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Redistribute office housework
There are two very specific types of work that exist in most organizations and in industries around the world. There’s glamour work, which is high-visibility opportunities, whether that’s leading meetings, whether that’s having very high-visibility projects, whether that’s being able to speak to the customer, or be up for awards, things like that. And then there’s office housework, which is largely the behind-the-scenes, keep-the-lights-on type of work that very much needs to be done to keep the organization running smoothly, but doesn’t often result in credit, doesn’t often result in recognition, often doesn’t lead to a high pay or tenure or promotion, based on the industry that you’re part of.
Largely, glamour work goes to white men and gets assigned to white men. And that office housework gets disproportionately assigned to women and people of color. Women of color are not only assigned these office housework tasks, but it actually then has a very detrimental impact on them being considered good enough later on in leadership and promotion and advancement opportunities.
One of the ways that we can keep a close eye on office housework and make sure that it’s being distributed fairly is to conduct an audit — think about, what are the tasks that are often needed on your team or in your organization to keep things running smoothly? And then conducting an audit of who get assigned them or who often takes them on. And really keeping a close eye on and making a list of these tasks that often need to be completed very regularly, whether that’s taking meeting notes, sending out calendar invites, mentoring more junior staff, making sure that meals are ordered, things like that. And then being very intentional and meaningfully making sure that it’s not just women of color who get saddled with these office housework tasks and really redistributing them, whether it’s through a rotation system. In some organizations, there will be a very deliberate list of – this week, if a woman of color is taking the meeting notes, next week we’re going to make sure it’s another member of the team, and making sure that’s it’s being rotated more fairly. I have also seen instances where someone is actually hired for that role, especially if it’s something that needs to be done very regularly.
Managers and leaders hoping — and really taking action — to be more inclusive would keep a very close eye on office housework, who gets assigned it, who doesn’t. Find ways to distribute it more fairly and make sure that women, people of color, and especially women of color who sit at that intersection, don’t get unfairly saddled with office housework.
Rethink credit
One of the reasons why this idea of credit and glamour work is a very tricky subject is because many of us have been conditioned to believe in humility and meritocracy. If you do good work, you’re going to be recognized, you’re going to get the credit that you deserve, you’ll get the reward. We do have to push against that idea and narrative, because seductive as it is, the reality is if you do come from an underestimated group, often for women of color specifically, we don’t get the credit that we deserve. We don’t get the opportunities for glamour work. And so, it’s very important to push against this idea that asking for credit or expecting credit or giving credit, we’re being selfish. Or that we’re asking for something – we shouldn’t even expect it. The reality is that we do need to be very mindful about who’s getting credit and who isn’t, who is getting access to glamour opportunities and who isn’t.
Pass the mic
One of the ways that we can really create more glamour opportunities is really think about creating opportunities for women of color to be internal leaders and speakers — be able to present at the big meetings, be able to talk to the customers, whether it’s external at a large conference, whether it’s internal, presenting to your stakeholders. And really be given the same opportunities that often our white male counterparts are earlier in their careers to be more deliberate and intentional in identifying women of color as these speakers.
When we nominate women of color to speak up or to speak in a meeting, it isn’t just enough to just call upon them. We have to meaningfully interact with and engage with their ideas. And what that means is to ensure that when you have intentionally and deliberately said and made the sort of promise that you are going to include women of color and our ideas, it’s not just enough to let us air them, and then shut them down, and not take that feedback going forward. It’s very, very important to make sure that if you’ve asked for the ideas, you also move forward with what is presented in that moment.