Britain’s female workforce calls for inspiration and leadership

multitasking women

As the role of women in the workplace becomes increasingly more prominent, the research reveals differences in the way that men and women like to work and the things that motivate them when it comes to job satisfaction and well-being.

Women want to be inspired by their environment and leaders, rating an inspiring working environment and clear leadership as more important than traditional benefits, such as healthcare or a pension – compared to men, who place more importance on these.

Women also want their bosses to do more to empower them in new ways of working. More than half say that their boss should make it clear that working flexibly won’t have a detrimental effect on their career and make them feel more trusted to work from home, compared to less than half of men who say the same.

The study also revealed that it’s currently men who are blazing the flexi-working trail. 30% more men than women say they work outside of the usual nine to five and one fifth more men regularly work from home or ‘on the go’ during the day.

Despite their differences, both men and women ranked a positive flexible working policy in the top three most important factors to job satisfaction and well-being, reminding businesses of the importance of supporting policies that allow staff to shape their own definition of the working day.

Ben Dowd, O2 Business Director, commented: “The digital world offers huge opportunity to suit the demands of different people in the workforce – whether through flexible working policies that empower staff to shape their own working day, to creating an inspiring workplace that breaks down barriers across teams. To create a truly flexible working culture, actions speak louder than words – and employers must lead by example to ensure that every member of staff feels empowered to shape their own definition of the 9 to 5.”