
22 Jan Balancing Act: Create Your New Blueprint
With many companies now setting return-to-office policy, employees are charting a new normal
by Terri Huggins Hart
Sue Edinger, chief of operations at Inns of Aurora, did the seemingly impossible—she kept the business afloat and morale high throughout the transition to in-office work as the COVID-19 pandemic waned. And she did it without laying off any resort employees during that time. How? By intentionally utilizing technical resources, staying flexible, and leaning into employees’ personal strengths and incorporating them in new ways throughout the resort.
Edinger’s mastery of the shift out of remote work exceeded her company’s expectations to such a degree that it helped earn the Inns of Aurora recognition as one of the best places to work in New York.
Her inspiration? “I was fortunate to work with men who got it and offered me a partner position with flexibility while pregnant in the ’80s,” she says. They offered flexible hours, limited mandatory meetings, and gave her the ability to be present for her children without guilt. “I did that for 16 years. And I don’t think that season of being home with my kids a bit more harmed my ability to step into [other roles] when the time was right for me or my career.”
Looking to that experience as a blueprint, Edinger felt it was important to maintain a high morale at Inns of Aurora to enhance employees’ ability to be present in all aspects of their lives, regardless of what phase the company was in regarding in-office work.
It’s rare for managers to execute the dream of improved company culture while being productive and moving back to in-office work as seamlessly as Edinger did. Despite the widespread belief that in-office teams improve productivity and company culture, some studies have in fact shown the opposite, finding that return-to-office mandates have resulted in weaker morale and talent loss, according to 45 percent of employees.
Showing up when it matters
Women still show their commitment to their career growth by being present physically and mentally. They also remain committed to their families and social networks. However, their power to control their own calendars has to some degree lessened. Two separate surveys conducted by Gartner in 2023 found that most employers had increased their expectations of in-office work. Meanwhile, nearly half of employees surmised that company mandates favor employers’ needs over what employees need to thrive. Another survey revealed employers prefer mandatory in-office work to better track their employees’ activity.
“When employers have more power, they tend to be less concerned about people’s well-being, or they seem to be more concerned about productivity because they’re also under economic pressure,” says Leslie Forde, CEO and founder of Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs. “Presenting your needs wrapped in the context of what is good for the organization helps women execute where it matters.”
The McKinsey report Women in the Workplace 2023 disclosed that one in five women says flexibility has helped them stay in their job or avoid reducing their hours. Remote work has allowed employees to tend to doctors’ appointments and family concerns, take care of their own well-being, and complete timely work-related tasks at their convenience. Now, having to sacrifice showing up for important personal matters for in-office visibility has raised tension among employees. Forde suggested that women can counter the guilt of deciding what to show up for in person and where to direct their attention by setting realistic expectations, assessing their values, and finding their own sense of fulfillment.
One glaring problem is the disconnect between the long list of duties women manage personally and professionally. A Bank of America report found that 81 percent of employers believed they offered comprehensive support to caregivers, but 61 percent of caregiver respondents were unaware of any available support. There are also discrepancies in the quality of the support when offered and available.
Thanks to lobbying, greater support for caregivers—including a comprehensive benefits package encompassing wellness reimbursements and mental health coverage—is an emerging strategic trend that allows all parties to feel whole. More than half of employees rank access to paid time off for vacations, illness, and mental health reasons highly, according to Pew Research. In contrast, those with paid time off are reluctant to use it for fear of losing their job or being passed over for promotions.
An American Psychological Association study found that there’s been a slight increase in employee satisfaction with mental health support and benefits in comparison to previous years. Additionally, the Mercer Survey on Health & Benefit Strategies for 2024 found that 64 percent of employers planned to improve their well-being-related benefits in 2024. Based on employee need for flexibility and support, benefit enhancements are instrumental in retaining employees and demonstrating that companies care about the many facets of their lives.
Increasing emotional intelligence
Empathy is also increasingly important for employee satisfaction. “What I’ve noticed is that having empathy helps name the elephant in the room,” says Jenny Woo, PhD, MBA, an emotional intelligence researcher and founder and CEO of Mind Brain Emotion. “It helps employees say what they’re feeling, advocate for themselves, and enable their leaders to actively listen to understand team needs. There’s more cohesion and less need to fight fires or put out fires.”
