It’s important for people to be able to be their authentic selves in the workplace, says Subha Barry, CEO, Seramount.

WorkingNation sat down with Barry at SHRM 2022 Annual Conference & Expo in New Orleans.

She says, “People come in and are busy trying to hide one piece of themselves or another. Women feel sometimes they have to be more male-like to be successful or to be thought of as bold. Somebody that deserves to be the leader.

Barry continues, “A person who is a member of the LGBTQ community may think, ‘Oh my God, that’ll never flow. I have to somehow hide it.’ Obviously, someone that is Black, Hispanic, Asian may not have the opportunity to hide who they are, but they are trying to hide some piece of them that they believe will not be acceptable.”

She notes the pandemic cast a real light on the burdens carried by working women. “The pandemic in some ways, was a great equalizer. Everybody was in a box. It didn’t really matter what your gender or race was. You had an opportunity to be part of an equal size box, but that’s where some of the equity ended.”

“If you were a parent with young children at home where you didn’t have schooling available to them, and you didn’t have childcare available, the burden on you was just unbelievable. You not only had to get work done, you had to mind your children’s schooling issues and daycare issues. You had to take care of parents for whom you may have had an obligation or relatives with health issues.”

Barry says employers should participate in solving the issues that working parents face – as that will not only help the employee, but the company, too.

Learn more about Seramount.