Gender equity, flexible work Covid’s good side

Covid-19 might have stressed the country but it has been great for embedding deep cultural change around flexible work and gender equity.

Flexible work was a positive to come from the pandemic. Picture: istock

Covid-19 might have stressed the country but it has been great for embedding deep cultural change around flexible work and gender equity, according to statistics to be released on Tuesday by the Champions of Change Coalition.

The coalition’s annual impact report on 190 members reveals that on every measure of actions to accelerate gender equality, build inclusive workplaces, promote more women leaders and address harassment, companies are doing better than in 2021.

Annika Freyer

Chief executive Annika Freyer argues the positive lessons learnt from the lockdowns encouraged companies to explore flexible work options for frontline, shift and site-based jobs previously not considered suitable for flex.

“We all know that Covid lockdowns and the general disruption for everyone presented specific challenges for employers, but those who were already committed to gender equality were actually on the front foot when it comes to things like flexible work,” she said.

Offering flexible work had been considered leading-edge before the pandemic but was now “standard expectation”, she said. The business benefit of “mainstreaming flex” had become clear in recent years.

The fifth annual impact report shows 93.8 per cent of members have mainstreamed flexible work with policy, tools and technology and leadership support, up from 86.3 per cent in 2021.

Ms Freyer said: “Through Covid-19 our members knew their organisations’ resilience, and in some cases survival, really depended on the engagement and wellbeing of their employees. And you need equal and inclusive workplaces to deliver on that.

“Our members are leading the way. These results show long-term leadership and consistent, focused action are delivering gender equality in an increasing number of our members’ workplaces. Our challenge remains ensuring that all women are benefiting, that this change is system-wide and that it is sustained.”

Ms Freyer said the report showed there had been “deep behaviour and system-shifting work on the prevention and response to sexual harassment”.

The expectation now was that boards and senior executives must take responsibility for these policies and actions.

The report shows 88.2 per cent of board and/or executive leadership teams have committed to eradicating sexual harassment, up from 75.8 per cent in 2021; 80.1 per cent have identified sexual harassment as a physical and psychological safety issue (up from 61.5 per cent); and 77.6 per cent have established regular reporting on sexual harassment in the reporting cycles of board and leadership teams, up from 55.9 per cent a year ago.