Of course, the responsibility is not just on the company to figure out what employees need. Employees need to find appropriate ways of letting their managers know what they need to be productive. Knowing where to show up and how is about being strategic, explains Dr. Angela Garretson, chief of public and government affairs at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. “Let them into your process when you need to step away [by providing] documentation, deadlines, and what you need to be effective,” she says.
Managing communication overload
For employees, having the ability to show up as their whole selves at work and at home is a priority. That can’t be done with around-the-clock notifications from multiple communication platforms. Women are overwhelmed with excessive apps and constant communication and yearning for a better way to manage it all.
Parents receive over 17 messages per week about children’s activities, with women feeling the brunt as the likely primary caregiver, according to a mental load report conducted by Skylight. Additionally, more than half of survey respondents in a survey by GoodHire said their managers either communicate too much or not enough virtually and digitally. Meanwhile, those in leadership roles are using up to 10 apps to manage daily tasks, which isn’t the most efficient.
Now the focus on work-life balance is moving toward improving processes and setting boundaries around the amount of communication. When that meeting that should have been an email becomes multiple emails, and demands from home are affecting executive functioning, artificial intelligence becomes an essential management tool.
AI has gone from a tool that employees were afraid made them look lazy to one that, when used within reasonable guidelines, can help with productivity. You can’t use AI to do the work for you, but you can use it to help conceptualize, plan, and execute your tasks, Forde suggests. “If you’re at the epicenter of making it all happen and ensuring that it’s done well or done on time, that’s still a lot of emotional and cognitive labor.”
Honoring all identities
For some, the definition of ambition has shifted post-pandemic. Ambition was long measured in job titles and salary. But today people aspire to jobs that allow them to be involved within their household and social life.
“As more women seek careers that allow for freedom in their personal lives, traditional titles aren’t as much of a focus for the reasons we’re used to,” Woo explains. “They are looking at it as part of their growth and freedom to explore their identity.”
During work-from-home orders amid the pandemic, workers were reluctant to share their passions, advocacy, and side hustles, fearing criticism. However, research suggests the empowerment from pursuing side hustles spills over into full-time work and strengthens an employee’s productivity and engagement. With this expanded understanding of the workplace and how to succeed, women now have more freedom to bring their multiple identities and skills to their jobs.
For example, if they are mentors or have a side hustle as an executive coach, these related skills can be leveraged in the workplace, particularly when they’re vying for upward mobility. In most cases, it’s a big benefit for all. “Every one of my team members has different passions that they bring,” says Edinger. “If you can find a way to allow them to add their signature to the organization with those passions, you create an incredibly unique organization.”
Side hustles also allow women to be on the receiving end of respect they may not typically experience in their day-to-day jobs. Microaggressions, lack of credit for ideas, and assumptions about their role and emotional state continue to be concerns for women in the office.
“In these environments, especially as women of color, we are often not seen as the contributors in the room,” says Garretson. “So a part of the strategy and one of the things that I’m a huge proponent [of] was just exposure. Growing through my career, I was always really involved in a lot of [environments] and professional development.” EW
Terri Huggins Hart is a journalist, tireless researcher, dancer at heart, and fervent supporter of disability rights who successfully advocated for an inclusive community park as well as paid leave in New Jersey.
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AI Tools That Help Streamline Your Life
When life demands get overwhelming, AI can help reclaim balance
RescueTime: It offers AI-enabled timesheets to help with time blocking and project timelines.
Ohai.ai: The AI personal assistant syncs calendars, delegates tasks, and identifies scheduling conflicts for work or home life.
Otter.ai: The transcription software summarizes meeting notes and generates corresponding action items.
Mailbutler: This tool helps you streamline email management tasks such as composing, replying to, and summarizing emails.
Grammarly: One of the oldest and most used AI tools, Grammarly fixes your grammar and spelling mistakes in real time.