Choose To Challenge

Monday, March 8th is International Women's Day. It's an opportunity to celebrate the progress that women have made economically, politically, and culturally.  It also is an opportunity to recognize that mothers are still struggling and commit to change as an individual and an organization.

As Mita Mallick, highlights in her latest article for Entrepreneur: "I continue to lead and participate in Zoom meetings while slicing apples, finding glue sticks and logging my kids into their Zoom classes. And one year later, my kids aren’t going anywhere. If you expect that they'll magically disappear or that the situation for working parents with kids at home will "sort itself out," as a former boss once told me, well, it hasn’t been sorted. My kids are still here."

WRK/360's Take

The theme this year for International Women's Day is #ChooseToChallenge. As mothers working mothers of young & (online) school-aged children, we feel this first hand, and we hear it time and and time again. A year into the pandemic, many organizations are trying to move on and act as if things are back to "normal."  It is important to remember that we have not gone back to normal, and we likely never will. Female caretakers have been pushed out of the workforce. They have scaled back or passed up new growth opportunities. They are burnout, exhausted, and need more than simply the "flexibility" to finish their work at 1am, just to start again early the next morning.  

To that end, WRK/360 will continue to #ChooseToChallenge the idea that "always on" workplace cultures are best for business. We will continue to showcase that what's best for business is what's best for people. Companies that care and provide time, space, and benefits that support the whole employee and allow them to care for themselves, their families, and their communities will thrive and come out on top. (And by the way there is a lot of data to prove it.)

Today is a perfect example. Our newsletter usually goes out on Thursday's. Ye today is Friday. Due to a project sprint and a last minute childcare cancellation, it didn't go out yesterday. Of course we want to be on time and consistent, but in the scheme of things, other priorities had to come first and that is OK!

Actions To Take This Week

• Decide: What do you #ChooseToChallenge in 2021?  Share with us! We'd love to hear from you! Reply or email hello@wrk360.com

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