transformative impact of digital platforms on our work environments and identities.

As the legendary Aretha Franklin asks, “who’s zoomin’ who,” and why? And what does this tell us about our pandemic selves?

Men prefer custom backgrounds

Based on our experiences in the new virtual world, men appear to far outnumber women in their preference for using specialty Zoom backgrounds. Popular choices include dungeons, outer space, landscapes and branded University images, the latter of which is common among men in positions of significant power. They sometimes switch designs during meetings, which can be humorous and reflect individual creativity.

In practical terms, the backgrounds may also be used to disguise cluttered or untidy workspaces. The lack of research on Zoom backgrounds makes determining the reasons behind this behaviour challenging to ascertain, but studies about gender and workspace culture may offer some clues.

The idea of men customizing their backgrounds to assert themselves in new spaces aligns with insights from gaming literature. Journalist Gabriel Winslow-Yost argues that gaming can be very grounding among male players given the collective nature of the virtual landscape and the definitive roles each player has.

Unlike video games, Zoom meetings are not usually perceived as leisurely activities or an escape from the “real” world. However, it could be that tech-savvy men are drawn to or comforted in some way by the opportunity to curate their digital environments using unique Zoom backgrounds, or as Winslow-Yost points out with regard to the online gaming world: “… they let us spend a little time in a different room.”

Designs by men

Women have been players in the corporate world for decades, but the style and appearance of many work environments remains quite masculine. This is reflected in the predominance of neutral tones like steely grey, along with Modernist décor and room temperatures two to three degrees lower than what women prefer.

During the pandemic, the spatial distinctions between office and home are eroding because many of us now work in the places where we live. This transition may be especially challenging for men, who mostly prefer clear definitions between office and domestic spaces. In light of this, one suggestion is that men may use specialty Zoom backgrounds as a creative way to exact a sense of control over their new work environments that no longer reflect the masculine design they are used to.

On-screen appearances

We are also regularly observing and being observed by people on the other side of our looking-glass screens, which can increase our focus on the appearance of others and generate discomfort about how we look. There’s a reason cosmetic surgery for facial procedures has skyrocketed since the uptick in Zoom use or “Zoom boom.”

Women are regularly objectified and sexualized for male pleasure or gain, which researchers refer to as the male gaze. This could help explain why women are less likely than men to turn their videos on during Zoom calls. Their decisions to do so stem from appearance-related concerns and, for some, a desire to multi-task, says Portland-based psychologist and tech expert Doreen Dodgen-Magee.

On Zoom, women are continuously and often uncomfortably observed, which many of our male colleagues comment on. Given this, it is conceivable that some men employ custom backgrounds as protective camouflage to reduce their vulnerability in a glaringly objectified space.

Being visually assessed in such overt ways is not something most men are familiar with, especially in their professional lives. This is demonstrated in a recent study that found that although female workers often perceive themselves to be observed in certain working environments males do not.

Screen reflections

Like Alice’s looking-glass, Zoom is transforming how we observe one another and construct or reconstruct our identities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The insights shared here suggest some of the ways that gender shapes the uptake of this platform among women and men.

Further research would be fascinating to conduct, particularly alongside our male and gender variant colleagues who can shed additional light on how creativity and resilience are used to fashion and secure Zoom-hood in our digital world.

Treena Orchard, Associate Professor, School of Health Studies, Western University and Shauna Burke, Associate professor, School of Health Studies, Western University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post On Zoom, men don’t like feeling watched and judged — but women are used to it appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Courtesy of COVID-19, we are now six months into the biggest experiment ever run on remote working. Some people have thrived (hello introverts) while others are desperate to get back to the office (hello untrusting managers). While every organisation is different, here are three predictions of how we might work in the future.

Asynchronous communication will trump synchronous communication

A recent Gartner poll showed that 48% of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after COVID-19 versus 30% before the pandemic. Working remotely comes with many benefits such as eliminating time spent community, being able to spend more time with family, and wearing pyjamas to work.

However, many workplaces have simply switched face-to-face activities into virtual ones. We are experiencing Death by Zoom and according to Microsoft, virtual meeting fatigue is indeed a real phenomenon, setting in at around the 30-minute mark.

I recently interviewed Gitlab’s Head of Remote, Darren Murph, for the How I Work podcast, and he pointed out that we are hardwired for synchronous communication from a very early age – at school.

“Synchronicity is the default for a lot of people. It feels very productive. It makes you feel like you’re contributing meaningfully to the organisation, but in truth, these types of meetings and ad hoc interruptions are massively disruptive to the bottom line. It’s very difficult to get into a state of flow and make meaningful progress on any line of work if you’re continuously being interrupted,” Murph explained.

