{"id":55123,"date":"2023-04-05T11:36:19","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T03:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=55123"},"modified":"2023-04-05T11:36:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T03:36:23","slug":"5-ways-companies-can-support-women-as-they-strive-for-success-and-work-life-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2023\/04\/05\/5-ways-companies-can-support-women-as-they-strive-for-success-and-work-life-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways companies can support women as they strive for success and work-life balance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Women empowerment has made great strides in the last few decades. Some have entered previously male-dominated fields, rose to the highest ranks, and set up some of the world\u2019s biggest companies\u2013including Canva<\/a>, which grew from being a graphic design tool into an end-to-end creativity and collaboration platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge now is to create opportunities for more women to shine. Maisie Littaua, Canva Philippines\u2019 Head of Growth, shares some ways that companies can help women take bigger roles, while supporting work-life balance.  <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actively pursue diversity and protect equal opportunity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some companies ask applicants to state their marital status in their applications because of a bias against working moms. However, more companies are actively building an inclusive workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take it from Canva Philippines. It champions Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) and has incorporated it in the job hiring process. It removes exclusive language from job postings, and hosts workshops for everyone involved in hiring so they know how to assess candidates and mitigate biases. Canva has also set representation goals across different specialties like Operations, Design, Engineering, and Product, among others so diversity is not just created at one level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to cultivate more opportunities for women in the workplace, and equal opportunity for career advancement. Women should be able to highlight their strengths, without being hindered by a bias that they might have a child,\u201d says Maisie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encourage mentorship and growth <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoaching support can help prepare women for bigger roles,\u201d says Maisie. \u201cThey can receive the right guidance from the start and be given the chance to show what they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canva\u2019s development program focuses on four areas: craft or technical skills, strategy, communication, and personal leadership. Aside from formal workshops and informal brown bag sessions, each manager is a \u201ccoach\u201d, and each employee is a \u201ccoachee\u201d.  Throughout the year, they have growth and impact chats about personal goals, well-being, and motivation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maisie believes that mentorship goes beyond career development; it creates a culture of empowerment. Women have positive role models who encourage them to take on bigger roles. They can also help other women pursue their aspirations\u2014or as they say in Canva, to \u201cEmpower Others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing part of a network of leaders who continuously develop, promote, and even champion women is something that I found particularly fulfilling in Canva,\u201d Maisie says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support work-life balance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Work-life balance is one of the biggest challenges that women face today. While they have more responsibilities and expectations at work,  they are still expected to carry the brunt of domestic responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canva recognizes women\u2019s contribution to the family with policies that support them in their different roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, Canva\u2019s flexible work arrangement allows Canvanauts to choose whether they want to work from the office or from home, and can ask for tools to improve their home office set-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, they have asynchronous ways of working. \u201cInstead of relying on calls, we have documents where team members can share ideas. This allows people to work on their own time, and not rely on somebody\u2019s presence in a meeting,\u201d says Maisie. \u201cIt\u2019s not just for women, but a recognition of diverse experiences and that our home lives are very different from one another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canva also offers additional benefits like carer\u2019s leave for those who need to take care of sick family members, paternity leaves, and a return-to-work program for moms after maternity leave.  The office even has a Parents\u2019 Room that is equipped with diapers, breast milk bags, and changing tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pay attention to well-being and motivation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well-being is a key component of work-life balance and motivation. During the pandemic, Canva launched the \u201cVibe and Thrive\u201d allowance, which they can spend on anything that will support their mental health and overall wellbeing, from fitness equipment to singing lessons. Canva even has over four hundred social clubs where they can meet employees with similar interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Canva office, employees also enjoy free breakfast and lunch prepared by their in-house chefs, an indoor gym, and life coach sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Address unconscious gender bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnconscious gender bias is detrimental to women, other co-workers in general, and your own personal growth,\u201d says Maisie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why Canva holds regular bias awareness sessions for all employees, and not just people involved in recruitment.  \u201cIt helps with day-to-day working relationships and performance evaluations by team leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies can make a big difference in empowering women. However, Maisie says that the first and most critical step towards empowerment actually happens within.  \u201cThe internal challenge is one of the hardest. Other people or structures can create the space for you to succeed, but there also has to be an internal push, and that comes from truly believing that you can succeed in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The challenge now is to create opportunities for more women to shine. Maisie Littaua, Canva Philippines\u2019 Head of Growth, shares some ways that companies can help women take bigger roles, while supporting work-life balance.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":55124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[7299,96,2727,1656],"class_list":["post-55123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-canva","tag-technology","tag-technology-adaption","tag-technology-investment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}