The global work arena has changed a lot over the past few decades. It’s been a long time since women started entering the workforce en masse during the 90s. While women enjoy a lot more autonomy and opportunity now than they did back then. Forbes recently came out with a list of billionaires and women made up 13.3% of the list.
However, there is still one thing that still remains an unspoken black spot on their career prospects – maternity. And it’s not just the entry-level workers and mid-level professionals that are affected. A recent article in Fortune mentioned how an ex-Peloton director faced nearly 100% rejection once they disclosed their pregnancy.
As per the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978, all employers are prohibited from discriminating against pregnant women. It categorizes pregnancy discrimination as sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And yet, 1 in 5 mothers (20%) of women say they have experienced pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.
This is why DEI activities in the workplace should include sensitization to maternity. And one of the most effective ways to do that is to develop a robust support structure for pregnant workers. This also applies to women working hybrid and remotely since measures like virtual coffee chats help enhance mental health quality standards for women.
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So, here are 5 ways virtual coffee chats not only support pregnant women but also increase their quality of life and job satisfaction:
5 Reasons Virtual Coffee Chats Boost Job Happiness Among Women During Maternity
Connecting with Peers
Work isolation is a real problem in the world of business and none are at more risk than marginal individuals. When you are pregnant, while everyone might give you special attention, it can end up feeling lonely for a lot of expecting mothers. This is particularly true when they are working from home, which is also usually during the most trying of months.
That is why using virtual coffee chats is a great idea to keep pregnant women connected with their peers and colleagues. They offer the perfect means for women to connect with the pulse of the team whether they are working in-office or remotely. It also enables individual communication which is crucial for staving off loneliness and creating unique bonds. This Forbes article mentions that
Four decades of research by Gallup consistently shows that female managers outperform their male counterparts when it comes to driving employee engagement and reduced turnover (SHRM).
This usually argues that women should look after the profiles and maternity leaves of women in the workplace. However, this can also be done by male managers and in fact, does offer a fairer representation of the employee value factor this showcases. Such managers can benefit from adopting a virtual coffee chat program and enabling their pregnant subordinates to develop a strong working tandem with their team that they can carry deep into their maternity term.
Better Value Generation
Value generation from employees in terms of daily work value is a key performance metric for businesses. However, the sustainable value generation a business can expect is subject to the employee satisfaction and motivation they are cultivating. This is where maternity policies and diversity statements make a huge impact on the business process. Most employees who are coming in would directly want to know what kind of leave benefits they are entitled and having maternity leaves with virtual coffee chats goes a long way in enhancing employee satisfaction.
Further, having a good working program for virtual coffee chats with your work-from-home employees including expecting mothers provides a lot of collaboration benefits. The biggest among these is the ability to implement a buddy system and develop genuine collaboration based on empathy. Studies have shown that a lot of employees do better when they are connected with people who are in the office. There are a lot of employee engagement activities that feature engaging with pregnant women working from home. However, many of these require longer time frames than most women are comfortable with while pregnant. Virtual coffee chats work as the perfect way to reach out to pregnant workers and engage them in team building.
Maternity & Parenting Support
Maternity is a hard thing to get through especially when you are trying to get your job on track along with. A lot of people have a hard time with pre-term maternity and parenting years later because they have not laid the right foundations for their work-life balance. This also translates into lost momentum in careers and lower work output.
Understanding how businesses can support pregnant women and even males during paternity is a big part of what creates lasting employee value. Employee engagement activities like virtual coffee chats and watercooler sessions enable businesses to interact and support colleagues directly. It can act as a solace to have colleagues whom you interact with virtually while also doing your job and taking care of your family. Check out this quote from a McKinsey post –
Erika, a recruiter from Washington, D.C. shares: “McKinsey makes being a first-time, pandemic pregnancy working-at-home, military spouse mom easier than I could have imagined. I walked into a virtual world that has been flexible, supportive, and encouraging. My worries were gently erased as I reconnected with my teams and everyone reassured me it was ok to take my time transitioning back to work.”
Hybrid Flexibility
Working from home is a great thing for people raising children. This is obviously most applicable to pregnant women and giving them at least hybrid settings to work as soon as possible should be a top priority for companies. For managers who fear losing track of the momentum of work or otherwise would rather divert important projects from them, using virtual coffee chats is a good way to bridge the gap. For expecting mothers, the answer to sustained career growth lies in connecting with colleagues and subordinates through regular virtual coffee chats and team collaboration sessions. This can be done remotely as well and offers a lot of options to mid-level managers including both men and women.
Virtual coffee chats and watercolor sessions are also only part of the equation with mentorship programs coming in to offer career advancement options. A lot of career-related growth issues pregnant women face have to do with a lack of growth options. Using virtual coffee platforms like LEAD enables businesses to also conduct mentorship functions through in-built processes. This is a great way to keep pregnant women working remotely motivated and surging towards their goals while staying motivated.
Digital Enabling
Digital enabling is a key factor when it comes to businesses and particularly applies to employees working remotely. For pregnant women, being able to communicate openly is not just a matter of good health but also enables them to reach out and ask for help when they need it. The benefit that virtual coffee chat apps offer though is immense and it goes beyond maternity leave benefits and support. It is in fact, a lifestyle support system that will see high-value talent stick with companies that want to retain them for years on end. Check out this Deloitte blog on how digital care is becoming a part of maternity care ecosystems to find out if your virtual support program fits in there.
How Are You Looking to Support Pregnant Women at Work?
The answer is simple! Pregnant women are an asset for businesses that can support their maternity as well as carer ambitions. They are very likely to stay with a company and become loyal contributors to its growth and progress for the long term if they find themselves supported through trying times like pregnancy. This is where businesses can extend support to both women and men and help create a culture of parenting that has been missing but is much talked about in years to come.
LEAD.bot is a team engagement platform available on Slack and Teams. It is an all-in-one team development software with features like virtual coffee chats, buddy programs, birthday celebrations & work anniversary celebrations, new hire onboarding programs, and Pulse Surveys.
LEAD.bot also offers cutting-edge Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) for big enterprises and institutions. Eecutive to mid-level managers use ONA to gain highly-actionable insights and build strong workplace connections. Using this app enables developing innovative employee engagement ideas to connect employees and foster better organizational health, employee retention, and overall performance with this simple app!
LEAD.bot is a product of LEAD.app and we also LEAD.bot’s sister app Sunrize which showcases workplace attendance by graphs right on Slack! Book a demo now!
