Title Cite AbstractText Groupword Successful Women Describe Difficulty Balancing Job and Family Demands Vancouver Sun (BC, Canada) (05/13/05) P. H4; Anderson, Fiona According a new study, the number of females in top jobs in Canada has shown little improvement in the past couple of years. Indeed, women held 14.4 percent of corporate officer positions at major Canadian firms in 2004, an increase of only 0.4 percent since 2002. Analysts theorize that one of the main reasons for the slow progress is that women typically find it harder to balance career and family life. Jacqueline Foley, author of "Flex Appeal: An Inspirational Guide for Flexible Work for Mothers," states, "A lot of women don't want those roles given how much time and [energy] is required--so many things that are difficult to juggle with the family." Former deputy premier Christy Clark advises that the only to ensure your family will not get in the way of professional aspirations is simply to not have kids. Accenture Inc. senior manager Petra Kuret adds that the onus should be on companies to retain women at top management levels by offering more individually crafted solutions to meet the different needs of different women. Clark and Kuret were part of a recent five-woman panel that the organization Market Yourself Smarter hosted for women who want to feel equally fulfilled at home and in the workplace. Connect Working Moms Deliver, CEO Says Bradenton Herald (FL) (05/15/05) P. 2; Kleiman, Carol Costa Mesa, Calif.-based professional services firm Resources Global Professionals CEO and founder Donald Murray credits working mothers for the success his company has achieved. Four out of five of the company's regional directors are mothers. "Working mothers, in my opinion, provide much higher results with flexible hours than average guys do who could be there 60 hours a week," says Murray. "No one can juggle things or multitask like a professional woman with children." Author, businesswoman, and mother of two Moe Grzelakowski explains, "Children transform ultrahigh-achieving women, leavening their highly focused, intensely driven, tough-minded traits with character and compassion." Be Fearless Career Ladder More Complicated for Minority Women Journal News (NY) (05/16/05) P. 1D; Schepp, David Recognizing the advantage of having a diverse workplace, more companies are launching training programs that are specifically designed for minority women. In an attempt to cast the spotlight on this issue, Working Mother magazine set out to compile a list of the nation's top companies for women of color. Only three companies were singled out the first year the award was handed out, but this year a number of the nation's top companies made the list, including Allstate, American Express, Hewlett-Packard, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. A number of these companies have added training programs structured to meet the specific needs of minority women, and mentoring programs that challenge workers to develop relationships beyond color lines. Be A Catalyst CMU Professor Honored for Mentoring Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (05/17/05) Bails, Jennifer Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor Lenore Blum was one of nine people and five institutions to receive the 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The award is administered by the National Science Foundation to recognize people and organizations demonstrating a commitment to mentoring students and boosting participation of minorities, women, and disabled students in science. Inspire Teaching Ethics Wall Street Journal (05/23/05) P. R10; Totty, Michael An interactive ethics training course Altria Group developed for its 20,000 managers not only provided instruction on handling various situations, but also reinforced the importance the company places on ethical business practices. In fact, Altria chief compliance officer David Greenberg says "even if they don't remember anything about the substance at all," they all came away from the course with a lasting impression that ethical business practices are important to top management. The online simulation, designed to reinforce the company's new code of conduct, had managers practice making ethical decisions in life-like situations. Managers had to correctly explain their choice after choosing from a list of possible responses before moving on to the next situation in the simulation. Communicate Clever Tactics for the Brilliant Young Things Financial Times (05/23/05) P. 9 There are several challenges confronting young executives who have ascended rapidly up the corporate ladder. The biggest of these is a basic lack of experience, according to Steve Newhall, managing director of the management development consultancy DDI. Young executives can compensate for their lack of experience by building credibility with their key stakeholders via one-to-one relationships. Recognizing one's weaknesses and acting to address these weaknesses is also very important for young executives, and this can be attained by finding a mentor who is willing to give the young executive feedback. Good leadership is also about good presentation--leaders are constantly scrutinized by others in the organization, so the ways in which young executives behave and present themselves is important. Rob Davies, managing director for the business psychology firm Water for