Instead, organisations need to default to asynchromous communication such as email and collaborative documents such as Google Docs. “A bias towards asynchronous is one of the sub values of our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging value because it allows for a more inclusive chorus of voices to contribute to a project,” Murph describes.

And it also means less interruptions.

Building a workplace community will become a critical activity

Most people have realised that they don’t want to be in the office all the time, nor do they want to work from home 100% of the time. The new normal will most likely involve a hybrid model where work location is highly flexible.

In the past, having a central office where people gathered was key to building a work community and culture. Now that work is more flexible (and most probably staying that way), organisations need to think about how to build a strong sense of community within teams and across their entire company given they can’t rely on a central office doing this.

Instead of believing that co-location is key to community, the importance of intangible things such as shared values becomes more important. When people share values, it helps breed connections to each other. Employees who lack this feeling of being part of a community are more likely to look for work elsewhere.

The death of (perceived) hierarchy

Remote work is the great equaliser. We are all working from our studies / bedrooms / living rooms. We are all just a face on a screen with a view into our personal worlds. No one can sit at the head of the table anymore.

Leaders who have embraced the meshing of their personal world with their working persona have flourished during this time. They have been able to build high quality connections, as Professor Jane Dutton describes, with their team. And these high quality connections lead us to feeling more open, confident and alive.

When organisations do move back to the office, at least in part, leaders need to deliberately maintain these connections and be mindful of signals that they may indicate moving back to strict hierarchy. Instead, deliberately embrace the inclusivity that is bred through the remote environment.

While it can be tempting to return to the way things were, leaders who embrace the positive changes that COVID-19 have given us will be the ones who thrive in the new working world.

Dr Amantha Imber is the founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium and the host of How I Work, a podcast about the habits and rituals of the world’s most successful people.

The post What does the future of work look like post-COVID? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The What Women Want survey, conducted by the Public Service Association, found that women in the NSW public sector would like to continue to access flexible work arrangements post-COVID. Many women surveyed indicated they had been getting more work done, felt more effective and could balance their caring responsibilities better while working from home during the pandemic.

Despite the public service in NSW adhering to an “if not, why not” flexible work policy, one in 10 of the 5000 women surveyed said they had had a flexible work request rejected prior to COVID-19.

“I requested to work from home one day a week on three separate occasions and was rejected each time. I was most aggrieved given various internal communications noting we were an ‘agile’ workplace,” one respondent to the survey wrote.

“I am now work from home like everyone else given COVID but would really like to continue a regular option to do so if/when we return to normal.”

Another respondent said: “I requested work from home for over three years, it was finally agreed to for one day per fortnight. It took a lot of negotiation and involvement from PSA to achieve this. Funny how we are all working from home now during COVID-19, but
took years to approve one day per fortnight.”

The two flexible work arrangements most important to women surveyed was the ability to access leave when needed (81 per cent) and having flexible work hours (80 per cent). Meanwhile 52 per cent of respondents marked the ability to work from home or off site as important.

Stewart Little, general secretary of the Public Service Administration, said COVID-19 has changed old-fashioned ideas about office-based productivity and it’s clear women in the NSW public service want workplace flexibility to continue in the wake of the pandemic.

“What concerns us is that the experience of public sector women isn’t reflecting the policies in place. Women were telling us up until COVID-19 securing consistent work from home and other flexible options were often rejected, or looked upon with suspicion,” Little said

“Meaningful flexible work for women isn’t about taking Zoom meetings at home. It is about making work fit with the reality of women’s lives – such as offering more job sharing and part-time roles.” 

Just over 40 per cent of the women surveyed where satisfied or very satisfied with their current work/life balance, but 30 per cent said they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

For prison worker Nicole Jess, her rostered hours don’t offer much when it comes to flexible working arrangements, but she says if more employees could job share, it would make it easier to return from parental leave.

“Prisons are long term, secure work – but we need to make the availability of work there more flexible,” she said. “If women could job share or more easily go part-time that would be a huge plus.”

“We also need to see more women promoted into managerial roles, so that we can have more diversity in who is leading our prisons and managing officers.”

With fewer women than men in senior leadership positions with the NSW public sector, there is also an ongoing gender pay gap of 2.2 per cent.

“Women were telling us the wage gaps persists because men are appointed to the high-paid positions,” Stewart Little said. “But there are also systemic problems, were female-dominated sectors are underpaid.

When asked what the most important issues are to them at work, looking to the next twelve months, improving flexible work and pay equity were the biggest issues for women.

The post Women in the NSW public sector want to see flexible work arrangements continue post-COVID appeared first on Women's Agenda.