COVID-19 flexibility can exacerbate PE gender issues

“Regardless of whether women have children or not, working from home is exacerbating how women can feel less visible than men in the workplace in general,” Denise Mak, a managing director with CVC Capital Partners, told the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s (HKVCA) China forum. “As a result, women feel they must work harder or go that extra mile just to get noticed or recognized for that extra work they are doing, especially if working at home unseen.”

The flip side is more family time, although it is debatable whether this comes on an individual’s own terms. Mak noted that many women are caring for children while doing videoconference calls during the day and then catching up on other work at night, effectively pulling double shifts. Speaking on a more general level, Judith Li, a partner at Lilly Asia Ventures, added that not having to attend meetings in person means “you are expected to be available 24-7, which leads to burnout.”

Provided the right balance can be struck, the introduction of more flexible working practices – and an acceptance that working remotely doesn’t necessarily come at the expense of productivity – could benefit everyone in private equity, male or female.

“It’s amazing how six months has really changed people’s behavior. We do a lot of night calls in Asia because we’re part of a global firm. We used always to come into the office for video calls and it couldn’t be any other way. Today, everyone is so comfortable globally dialing in from home. It is almost easier to connect with colleagues globally,” said Wendy Zhu, a managing director at AlpInvest Partners, adding that the work-from-home trend is likely to become permanent.

In addition to simple gains like the removal of the daily commute freeing up time in people’s schedules, private equity industry participants have found that COVID-19 has brought families closer. Lorna Chen, a partner at Shearman & Sterling, noted that she can keep track of her children, who are doing remote schooling in the next room, something that wouldn’t be possible during a normal office day.

However, Chen admits that having “no division between family time and office time and it can be intensive and stressful.” This requires careful management on the part of companies, from giving employees the resources to work effectively from home to ensuring they are properly motivated. Zhu of AlpInvest stressed the importance of being deliberate in giving people opportunities to step up to the challenge.

Recognizing that the pandemic has thrown the spotlight on a range of preexisting diversity and inclusion issues, CVC has launched a professional women’s development program that combines networking with practical training on a range of career advancement topics.

“Networking is very important during the current environment, so we are conducting these live training sessions that allow women to connect by video,” said Mak. “It can be quite lonely to be the sole female colleague in a relatively small team or office, and particularly isolating to be working from home as well. Through these training sessions we have the opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences.”

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• Topics
• People
• GPs
• Asia
• covid-19
• coronavirus
• HKVCA
• diversity & inclusion (D&I)
• Lilly Asia Ventures
• CVC Capital Partners
• AlpInvest Partners N.V.