Female business leaders rely more heavily on the support of personal assistants (PAs) or reducing stress and managing work-life balance, according to new research*.
The study reveals that female leaders are more likely to have a PA than their male peers (52 per cent to 48 per cent), spend more time on average with their PA each week (26 vs 24 hours) and are more likely to say their PA helps to reduce their stress levels on the job (30 per cent vs 20per cent).
Female executives are also quicker to leverage PA support than their male counterparts, with over half (53 per cent) of women in leadership roles securing a PA within two years of starting their careers, compared to less than a third (31 per cent) of men.
The survey of over 600 UK business leaders sheds a light on the differing attitudes between genders when it comes to the importance of personal assistants, and how PAs can help female business leaders to juggle work and family responsibilities.
Recent research highlighted that women are more likely to suffer from stress than men, and that the issue peaks between the ages of 35 and 44, which is often the apex of juggling family responsibilities alongside a career. Another studyshowed that women who work long hours are more likely to suffer from depression than men, as a result of their dual role.
The findings also shine a spotlight on how PAs help women to manage their time and work-life balance, with 21 per cent of female bosses saying their PA saves them between 10 and 30 hours per week, compared to just 16 per cent of men. Female bosses are more likely to rely on their PA for reducing life admin (54 per cent vs 46 per cent), and ask their PA for advice (24 per cent vs 19per cent).
Rebecca Siciliano, Managing Director, Tiger Recruitment, commented,
The proportion of women in senior leadership roles is still woefully low, in grand part due to the challenges of balancing a high-powered career with family and domestic responsibilities, which in too many cases, still fall to women.
While things are slowly improving, thanks to developments around flexible working and shared maternity leave, more still needs to be done by employers to support women in aspiring to and thriving in leadership positions. These findings suggest that the support of an experienced, skilled and dedicated assistant can go a long way to making the balancing act easier.
*from Tiger Recruitment.
Interested in workplace diversity? We recommend the Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2019 and Diversity and Inclusion for HR professionals training day.
Aphrodite is a creative writer and editor specialising in publishing and communications. She is passionate about undertaking projects in diverse sectors. She has written and edited copy for media as varied as social enterprise, art, fashion and education. She is at her most happy owning a project from its very conception, focusing on the client and project research in the first instance, and working closely with CEOs and Directors throughout the consultation process. Much of her work has focused on rebranding; messaging and tone of voice is one of her expertise, as is a distinctively unique writing style in my most of her creative projects. Her work is always driven by the versatility of language to galvanise image and to change perception, as it is by inspiring and being inspired by the wondrous diversity of people with whom paths she crosses cross!
Aphrodite has had a variety of high profile industry clients as a freelancer, and previously worked for a number of years as an Editor and Journalist for Prospects.ac.uk.
Aphrodite is also a professional painter.
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