Hybrid Workplaces and Gender Equality

Many organisations are achieving gender equality in their working practices by adopting more flexible work practices as part of their Hybrid Workplace strategy. They are doing this to align to the expectations of their employees for flexibility and especially for women demanding greater support in managing work and home life. Notable examples are Telstra, ANZ, and the tech giants, Google, Amazon, and Atlassian. 

Not all CEOs ‘get it’

However, not all CEOs are seeing the writing on the wall.  A recent Return to Work Survey by McKinsey showed that whilst employees believe the future will include more flexible workplace models, CEOs believe that the primary centre for work will still be the office!

More women than men in the legal profession

I was very heartened to read in the Financial Review recently that women have officially taken over the legal profession in Australia, with 53 percent of solicitors now female and every state and territory reporting more women lawyers than men for the first time. Yet much of this growth in representation has been enabled by the trend of women pushing away from private firms due to gender pay disparities and inflexible workplace cultures that are disadvantageous to women. 

Law firm advocating for a hybrid workplace

And yet there are some beacons in the midst from this most unlikely of industries. Not all law firms are the same, and some have leveraged trends to flexible working from our experience of Covid-19 to make sweeping changes. For example, my colleagues at JOST&Co have been working with an innovative firm Hall & Wilcox, shaping their hybrid culture to best serve a balanced and inclusive staff contingent. 

What is Hybrid Culture?

Hybrid culture promotes flexibility, transparency, autonomy, and a focus on results rather than inputs as criteria for judging performance. A set of principles based on these values can be developed and implemented via a Hybrid Workplace Policy that embraces flexible ways of working. Because this change requires changes in mindsets, behaviours, and processes, a comprehensive change management strategy ensures the success of your implementation.