A Pandemic Silver Lining for Women
Banner by Nicola Jesse

A Pandemic Silver Lining for Women

Despite being a horrendous ordeal for most, many COVID survivors found at least one silver lining. Pew research suggests this number was as high as 73% of us. In the face of the chaos, upheaval and stress, there were things we actually enjoyed during lock down, took advantage of and even missed when the ordeal was mainly over.

I noticed this from my own conversations at the time, but studies published in the Journal of Health Psychology confirm this to be the case. So don't just take my word for it. Many people welcomed the period of quiet introspection which resulted in self-reflection, post traumatic growth and gratitude.

Robin Kowlaski one of the authors of "Finding the silver lining in the COVID-19 crisis" suggests that "People who are able to find meaning even in the worst of situations can weather those storms better than those who don't."

Not only did many decide to flip their organisations the bird, one of the demographics which may emerge from the global pandemic in better shape than we first thought is women.

Early days

In the early days of the pandemic, we tended to focus on the devastating impact COVID had on women, which came about because of existing gender inequalities. Headlines blasted scary details about a "she-cession." Female job losses were 1.8 times higher than for men and women assumed the lion's share of household responsibilities and school work supervision.

We also saw a spike in domestic violence as well as increase in mental health issues including depression, anxiety and burnout. But post pandemic, women have returned to the workforce in even slightly higher numbers than before COVID. The biggest differentiator has been driven by education levels. Those who suffered most were women who were unskilled or without a Bachelor Degree.

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The Oliver Wyman Forum publishing on the W.E.F. shared some data last month ( 8 ways women will re-shape the post COVID World) which is going to change the talent management landscape. Organisations should take note, because it should impact the way we go about attracting and sourcing female talent.

Two new categories

The post identifies some new demographics, and two key areas stood out for me:

  1. The growth of Digital Bloomers. These are people who pre-COVID avoided technology as much as they did the virus when it hit us. Perhaps motivated by all those Zoom cocktails and quizzes, they have done an about turn and upskilled with new digital hard, skills. They are now raring to go.
  2. The development of a group called New Collars, comprised of more pink than blue -collar workers who learned new skills during the pandemic. They were found in the traditionally female silo'd industries which represent 43% of the hourly paid sector. We find these in hospitality, health care, service functions and retail. Waving their new certifications, these women are now looking for work in line with their new skills and higher expectations which goes some way to explaining the labour shortages in these sectors.

During the pandemic, many were on furlough and used that opportunity to take advantage of the cheap or even free training options.

Pandemic lessons

We know from the many post-pandemic studies out there that people want different things for their future of work. These preferences are in sharper focus for women:

  • They want to feel a sense of purpose and recognised, and make a contribution
  • Employee benefits as well as salary, are a key priority especially flex and hybrid, when looking for a job.
  • Personal and professional development opportunities are on their wish lists
  • Psychological safety is a must.
  • They want leaders to role model their values and have emerged as the group which has most concerns around health, wellness and sustainability.
  • Work life integrity (I have used that phrase very specifically, they want their personal responsibilities respected and to feel safe and connected at home and work.) More on that another time.

Impact on Talent Acquisition and Recruitment

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These shifts should shape the way we attract women to organisations. It's going to be difficult for anyone in the hiring process to continue working in the same way as they have always done, if they genuinely want to increase the number of women in the talent pipeline.

This is what they need to consider:

1. Managing biases

It will be more important than ever to manage the biases which can impact women specifically more than men. Ageism, unemployment bias, job hopper bias, experience bias (time spent in roles) and employment pedigree all impact women.

Older woman Gen X (1965-1980) in the Digital Bloomer category are 3 x more likely to give 5 years’ service than younger candidates, but 50% more likely NOT to be called back for further interview (Catalyst.) You are not going to find this group with trad educational establishments or their CVs populated with stints with the right job titles in high pedigree employers.

It's not so much as thinking outside the box, but losing the box altogether.

2. Diversifying sourcing

Talent Sourcers will need more than ever before to "fish where there are fish" and find out how to connect with this new talent pool, understand how they look for jobs and approach them in a way that will encourage them to respond. Definitely no cold spammy, overly familiar, outreach emails.

It may mean specifically targeting people who are unemployed or with career gaps and offering "returnships" or even boomerang roles an initiative which is working in the Fin Tech sector.

