The previous few years have shone a brighter gentle on ladies’s experiences at work: We’re exhausted, we’re underpaid, and we’re continually battling for fundamental rights. In reality, we’re nicely within the depths of a “she-cession”: One in three women wish to downshift their careers or go away the workforce completely, becoming a member of the tens of millions of ladies who’ve already exited these previous few years. 

With a worldwide labor scarcity and a caregiving crisis persevering with to pressure workforces, sensible leaders will put money into reversing the she-cession by making structural modifications in how we work that emphasize flexibility. Failure to take action will push extra ladies to their breaking level, and out of the office. But it’s not ladies who’re damaged, it’s the system. And 2023 would be the 12 months to start out fixing it. 

There’s no query that flexibility issues. When it involves figuring out job satisfaction, research by Slack’s Future Forum consortium exhibits that flexibility ranks second solely behind compensation. This is especially true for fogeys, particularly working moms. Today, 83 p.c of working mums choose a versatile location mannequin. 

But, too usually, the dialog about flexibility is proscribed to only the “number of days in the office.” In 2023, the that means of flexibility will transfer past the place you’re employed to when you’re employed. Ninety-five p.c of feminine desk employees need flexibility of their schedules—extra alternative in how they construction their days apart from the occasional appointment out of the workplace—and the bulk aren’t getting that choice at present. With the demand for flexibility clear, and the speed of attrition excessive, leaders will give workers larger alternative in how they work and break free from the standard, outmoded 9-to-5 mannequin of productiveness.

This shift to flexibility has quite a few advantages: We’re seeing main good points for skilled ladies in relation to sense of belonging, satisfaction with work, and work-life fluidity. But proximity bias—favoritism for individuals who work close by within the workplace—is a looming threat that leaders should actively negate. Why? Our research exhibits that ladies, workers of coloration, and dealing moms are most definitely to wish to proceed to work flexibly, whereas males, white workers, and non-caregivers are extra probably to return into the workplace full-time. Left unchecked and with out intentional motion, disparities within the office might deepen, entrenching present inequities.

To fight proximity bias, leaders will turn into more and more cognizant of how worker efficiency is measured throughout promotion opinions and suggestions cycles. Research exhibits that men are much more likely to obtain suggestions based mostly on the outcomes they ship, whereas ladies’s evaluations usually tend to be rooted in persona traits. In 2023, a rising variety of managers can be reskilled to deal with the outcomes that workers are producing as a substitute of outdated measures of labor ethic and dedication, like being the “first in and last to leave.” When they get this proper, corporations will begin to see the impression of their skill to draw and retain expertise.

My hope is that we’re lastly able to construct a extra equitable, extra consultant workforce by actually fixing a system that’s at all times been damaged. Growing up, I watched my immigrant mom frequently make trade-offs between parenting and dealing—and due to the monetary wants of our broader household, work usually gained. I bear in mind how painful these decisions had been for her, and on the finish of her 40-year profession, her recommendation to me was: “Regardless of how hard you work, trying [to break the glass ceiling] is not worth it.” 

The previous two years have confirmed that change is feasible, as tens of millions of individuals essentially reimagined how they work. But to make systemic change, leaders should redesign how they rent, consider, and promote ladies. And the time to vary the system is now.