Making Women Happy In The Workplace [Infographic]

Matthew Gates http://notetoservices.com 6m 1,455 #womenintheworkplace

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Many years ago, there was a movie that came out with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. He acquired an amazing gift: the ability to read women’s minds. He seemed to be an amazing lover, a good listener, knowing exactly what to say, all because he was simply listening to what she was thinking and do just that. He seemed to be the perfect man to any woman he was around. Even his boss was beginning to fall in love with him because he understood her. They had the same ideas and she thought he and her were able to easily collaborate together on projects that isn’t often seen between man and woman in the workplace. Once he lost the power, he was just an average guy, unable to understand women, and back to normal. The movie was called “What Women Want.”

Women have secretly been a driving force throughout mankind, severely underrated, but obviously they are what keeps man going. Women have the power to change the world beyond any scale that we could ever imagine. Perhaps they already have. What is this power they possess? It is what men desire: women. The power is women themselves. Simply being a woman might be enough, but sex is just as powerful.

The example of the power women have is demonstrated in an Ancient Greek story known as Lysistrata. Athens was in a war called The Peloponnesian War and it had gone on for years. Women missed their husbands and may have become widows after waiting for so long. The common women were tired and really wanted their men home. There seemed to be no point of the war, but the politicians kept the war going, possibly to gain more booty. Anyway, the common women convinced the politician’s wives to withhold sex from them until they stopped the war and brought all the men home. At first, they refused to oblige. Days went by. Weeks went by. Months went by. The men were discomforted and although they refused, they eventually succumbed to their wives and recalled the men from the war. The women had won a victory to bring their husbands home and the power of women over men was known. The play, by all means, was never meant to be feminist or anti-feminist, but to display the power that women have.

Before the 19^th century, it was uncommon for women to work. They remained home and would take care of the household. Taking care of the household still continues to this day, despite the changes of modern woman. Since the 20^th century wars, women began to be introduced into the workplace. It became commonplace for women. When men returned home from the war, it was expected that women would return back to their homes and continue their lives, but this would never be the case again. Women wanted to work. Women wanted to have their own money, job, and career.

There are jobs and careers that seem to be specifically for women, or at least, the norm is that women take those kinds of jobs. The jobs of a nurse, teacher, or secretary are very commonplace for a woman. A woman in engineering, mechanics, or computer science seems rare, though more and more women are entering as women are becoming more confident in their abilities to enter into fields previously dominated by men.

While raising a family and a career are very possible, it is certainly a struggle for every woman in her life. Women struggle everyday to find a balance between giving enough time to their families while also being able to focus on work. Unfortunately, to this day, a certain “glass ceiling” remains that women cannot seem to break. They reach a certain point in their jobs or careers before they realize they cannot go higher. They might hit a stagnant point at which there is no where else to go; whether it be a position or a salary.

There are also plenty of women who prefer not to work and will gladly, if given the choice, stay at home and raise their families. Not all women believe the workplace is for them. I once asked an Orthodox Jewish woman, whom stayed at home while her husband went to work and went to synagogue, “Aren’t you upset that you haven’t established a career?” She said, “While I did work as a teacher for a few years in my younger days, I made the decision that it was more important to stay at home and raise my children. That is my career. If they are successful in all they do, than I have succeeded in my life.”

Most employers fail to understand that a woman’s day does not end when she leaves work or that it started a few hours before work. If she is stressed out all day by her job, than goes home to her children, she may be stressed out there as well, which affects her from performing her best completely all around. She is a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, an employee, a friend, and many other labels. Despite her stressful life, she makes sure her family is fed, her kids have done their homework, and are in bed at a reasonable hour (hopefully). She then gets up every morning, prepares herself for the day, as she wakes her children up, feeds them breakfast, and makes sure they are sent off to school, but not before ensuring they have lunch and are healthy, and somehow in all this time, she has also prepared some lunch for herself. She then sets off to work and puts on a happy smiling face, as if her morning was just another day. She has dealt with more in her two or three hour morning, all before she even set foot in work, than any man could ever imagine.

Money is not always what women are after in the workplace. Of course, they would like to make a reasonable salary to feed their families, but making a woman happy in the workplace might just be giving her more opportunity to spend time with her family, giving her a little monetary bonus from time to time so she can enjoy time to herself or with her husband, giving her recognition for her hard work, or giving her some kind of credit in knowing that she is a valuable asset who is making a difference in being a part of the company. Women are hard workers and are willing to “bite the bullet” if it means protecting and taking care of their children. It is the little extra steps an employer can make to make the women in the office happy and women who are happy are much more productive and loyal.

This infographic shows more statistical data on making women happy in the workplace.

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Making Women Happy {In The Workplace}

It’s changing with the latest generation of women

New Accenture research for International Women’s Day finds shifting definitions for “what it means to have it all” for the majority of today’s professional women.

Today’s Woman is more interested in flexibility than money.

Today’s Workforce

53.4% Male
46.6% Female

Majority of women in the workforce are Gen X and Gen Y
57%
are Gen X (born 1965 – 1978)
are Gen Y (born 1979 – 1994)

The single most important factor in work-life balance: flexibility in the workplace.

By a substantial majority, women prefer a better work-life balance to a bigger paycheck.

#1 58% work-life balance
#2 45% money
#3 43% recognition
#4 30% advancement
#5 29% making a difference

80% of women say having a flexible work schedule is either VERY IMPORTANT or EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

85% say flexible work hours would reduce their stress.

More than 5 times as many women claim happiness is a more important contributor to personal success than money which ranked 6^th.

11% of women are more satisfied in the workplace than last year.

Women define success in their personal lives by…

27% having a family
14% security / stability
18% health
25% happiness

The Impact Of Happiness

Thriving (happy) employees

16% better overall job performance
46% more satisfied with their jobs
32% more committed to the organization
125% less burnout than their peers

77% of women think their career has been a success.

Flexible work environment create happier workforces.

To remain competitive in attracting and retaining the best and brightest talent, leading companies will find innovative ways to help them develop, grow, and thrive. The top three qualities women want are:

1. Work-Life Balance
2. Positive workplace relationships
3. Job stability

A full report on the research, “Defining Success”, is available at www.accenture.com/IWD

Matthew Gates is a freelance web designer and currently runs Confessions of the Professions.

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