Improving the hourly workplace for women boosts labor efficiency

Despite impressive progress over the last few decades, women still experience significant setbacks in the workplace. Even with the pay gap at a historic low, women still earn less than men in nearly all occupations, while being overrepresented in low-wage jobs. Women also carry the additional burden of unpaid caregiving labor: Twice as many women are sacrificing career opportunities on account of child care responsibilities compared to their male counterparts. 

Facing economic strain and social opposition, many companies are turning their sights from issues of gender equality in the workplace in favor of focusing on productivity. But these two issues are deeply interrelated, and in order to maximize productivity, business leaders must reduce the barriers that keep women from bringing their best to the workplace. This is especially crucial at organizations employing hourly workers, where women are already more likely to work in lower-paying positions. 

Labor is one area where solving for inefficiency also requires solving for inequity. Common hourly labor headaches like call-outs and no-shows can result from the unique challenges women face, such as conflicts with child care responsibilities and medical needs. 

The World Economic Forum predicts that frontline work will be the largest-growing employment type over the next five years, and employers should see that growth as an opportunity to build a more equitable and efficient workforce. The strategic choices that benefit women in the workplace will ultimately benefit everyone, including the business itself. Ensuring that women are adequately supported will reduce costly absenteeism and employee turnover, boost productivity, and ultimately elevate the reputation of their business. 

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Removing bias in scheduling

In hourly workplaces that employ outdated manual scheduling processes, a manager's personal opinions and biases can have an outsized influence on how many shifts employees work each week — and, therefore, how much money they make. A manager who holds a bias against women, whether intentional or implicit, may schedule them less frequently, holding them back from progressing in their career while depressing their weekly wages. 

Automated scheduling, on the contrary, mitigates potential bias by removing managers' personal feelings from the equation. Schedules are generated based on a specific set of strategic business parameters, including projected demand, employee availability and schedule preferences and compliance mandates. 

AI scheduling systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the variables they can account for, as well. Skill-based scheduling, for example, helps to ensure that women's skills don't go overlooked as a result of manager or coworker bias. Every shift, they're assigned to tasks and roles they perform best. 

Fortunately, organizations are enthusiastic about these solutions: 55% of managers would be interested in using an AI-powered scheduling system, according to a new survey from Legion. 

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Creating solutions for flexibility

Women still bear the majority of the burden of caregiving responsibilities, whether for their children or aging relatives. These additional responsibilities can greatly constrain the hours they're able to work, or whether they're able to work at all. This professed "caregiving crisis" has led to $33 billion in global productivity losses in the last year alone. 

For many women, paying for caregiving assistance is not an option. With child care expenses rising, many wage workers have no choice but to cut their hours, reducing their overall income and compromising career growth. In an opposite scenario, they may increase their working hours or even take on additional employment, which can lead to stress, burnout, and ultimately less time spent with their loved ones. 

To make the hourly workplace more equitable for women, businesses must create more opportunities for flexibility. Research shows flexibility and well-being go hand in hand. While many hourly workers cannot work from home, giving them more control over their hours can help them manage personal responsibilities (including caring for themselves) with reduced stress. It also allows them the opportunity to work more frequently if they're able, which can ultimately help to patch the wage gap by ensuring women get equal opportunities. 

This is another area where automated scheduling promotes employee well-being by:

• Making it more likely for employees to work their preferred hours 
• Preventing back-to-back 'clopening' shifts that lead to stress and burnout 
• Giving employees flexibility across business locations, so they can save time and commute costs
• Allowing for real-time adjustments and easy shift-swapping 
  

The self-service element of automated scheduling reduces potential friction associated with time-off requests, so women feel more empowered to take advantage of the flexibility offered to them. Ideally, all employees should be able to independently submit time off requests, update their availability and request shift swaps on their own time. This prevents employees from having to go through a manager, so schedule updates can happen more quickly, and both employees and managers save valuable time. 
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Combatting pay inequity with better pay processes

As the gender pay gap persists, employers of hourly workers have a call to action to address pay inequity at the wage level. But they must also look beyond wages and reexamine the pay experience itself. Take Earned Wage Access (EWA) for example, which benefits everyone in the workplace regardless of gender, but can have unique benefits for women. A recent study found that 19% of frontline hospitality employees said "dependent care" caused them the most financial stress; plus, with women taking on the majority of that care, early access to their wages can help them to handle the associated expenses 

EWA has also been shown to make workers more productive overall — 63% of organizations reported a rise in productivity after adopting EWA. Just as companies moved from paper paychecks to direct deposit, they can move to instant pay solutions that can help close the pay gap. 

Beyond benefits like EWA, generally improving payroll processes can address some of the manifestations of inequality in the workplace. Late paychecks, unpaid wages, and wage theft — even if accidental — are unacceptable. Wage theft, in particular, has historically impacted women more than men. Hourly workplaces should also exercise pay transparency practices to ensure all employees know they're being paid fairly and equitably. 

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Eliminating the distraction factor

Experiencing inequality at work takes up a significant amount of energy and brain space — not to mention it can have serious impacts on women's mental health. 

In an hourly workplace, especially in today's economically strained environment, every minute of a shift counts. If women are spending that time dealing with a manager who is biased against them, fending off harassment, and worrying about their work schedule conflicting with child care responsibilities, they're not contributing productively or growing professionally. Creating a more equitable workplace for women allows them to actually focus on their job, increasing morale and productivity. 

The fluid nature of the hourly work model can contribute to inequality, but it can also make the workplace more malleable, opening new opportunities for improved flexibility and professional growth — not just for women, but for everyone.