Wellbeing week and women in the workplace

The survey results which will be published in full shortly were discussed on a Podcast and Grant Thornton TV where the guests were; Elaine Gray Partner – Carey Olsen and President of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce, Jennifer Carnegie President of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Carly Parrott Director – Opus Private and Grant Thornton’s Human Capital Advisory Director Susie Crowder.

Watch the discussion in full or go to Spotify Grant Thornton Channel Islands to hear the podcast, the headlines under discussion were:

• Businesses need to embrace flexible working to a much greater extent
• Employees needed to be trusted to work away from their office
• Much more investment needs to be made allowing flexible working to flourish
• An office culture with a 9 to 5 mentality is not part of the new norm

The survey results:

• 84% of respondents stated that their employer had sufficiently supported them during lockdown – 12.8% however felt that their employer did not support them sufficiently
• 21% of respondents suggested that they had invested as much as 40% of their working day in home-schooling their children, whilst 33% stated they invested up to 50% of their working day
• 41% of respondents stated that their productivity had diminished during lockdown
• 43.5% of respondents claimed that they were not granted special leave during lockdown (annual leave/sabbatical/unpaid leave, etc)
• 77% of respondents stated that they had suffered with stress
• 77% stated that they had suffered with exhaustion
• 70% stated that they suffered with frustration
• 51% stated that they suffered with loneliness
• 89.7% of respondents agreed with the following statement: “The increase in unpaid care and domestic work, job and/or income loss, and the implications of lockdown on mental or physical abuse are among the factors that may be contributing to higher rates of stress and anxiety among women”.

With economic pressures building, organisations will be keen to build some resilience back into their balance sheets. COVID-19 has accelerated “efficiency programmes” in an attempt to ensure the longer-term sustainability of the business. Meanwhile, (some zombie) businesses continue to be propped up by government support resulting in a likely further phase of closures in due course. This has resulted and will continue to result in a sharp increase in unemployment across most sectors, not least as we battle our way through a recessionary period on the world stage.

Susie Crowder, Director of Human Capital Advisory commented “We need a corporate agenda that supports a multi-stage life with multiple entry and exit points at different stages and ages. A greater emphasis on wellbeing and flexible working will play a significant role in building back better.”