Fish, cautions young executives that they must walk a fine line between displaying their strengths--normally youth and energy--and angering their peers by displaying too much of these traits. "You could alienate people for displaying too much of what you got promoted for," says Davies, who terms this type of display an "overstrength." Image consultant Judi James advises young executives against trying to act "older" and to instead embrace their energy and youth--though they should be careful that the language they use does not remind their co-workers of a teenager, she says. Listen Shattering Myths That Women Can't Be Leaders in Science Spelman College (05/27/05) Spelman College's all-woman SpelBot team will be one of five American teams competing in the RoboCup 2005 tournament in Osaka next month, and its successful qualification is regarded as proof that leadership in the sciences is not dictated by gender. Spelman President Beverly Tatum says the SpelBots' triumph illustrates the need for "environments [like Spelman] where those who have been historically left out are expected to succeed without the barriers often associated with gender or race, particularly in science and technology." The SpelBots made the cut for the Osaka tournament with their performance in the third annual RoboCup U.S. Open in May; the team, under the leadership of computer science professor Andrew Williams, prepared for the tournaments by writing sophisticated computer software programs that enable Sony AIBO ERS-7 robot dogs to play soccer as well as formulate their own game strategy without remote control. Spelman's AIBO soccer team will square off against other AIBO soccer teams in the RoboCup tournament as part of a larger effort to develop robots that can autonomously assist humans in both simple and complicated tasks. Spelman is the only historically Black, all-women's, and undergraduate institution to qualify for RoboCup 2005. Williams, an expert in bioinformatics and artificial intelligence, calls this a major triumph. "In the short term, with SpelBots we want to provide role models for other young ladies, and...show them computer science and engineering can be fun, and they can do it because they are just as talented, gifted and smart," he says. Be Fearless Fishing for Excellence Multichannel News (05/30/05) P. 22; Haugsted, Linda Time Warner Houston has implemented a reward program for employees that emphasizes inclusion, team mentality, positive reinforcement, and other aspects of a positive corporate culture. The company's reward and employee-inclusion programs are based on the Fish! Principles established by the workplace practices at the Seattle-based Pike Place Fish Market. Time Warner Houston recognizes its best employees with a program that sends the employees to a corporate retreat in Puerto Rico. The winning employees are recognized as "Gold Team" members, who work by the golden rule of treating others as you yourself wish to be treated, says Ron McMillan, the division's president. The company singles out employees for recognition in a number of ways, whether it be for perfect attendance, being the best at their job title, or for their participation at improving work processes, and this recognition often takes the form of awards. In 2004, 400 Time Warner Houston employees qualified for the perfect attendance program, which awarded one new Ford Explorer and several vacation trips. The company says that the program improved overall employee attendance by 4 percent. Connect Building a New Business Case for Work/Life Balance Compensation & Benefits Management (Quarter 2, 2005) P. 1 According to a study involving 10 leading Canadian firms and 1,400 respondents, retention rates are based heavily on the ability of associates to work fewer hours, work flexible schedules, and feel supported when it comes to personal issues. Firms that ignore work/life balance issues are in danger of losing millions of dollars per year with the loss of just one associate costing an average of $315,000. Firms must first realize the importance of retention and then take steps to provide flexibility and support to their employees. The study determined that associates are basically offered the same salary and advancement opportunities no matter the firm, so firms offering attractive work/life balances are more appealing and therefore better able to retain staff and reduce total cost of attrition. Know Yourself Brenda's Back. Others Won't Be So Lucky. Fast Company (06/01/05) No. 95, P. 23; Tischler, Linda Brenda Barnes, former head of PepsiCo North America, is back after taking a six-year sabbatical, this time as CEO of Sara Lee. Like many high-profile executive women across the nation, Barnes cited family pressures as her reason for leaving, but unlike most, she was able to find a position similar to the one she left. A study by the Center for Work Life Policy revealed that three-fourths of women who take "off-ramps" find another job, but only 40 percent return to full-time, professional careers while those who take three or more years off lose on average 37 percent of their earning power. However, women themselves are sometimes partly responsible for these numbers. The study showed that nearly 40 percent of women chose a position with fewer responsibilities and lower wages on purpose to balance work and family life while 16 percent said they declined a promotion. Know Yourself 1 - 10