What did eBrands learn from the “Men at Work” research commissioned by the 100% Project?

July 19th, 2016

Kevin Moore

We were in the audience of a little under 100 execs, consultants and journalists at KPMG in Sydney last week. The panel and interaction with the audience was animated, and the content very revenant to eBrands 17 year history. There isn’t an Employee Value Proposition brief we work on that doesn’t have “diversity” and ”flexibility” within the body of the document. And there isn’t a solution we provide that doesn’t have both of these employee needs “tangibly” at the heart of the EVP solution we build with our client. I use the words” needs”, “tangible” and “solution” deliberately. Why?

Well for several reasons. No manner of engaging, innovative, and compelling imagery or copy has ever truly brought an EVP to life. The tangible manifestation of the benefits of working for one organisation in preference to working for another is what comes from all good research, strategizing, solution shaping and creative delivery. It’s the tangible feeling of working alongside and interacting with a truly diverse team that is palpable. The freedom and productivity from experiencing a truly flexible work environment that harnesses technology, shares tasks with others and helps the real world environment through less travel time in traffic is rewarding for employees.

These are the tangible and flexible bits. The “solution” element is that each of these different elements in the employee offering needs to be tailored to each individuals needs based on their life stage needs regardless, not because of their gender. A carer is a carer, and for each individual carer their time, flexibility and needs are the same irrespective of gender. Whether caring for children, partners or extended family. However, the big challenge for leaders in organisations is to tangibly evidence that they believe this to be true, and evidence it in their actions. A male CXO very visibly arriving late or leaving early to spend time with children is a clear diversity message. A female CXO very visibly arriving late or leaving early to coach a sporting team is too. Most importantly is that the message in their actions is to ALL employees in the workplace.

The panel at the 100% Project “Men at Work” session varied in industry career path, ethnicity, gender and in the countries they’d worked in. Execs from KPMG, CBA, Google, to name just three. However, all agreed that to truly create a diverse working environment, all men and women had to be convinced through their leaders’ actions that they could both have the same access to flexibility without any negative impact on their careers.

To find out more about eBrands sponsorship with The 100% Project, click here.

And if you want to learn more about The 100% Project, visit their website.