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News For You - November 2000We have developed this page to give our visitors the opportunity to see what's new, at a glance, in the business world and how it relates to our program. Take a moment to browse and see what's of interest to you! Barriers to Advancement According to the Society of Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) 1999 Barriers To Advancement Survey, more than 9 out of 10 women encounter obstacles on the career ladder. SHRM’s survey reveals that old-fashioned attitudes, such as corporate cultures still favoring men and perceptions that women are more likely to quit for family reasons, are still preventing females from rising as fast as their male colleagues. Tory Johnson, founder and chief executive officer of Women for Hire, is convinced, however, that if women are given a helping hand…, they are more likely to have a good chance of making it to the finish line. On the other hand, anyone who is perceived as "different" in an organization is likely to struggle in the race to get ahead. The Survey lists the top five barriers to advancement for women as: 1. Corporate culture favors men (Source: The Wall Street Journal 10/17/00)
Women in Politics Though we may think we’ve heard all we want to about politics this year, Beverly Kuhn-Moyer has a perspective worth discussing. Despite all their political gains in recent years, women still hold far few elected offices than men and still tend to get involved at a much later age. So Kuhn-Moyer, 38, a filmmaker from Pennsylvania, made a short documentary on women in politics. Partly informational, partly motivational, A Women’s World: Women in Politics encourages young women to look beyond "the old boy’s network" and become active in the political process – from voting to organizing to running for office. "If they get involved in politics at a younger age, they’ll have more of a tendency to run for office earlier. Once they do that, they may be more inspired to run at a higher level at a much younger age," according to Kuhn-Moyer. Shot in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. areas, the video looks at women with different backgrounds in all levels of government. The women discuss how they got into politics, what issues drive them, and why young women need to join the ranks. "I don’t think young women know the difference they can make or that this is an avenue that is open to them," she said. "But I hope that this documentary can show them that it is." (Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/10/00)
Financial Services Industry Shines for Working Mothers Carol Calkins, a regional partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers and the mother of two children, thinks of herself as a "supermom". That’s why the international consulting and accounting company selected her to help lead its Diversity Work-Life Quality Champions Group that identifies ways to give workers more flexibility to take care of children. Working Mother Magazine recently released a list of the top 100 companies for working mothers. Financial service companies, including four of the Big 5 accounting firms, made up more than 20 percent of the list, far outpacing any other industry. The Magazine was looking for companies that offer unlimited sick days so employees can take care of family members, flexible work schedules, and emergency child-care. Lisa Beneson, editor and chief of Working Mother Magazine, added "the financial services industry had a head start in such offerings because it has employed women in large numbers for decades. Those perks (of the ones mentioned by Working Mother) are good for all employees, not just mothers." Working Mother applauded the financial services industry for their child-care arrangements and their promotion of women to senior positions through mentoring and career-counseling programs. (Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer 10/7/00)
No Dot.Com-petition for Siebert Financial CEO Muriel F. Siebert was the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. Now she’s the latest to capitalize on women’s desire to learn more about the markets. Siebert, chairman and chief executive officer of Siebert Financial, is combining two women’s websites, Women’s Financial Network and herdollar.com. She contends that WFN.com will be the first site for women to incorporate trading with free checking, online bill-paying and the ability to aggregate all their accounts on one site. Siebert went on to say, "though there are sites out there that purport to address the financial needs of women, in my opinion they only offer trivia, and fail to provide the real tools women need. Even worse, many of them talk down to women." WFN.com will specifically target women business owners, manage their financial assets and finance their companies’ growth. Eventually, Siebert might take these businesses public. (Source: Barron’s 10/16/00)
Motivational Trends According to a study by McKinsey & Co., there will be a critical shortage of talent in the workplace at least two decades into the future. Most companies are starting to realize that the best solution to this problem is to hold onto talented people that already work for them. Why is this? Simple math. There are not enough people out there in critical age groups to fill the available spots. Companies are focusing on what they can do to keep people from jumping ship and chasing a higher pay check somewhere else. In response to this trend, many companies are offering existing and future employees a "peak package" – the new buzzword that is in reference to numerous benefits given to preferred workers. These packages include health club memberships, financial planning, free lunches and child-care centers on site, to name a few. Unfortunately, these solutions do not always fix the problems. Such is the case with millions of working moms who are satisfied with their benefits, but are burned out because they are forced to sacrifice quality time with their children. If you start with the individual and what that individual really wants from her career, you may be able to make some real progress in motivating people. When the individual looks at her natural talents, interests, personality and values, she can then integrate it all into a personal vision and figure out how to put her personal vision into action. Since women make up roughly half of the corporate workforce in America, it is increasingly important for employers to help their employees feel more connected to the company and show that the company cares about them, instead of simply offering a pay raise. (Source: Philadelphia Business Journal 6/16/00)
Quick Stats According to a recent study published by the National Foundation of Women Business Owners (NFWBO): The number of people employed nationwide at female firms has grown 108% since 1992, to about 27.5 million. The number of women-owned businesses in the United Stated now stands at 9.1 million, or 38% of all firms. Women-owned businesses generated $3.6 trillion in sales, an increase of 132% since 1992. (Source: bizjornals.com/memphis 8/9/99)
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