Recently I attended a networking event where the speakers were talking about the importance of recruiting women into technology and engineering companies. Many of the presenters discussed the importance of having a flexible work schedule when it comes to hiring more women into technology and engineering company.
You can’t argue with statistics that only 13% of women stay in technology positions for the first 7 years. The number one cited reason for women to leave a technology position is a lack of flexible work schedule. Sure, it is widely known that in technology you have to be able to work long hours on a specific project, but does your team need to work crazy hours All. The. Time.? The reality is that if you want women on your team there has to be a way to get around the crazy work hours that has historically been present in technology team.
How do you fix it? Before you decide to totally overhaul your department with offering a flexible work schedule, I recommend that you first talk to your employees and find out what would make it better for them so that they will want to stay and work with the company. Work time is going to look different for different employees because their needs are going to be different. Don’t just assume that flex time is the number one thing that they need, ask to verify.
How does your company deal with the need for flexible work schedules?
