It’s been a hard week for school administrators. In Fairfax County alone, we went from giving families a choice of sending kids back to school 2 times per week or keeping them home for the year for 100% online learning, to no choice at all, with home-based learning for everyone. Nearby counties followed suit. Considering that Major League Baseball could not last one week without Covid-19 taking down the Marlins, it’s probably a good decision.
But people–and women especially–are panicking. On Facebook, within the first hours, my own feed was filled with women who remembered the final months of last school year saying “I am going to have to quit my job.” It is heartbreaking. And then it is enraging. I did not see a single man say something similar. I did, as one always does, see the occasional post that read “Schools aren’t babysitters. You need to stay home with your children.”
We have to do better. Business owners–you do not want to see your Intellectual Capital bleeding out while the women who work for you believe that they cannot stay with you. Your women employees have given you their work, their knowledge, and their time over the years and this is the time to step up and show them that you are there for them. The past four months have shown you that your employees are capable of working from home and getting the job done. It’s time to take it a step further.
My company can help. We have experience in change management and change communication, in instructional design and online communications. We can work with you to find a solution for your women workers, be it a change in schedule, a change in work products, or something new. We can help you communicate these changes now, when they will show that you are thinking ahead. And we can help you design new training products if necessary to get everyone set for September.
Don’t leave this as an afterthought; this is the time to let the women in your company know that you value them, their intellect, and their presence in your company. Contact us today to talk about it and find out more about how we can help.