Best Programmers for Women in Cable
Some companies quietly build on their strengths year after year. That has been Turner’s story, with its strong work/life programs that provide deep support when work and family conflicts are most acute and with consistently thorough leadership development programs and management accountability for advancing women. It deserves recognition when a perennial frontrunner has a burst of ingenuity.
Turner’s roster of strong, if standard, advancement programs was jet-fueled by the breakout KEYS (Knowledge Energizing Your Success) in-house business incubator program, conceived and operated by women. Meanwhile, Turner has continued with the valued dependent-care programs that its employees have come to rely on.
Turner also revved up management accountability for identifying diverse candidates. Last year, 92 percent of the slates for job openings had diverse candidates. And, Turner hit an important milestone: more than half of its first-line supervisors are women, a promising sign.
Turner also improved its pay equity practices. By moving its market pay benchmarking system to real time, providing a fund to correct pay inequities, and supporting its policies with employee and management training, Turner became one of the leaders in pay equity.
Best Companies for Women in Pay Equity
Turner has consistently strengthened its pay equity policies and practices over every year of the PAR Initiative. Now, it is rapidly moving its total compensation system forward, constantly evaluating all job categories with a focus on high-demand positions like new media. Turner reviews all pay programs annually to ensure market competitiveness. The compensation team, in conjunction with human resource generalists, conducts a “compa-ratio” analysis annually. This analysis helps identify competitive pay issues and is the foundation for corrective action planning. Turner reviews pay equity regularly, particularly when making promotion and hiring decisions. Managers are equipped with the latest compensation data so they can make consistently fair pay decisions.
Turner backs up its total compensation system by supporting equity and market adjustment budgeting to provide managers with resources to adjust pay inequities. The programmer also supports managers and employees alike when providing training on its total compensation programs. As a result, employees and managers have a better understanding of Turner’s compensation programs and how pay is determined. All employees have self-service access to view and print personalized total rewards statements at anytime. This access reinforces the programmer’s compensation program education and promotes understanding of its total rewards strategy. Meanwhile, Turner tracks pay actions, promotions, merit raises, equity and market adjustments, each quarter to monitor adherence to its policies. It also assigns human resource personnel to “client groups” to help managers determine equitable, current pay within the company’s total compensation structure.
Best Companies for Women in Advancement Opportunities
Turner Broadcasting’s longstanding investment in advancement programs is paying off: over half of its first-line supervisors are women, the result of investments in programs that identify nascent management aptitude.
The programmer has repositioned its “affinity groups” as “business resource groups” in which women, people of ethnic backgrounds, and gay/lesbian/transgender employees serve as ongoing focus groups for ways that Turner can reach those markets.
Further, any employee can self-nominate into a mentoring group. Each group leader is expected to give participants assignments and report back to the group, creating the expectation of investing in sister employees.
Best Companies for Women in Resources for Work/Life Support
Turner is a perennial leader in work/life innovation, investing in expensive infrastructure such as on-site childcare centers and then using them to support a menu of service options for a wide array of employees.
As in the past, Turner continued to fine-tune its strong menu of work/life resources. In particular, its on-site child care and back-up dependent care programs enable working mothers to rise to lastminute work challenges, with the assurance that they are not compromising the care of their children in the process.