Voice of Experience: Susan Siegmund, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Susan SiegmundBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

In honor of Pride Month, The Glass Hammer is featuring an interview with PwC’s Susan Siegmund, the first female partner to sit on the firm’s GLBT Advisory Board. Siegmund’s personal story illustrates the value of GLBT support in the workplace.

Susan Siegmund is a Fort Worth, Texas, based audit partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the first female partner to sit on the firm’s GLBT Advisory Board. PwC’s GLBT Advisory Board – the first of its kind among the Big Four firms – is comprised of openly gay partners and professionals with varied tenures, skills and life experiences. The group provides visible role models for PwC’s GLBT professionals and advises firm leadership on the planning and implementation of GLBT initiatives.

“What we are trying to achieve at PwC is making sure everybody is comfortable – that we are bringing our whole selves to work,” explained Siegmund. “We’re trying to build a culture of inclusion, bringing together all of our experiences and stories.”

Siegmund’s own story was a major factor in her decision to get involved in PwC’s GLBT community in the first place, and later to take a more active leadership role.

“I’m excited but also anxious about stepping out and being a role model. I’ve always been more of a private person – I’m a little out of my comfort zone,” she said.

She joined the firm in 1988, and for the majority of her career didn’t think it was important to make a big deal about being out at work. But a relationship she began in September 2001 changed her perspective. “I started a relationship with Teresa,” she said, referring to her partner Teresa Martin. Eventually, Siegmund came out to her family and the two moved in together.

“Over the next few years, I still didn’t come out at work. I thought people already knew. I really didn’t think I was hiding it. Teresa would come to various work functions or parties, but I never formally introduced her as my life partner or my domestic partner,” she explained.

It wasn’t until a crisis forced Siegmund to come out to her colleagues that she realized the value of being open at work.

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Getting Out of the Gender Ghetto

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Wittenberg-Cox_How Women_pbk.inddBy Cleo Thompson (London), Founder of The Gender Blog

“It’s time to get serious about sex”, declared Avivah Wittenberg-Cox in 2008, at the NYC launch of her book, Why Women Mean Business. Co-authored with Financial Times contributor Alison Maitland, the book took the economic arguments for gender change to the heart of the corporate world and spelled out in no uncertain terms that gender diversity is an economic necessity and is good for women, men, companies and their clients.

Two years later, we’re in a very different, credit-crunched corporate world and Wittenberg-Cox is back with the sequel: How Women Mean Business, subtitled – “A step by step guide to profiting from gender balanced business”. The book was launched last week at a London event hosted by Nomura, where the author guided her audience of both men and women through a frank and witty multimedia presentation of the issues covered in her new offering.

“The twentieth century is over. The reality of the world has changed. The last century was driven by manufacturing and the twenty-first century is wrapped up in customer services and technology”, explained Wittenberg-Cox.

“And gender balance has a huge role to play in this transformation.”

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Women’s Financial Confidence Rising, Finds Citi’s Women & Co. Research

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iStock_000002762853XSmallBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Women’s one-word association with wealth is security,” said Linda Descano, President and COO at Women & Co., a division of Citi.

Recently, Women & Co. released the results of its national survey on women and personal finance, which measured women’s attitudes toward money and financial decision-making following the recent recession.

Descano said that even before the recession, women saw wealth as a means to security, and now she said, “The women surveyed think the rest of society is finally thinking like them. Their financial values have really held steadfast.”

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Voice of Experience: Avis Yates Rivers, CEO, Technology Concepts Group International

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Avis Yates RiversAvis Yates Rivers, CEO of Technology Concepts Group International, has spent her career in the technology sector – and after 25 years running successful companies, she says one of the most important things she’s learned is “put the right people in the right seats.”

Staying ahead of shifting technology, she said, means “hiring the right people with knowledge about the field. They stay on the cutting edge of new technology and know what it means for us and the customer. I wouldn’t be able to do that on my own,” she explained.

“I’m very heavily involved in civic engagement,” she said, pointing to work with the government and politics, as well as non-profit leadership, such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization and other organizations working to increase opportunities for small, minority and women-owned businesses. She sits on the board of the National Center for Women in Technology.

She continued, “If you’re entering the technology field, understand that your contribution is very much needed and commit to it.”

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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-Up

Beth 005Contributed by Beth Collinge of CTG – a division of ILX Group plc.

Financial markets fell this week. In the US, the Fed froze rates on Wednesday and financial reform legislation was passed Thursday. The UK will introduce a levy on banks, which is expected to raise £2bn a year. This weekend China ended the peg of the yuan at about 6.83 to the dollar.

Economic Backdrop

  • The financial markets this week were dominated by growing doubts about the strength of the global recovery, with the FTSE and the DJIA both losing more than 3 per cent.
  • Sterling rose to a six-week high against the dollar on Wednesday after minutes of the Bank of England‘s monetary policy committee meeting this month revealed one member had voted to raise interest rates. The news allowed sterling to build on the strong gains sparked by Tuesday’s emergency Budget. The pound finished the week at a high of $1.498 against the dollar, its strongest level since May 12. Sterling also rose against the euro.
  • On Friday the spot gold price rose to $1,244.55 a troy ounce, just short of the all-time nominal high of $1,264.90 set on Monday.
  • The yield on the 10-year US Treasury tumbled 13 basis points over the week to 3.14 per cent, with the 10-year UK Gilt yield sliding to 3.40 per cent.

