Last month we hosted our 7th Women Owned Wednesday (WOW) of the year featuring PDR, a design and architecture firm based in Austin, with satellite locations all around Texas.
Every Women Owned Wednesday is led by either a WBE or a women-run or women-owned business that is thriving in the Austin area. For July’s WOW we were joined by PDR Principal, Jackie Wheat, and PDR Austin Business Development Director, Shawna Hills. Both of our speakers lead work-from-home and in-office teams, and have created unique spaces with flexible schedules for a safe and efficient environment that try to meet all their employees’ work expectations.
Jackie spoke first to the importance of community how being in the office physically can be very beneficial for morale and teamwork. She made great points for employers, by encouraging them to create a comfortable, safe, and welcoming environment as people begin to transition back to the office with changed expectations. She shared that employers must create a common goal for people coming into the office and to lose the “butts in seats” mindset.
Shawna spoke next and provided great insight into how to continue caring and supporting your remote team through trust and flexibility. She shared that working in the office is not everyone’s idea of a workspace, and that productivity and accomplishing major goals can still occur at home. She shared that people work best when they feel safe and comfortable and for a lot of people that means working at home.
Both Jackie and Shawna proudly described their workplace as being flexible, empathetic to all household types, and transparent. All of these factors have come together to make PDR an amazing place to work. They hope to encourage more employers to listen to their employees and be open-minded as we all transition and grow through this pandemic.
To hear more from Jackie and Shawna check out the entire July Women Owned Wednesday recording here.
To stay up-to-date on our upcoming Women Owned Wednesday virtual events, keep an eye on our event website which is always being updated!
