On Tuesday this week it was International Women’s Day and we were encouraged to tweet with the hashtag #breakthebias. I was asked for advice to other women in comms and I came up with this: always try to do things on your terms, or terms that suit you. It’s my advice for women in general, not just in comms. We need to work out what works for us and our priorities and act on that knowledge wherever possible.
For ITN, I’ve been working with a team who have put together a microsite for International Women’s Day that features a panel debate and various companies talking about their initiatives to ensure a fair and equitable workplace for women. One section of the panel debate stood out for me, about the use of gendered language such as ‘chairman’ and the impact this has on pay gaps – the difference between what women are paid, on average, and what men are paid.
Then I read this story from the Guardian with business groups calling for the gender neutral term chair to be used over chairman. When I was training to be a journalist, almost 30 years ago, I was very interested in biased language but the corners have been knocked off me and the fight taken out of me after 30 years in the world of work. It is time, though, to give serious thought to the language we use and to say it’s unacceptable for terms such as ‘chairman’ to be ubiquitous. It subliminally gives the impression that the post can only be held by a man, which is not the case.
Earlier this week I also read this story in the Guardian about companies with female leaders outperforming those dominated by men.
Which brings me on to working life, post-pandemic. I work for myself from home but do have a regular gig which could take me into an office once a week. What I’m noticing is that it’s very much a pick and mix affair as to whether people choose whether to go into an office, now they’ve found they can just as easily work from home.
Also, the whole issue of burnout, which was such a factor in 2020 for those who weren’t furloughed, seems to have calmed down; people have become used to managing their workloads and aren’t accessing their emails 24/7, thank god. I read in the latest FSB magazine that some companies such as Dropbox are experimenting with ‘core’ hours when all staff are expected to be available, with the rest left up to individuals as to when, how and where they want to work.
All of this is a good thing. But it does leave open the slightly more vexed question of what it means for junior people and new starters, where a work culture and expectations can only really be developed in person, from asking questions and overhearing conversations in a workplace.
In other news
Let’s not forget that the cost of living squeeze (which feels very real, with the price of petrol, diesel and gas going through the roof) is also a cost of working squeeze, as companies face the same fuel price hikes affecting everything from the cost of shipping to the cost of raw materials.
This story was interesting about consumers cutting essentials to pay for TV and internet.
When world events affect UK TV advertising, although I saw the latest annoying meerkat ad twice that very evening, once on live TV and once on All4.
That’s it for this month. The Russian invasion of Ukraine leaves me without a cheery sign off.
Lucy Rouse PR Blog 