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Tips for Re-Entering the Job Market – Get that Senior Level Job Back

Businesswoman with colleagues in the backgroundBy Esther Hanscom, Hanscom Consulting (New York City)

Last month, the New York Times published an article entitled “In Job Market Shift, Some Workers Left Behind.” Catherine Rampell reported that for the last two years, the weak economy has created an opportunity for employers to do what they would have done anyway: dismiss millions of people who were displaced by technological advances and international trade.

This article struck a chord with me because I work in the recruiting industry and hear about the woes of the unemployed masses on an almost daily basis.

One in particular is a neighbor, a former banking HR generalist who has not procured full-time work for over 2 years. “Jane” is in her early 40s with a University of Chicago undergraduate degree and is now at the end of her 401k savings. She fears losing her rent stabilized apartment on the Upper East Side soon, and her attempts to sell her Burberry coats on Ebay recently have failed.

She has come very close to being hired for a number of HR jobs. But in the end, the hiring managers always decided to go for someone who had more computer experience, more hands-on experience in talent acquisition, or with employee benefits. In the past, companies may have been okay with a generalist skill-set that was short on specifics – but no more.

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Movers and Shakers: Laura Herman, Managing Director, FSG Social Impact Advisors

Laura Herman 3.09By Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

At age 14, Laura Herman spent the summer on the north coast of Spain with a host family. It was her first taste of independence, immersion into another culture and glimpse of a society affected by political unrest. Once back in the quiet Boston suburb where she grew up, she determined that not only would she go back to Spain the following summer, but she would do something “international” with her life. That experience kindled a lifelong passion for other cultures and an interest in social issues. Herman not only returned to Spain for the subsequent three summers, but has visited, volunteered and worked in more than 40 countries to date.

When Laura first arrived at the University of Michigan, she thought she would major in International Studies and then join the Peace Corp, but she was ultimately drawn to the U of M Business School. “I came to this huge university from a small high school with a graduating class of 100 students. Entering the business school was a way to make the university seem smaller and I liked the cohesion of the business program.” While at U of M, Herman spent a summer as an intern working in Prague at a new foundation just after the Berlin wall came down.

Abject Poverty and Multinational Companies

After Herman earned her undergraduate international business degree, she spent five years at Deloitte Consulting. While she was learning the nuts and bolts of business consulting, she continued to travel and volunteer. During a leave from Deloitte, she spent nearly three months in southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia). As she traveled around the beautiful, yet economically desolate, countryside, she saw struggling communities alongside multinational companies. “I thought a lot about poverty, why poor people were poor, and exactly what was driving such poverty.” And she started to think about how they could work together.

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Seven Expert Presentation Tips for Women Climbing the Ladder

kristinarnoldContributed by Kristin Arnold, Author and Professional Speaker

Giving a presentation is one of the most stressful responsibilities you have in the workplace, especially if you do not give speeches routinely. However, women who have broken the glass ceiling know how to engage and involve their audiences during every presentation. Sure, they get nervous (we ALL do!). But they don’t get caught up in the moment thinking, “Will I make sense? Do I look all right? Am I going to embarrass myself?”

To be an effective, engaging presenter, you have to let go of your own internal conversations and focus on your audience. This means you have to care sincerely about and want to connect with each person in the audience. They need to know that you are putting their needs first. Even if you have given the same presentation before, you need to know enough them so they feel they can trust you and will want to listen to you. Get to know the hopes, fears and interests of your audience. Take the time to understand the people, their backgrounds, and the collective culture – often called the “personality” of the group – so you can connect your comments with what they care about.

Here are some proven ideas on how to reach out, discover what your audience wants to know and connect with them even before your presentation begins!

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Back to Work Wisdom: New Directions

Businesswoman using smart phoneBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

As the definition for work-life balance continues to evolve, more and more people are choosing to take a “career break” to concentrate on family and personal priorities. This trend has created a new area of focus for employers: how do companies address the gap in experience and the inherent challenges faced by candidates returning to the workforce? The Goldman Sachs New Directions program aims to provide on-rampers with guidance on how to successfully get back in the game and secure a position.

“The biggest question we are asked is: what skill set do returners need to sharpen prior to on-ramping?” said Monica Marquez, Diversity Practitioner at Goldman Sachs.

The question and answer panel of Goldman Sachs’ New Directions program is one of the most popular segments of the half-day back to work program. Developed in 2006, the New Directions half-day conference helps individuals transition back into the workforce after a voluntary career break.

“We often hear from returners that they have maintained their core skills but are rusty on new technical developments such as a new version of Microsoft Office or how to use a Blackberry,” Marquez said, “It may seem simple but can pose a real challenge if not addressed early on”

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Voice of Experience: Wendy Stops, Global Managing Director, Quality & Client Satisfaction – Technology, Accenture

Wendy Stops AccentureBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Wendy Stops is a panelist at our upcoming event “Women in IT: Staying Technical and Getting to the Top.” We still have a few tickets left – to register, click here: https://theglasshammer.com/events/

“I guess it’s the individual, smaller things that inspire me. When I see very confident, articulate people who are genuine, and know what they want to achieve and share their story with you,” began Wendy Stops, Global Managing Director of Quality and Client Satisfaction for Technology at Accenture.

Stops’ career has brought her around the world – from Australia, to several locations across Southeast Asia, back to Australia, and now to New York City. She said, “My area of current experience and focus – consulting and tech – is helping our business delivery quality solutions for the client. Delivering these quality solutions is very important, and we are always looking to make improvements and changes. My challenge is to innovate how we can continually deliver high quality solutions.” She explained, “I like change – I like dealing with things I know are going to make a difference.”

She continued, “I get inspired by people who are not afraid to make tough decisions – who aren’t hiding and [are willing to] admit when they make mistakes. That’s the sort of person I want to be.”

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