Welcome back to closing bell and cheddar news. Everyone
companies across the country are gearing up for a return
to the office in the next few weeks. I
know we are here at cheddar Microsoft Expedia and american
are just some of the many that have recently set
return to work dates. But a new Harris poll
survey shows women and people of color are generally happier
working from home and also think that remote work is
better when it comes to the potential of advancing in
their careers here. Now. To discuss this professor
of practice at the University of Virginia's Darden School of
Business, laura morgan roberts professor, welcome to the
show. So the new Harris poll found 52% of
women enjoy working remotely and would prefer to do so
long term Compared with 41% of men. What do
you make of this? I'm not surprised by these
findings. Um considering where we've been in the past
two years, uh we've learned two things. First
that remote work works. Uh People ran the experiment
, they pivoted to online and hybrid work arrangements and
many of them were able to deliver results. Secondly
, uh the childcare infrastructure has been profoundly disrupted by
the coronavirus pandemic and many school systems and childcare facilities
are still recovering from those disruptions as we continue to
navigate the impact of the pandemic. We know that
women disproportionately carry the responsibility for childcare responsibilities arrangements when
things fall through, it's usually in the hands of
women in the household to fill in the gaps to
take up those responsibilities and so they value having the
flexibility to be able to remain engaged professionally, but
also to have the opportunity to be present with their
families when needed. So looking at this poll,
52% of black workers and 50% of women say working
from home is better than working in the office when
it comes to advancing their careers. You just mentioned
that as well. Why do you think workers who
aren't white feel like they're more successful working from home
? So this brings up a different dynamic. Right
? The first set of observations are about infrastructure and
flexibility. The second are about inclusion. And so
what we've learned from many non white workers are that
uh they appreciate the opportunity to focus more on their
tasks and to be buffered in a sense from some
of the hostilities and the exclusive environment and practice that
uh they had to navigate for many years in their
in person offices. Uh they want to be committed
and engaged to the work of the organizations. They
don't want to be vulnerable or exposed to many of
the interactions that are devaluing dismissive or invalidating. And
so remote work provides that opportunity. Uh It also
provides an opportunity for people to live in communities that
are more affirming and supportive. Uh so prior to
remote work options, you would have to physically relocate
too many communities that may not provide you or your
family with the support or the social outlets that you
needed remote work provides for more diversity in the talent
base because you can draw from many physical areas of
the world actually, I think another factor that was
so interesting is the poll found that executives are nearly
three times as likely to want to work in person
with their employees. So what can executives due to
close this gap, Professor, of course, executives
want to work in person with their employees, uh
what executives are often feeling very comfortable and they're affirmed
and they're validated in their workplaces. So it's a
place that they really enjoyed being. It can be
quite fulfilling, It's rewarding and they've been rather successful
in that environment, but they also cherish the opportunity
to run into employees to talk to people that they
wouldn't naturally meet. They recognize that they are often
quite insulated and that people might be hesitant or cautious
about reaching out to them and setting up meetings and
sharing important information with them. So, executives at
this point, whether in person or hybrid or fully
remote, I want to be intentional about building relationships
, not just relying on that inner circle, but
making sure that you're connecting with people outside of that
inner circle scheduling, skip level meetings, for instance
, going to different programs, events, activities in
person or virtually that help you to build relationships with
the full diverse l of the full diverse groups in
your workforce. Another debate that seems to be gaining
traction here is hybrid, as we know, it
seems to be the most popular model for companies,
but many are saying that a hybrid workplace can lead
to inequality among employees. What are your thoughts on
that? I think it is a double edged sword
. Um Saddam Nearly professor at Harvard Business School just
published a remarkable research study called remote work revolution.
That highlights all of the benefits of remote work.
We also know through the research on inclusion and career
advancement that building those relations, having the connections being
in close proximity to people of power and influence can
help you have access to your mentors, to your
sponsors uh to figure out what new opportunities are presenting
themselves in the organization. So yeah, there's a
concern about inequality. If the people who are working
remotely or in hybrid arrangements are disproportionately women and people
of color, those are the people who already underrepresented
in positions of senior leadership and therefore may not be
aware of the opportunities to grow in advance or tapped
for those opportunities to grow in advance. It's important
that we don't assume that because people choose remote or
hybrid work arrangements, they're less ambitious. The data
from Mackenzie's Lienen report shows, for instance, that
women of color and black women in particular are more
ambitious than many of their counterparts. And so this
is not a proxy for one's desire to contribute or
lead in the organization. It's about creating a work
environment that truly allows people to bring their best selves
professor every about a minute left with you. I
want to ask, how is the University of Virginia
School of Business preparing for this landscape that we're going
to see moving forward? Uh you know, the
University of Virginia Darden School of Business has already developed
a number of hybrid practices. We have an executive
M. B. A. Program based in Washington
D. C, where I teach. We're just
starting a part time NBA program for people who want
to engage in their studies in the evening. So
I mean we recognize that we can engage in a
lot of learning a lot of growth, a lot
of development using a number of mediums. I build
in these topics into my leadership courses at U.
V. A. Dart because we know that our
managers and future leaders have to have the skills to
design and to engage their remote teams. We also
want them to think about these questions of equity,
inclusion and justice, whether they're in a fully in
person, fully remote or hybrid work environment, laura
morgan roberts, professor of practice at University of Virginia's
Darden School of Business. We really appreciate the context
and insight professor, Thank you so much for your 00:07:34.649 --> time