Download The way men and women look for jobs

3. Use skill trees

Build a map of skills which defines and creates ability sets and the required skill level. Look at transferable skills and the interconnection. We currently hire using "perishable skills" as benchmarks for success, even though they have a life expectancy of 2.5 years. We should switch to hiring for "durable skills," the old-school soft skills which we currently train for during career progression after we've hired them, which is making increasingly less sense.

4. Create new partnerships

Ernst and Young maintain that academic success bears no relation to professional competence, and dropped degree classification as part of their entry level recruitment drives. Yet, we still continue to target business schools and engineering faculties where alphabet organisations compete in ever decreasing circles hoping to find elusive female talent.This is not going to leave wide possibilities of choice for other companies. Hoping that their swag bag will clinch the deal to attract sloppy seconds maybe on the optimistic side.

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Even building relationships into High Schools is not working as we hoped. Research from the French Ministry shared by Renaud Vedel suggests that in France girls drop out of STEM subjects at the age of 14. We therefore need to either target non-stem graduates and test them for technical competence and numerical reasoning. Or build partnerships in Middle Schools in an attempt to head off the unrelenting pressure of the latest You Tube or Instagram influencers on young girls.

5. Declare benefits early

Women are looking for flex and hybrid ( 58% women vs 48% of men, 92% mothers vs 80% working dads.) 

26% of women are more likely to apply for a remote job (LinkedIn)

Declare these benefits early and make sure they are real and immediate.

6. Create a strong CVP and EVP

This is where having both a strong Employer Brand and a seamless candidate value proposition will play a key role. Every touch point from the images on a career page to the language used in profiles and even their length will play a role. Women are also more likely to drop off early if a process becomes too lengthy.

Download: 12 key steps to attract, recruit and retain female talent

Change required

The Oliver Wyman report also indicates that women today are focusing more on their health, learning new skills to find more secure jobs, and embracing digital technologies faster to remain safe and connected at home and work. 

Post pandemic women have switched focus and upskilled. To attract and retain this key talent we need to do things differently.

But will we?

Note: This post has been adapted from a keynote presentation delivered to ENGIE Fifty-Fifty Change Drivers on June 2nd 2022

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Want to strengthen and diversify your talent pipeline and build more inclusive inclusive hiring processes? Find out how to manage the biases in your recruitment and promotion processes. Read more about our Corporate Services here.

⚽ My goal is to increase the number of gender balanced, diverse and inclusive workplaces where everyone feels secure and reaches their potential. Read more on services for individuals

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Dawn Metcalfe

Workplace Culture Advisor, Author, Speaker, Coach, Trainer

2y

Great article. I've just shared it with a client who will find it very valuable. Thanks.

Ed Han

Talent Acquisition 👉𝗚𝗲𝗲𝗸👈 | JobSeeker Ally | I'm not active on LinkedIn: I'm 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿active! | Wordsmith | Senior Recruiter at Cenlar FSB | Hiring for IT roles exclusively in the 19067 ZIP code | That #EDtalk guy

2y

There's so much interesting stuff in this week's newsletter and I can't pick where I want to comment! But that's why I always read your newsletter word for word, Dorothy.

Kevin D. Turner

Brand to Land: Eliminating Personal Blanding™ with the Sharpest Tools & Strategies for Your Professional Success. Branding ╽ LinkedIn Profile Optimization ╿ Trainer ╽ Career Coach ╿ Speaker ╽ ⛨ Verified Profile | Testing

2y

Love the terms Digital Bloomers and New Collars Dorothy Dalton. Diving in for a deeper read. #KeepRockingLinkedIn! Kevin

John Baldoni

Helping others learn to lead with greater purpose and grace via my speaking, coaching, and the brand-new Baldoni ChatBot. (And now a 4x LinkedIn Top Voice)

2y

Employees "want leaders to role model their values and have emerged as the group which has most concerns around health, wellness and sustainability." Yes Dorothy Dalton

Lisa Rangel

Executive Resume Writer endorsed & hired by Recruiters | Ex-Executive Search Recruiter | 190+ monthly LinkedIn Recommendations over 10 years | FreeExecJobSearchTraining.com | M.E.T.A Job Landing System Creator

2y

Finding and using non-mainstream recruiting tools to locate talent from different demographics and background is the consistent challenge for recruiters to embrace. This is one key step as to how we have a diverse workforce. There are silver linings to what we all experienced Dorothy Dalton

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