Catalyst Awards Conference
On March 30th, top business women and men gathered at New York’s Waldorf Astoria for the 2009 Catalyst Awards Conference. This year the event celebrated Baxter International Inc., CH2M HILL, Gibbons P.C., and KPMG LLP for their innovative programs designed to support diversity in the workplace, including the advancement of women.
“This year’s award-winning initiatives represent the business success that bringing women into leadership can deliver across industries and geographies. No matter where we look, whether in New York or Asia Pacific, from engineering to pharmaceuticals, we find achievement through inclusion of women,” said Ilene H. Lang, President and CEO of Catalyst. At the morning general session, each of the honored companies spoke and took questions on the programs for which they were recognized. Baxter International Inc., a global developer and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, was acknowledged for its Asia Pacific initiative, Building Talent Edge, through which it reached its goals of a 50/50 gender balance across management-level two years ahead of the target date.
Speakers from CH2M Hill shared how their firm—an engineering and construction leader—built on an already-existing culture of diversity to help foster women’s advancement through their Constructing Pathways for Women Through Inclusion initiative.
Representatives from Gibbons P.C., a progressive law firm based in the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Delaware metropolitan regions, spoke about their success with The Woman’s Initiative: Driving Success Through Diversity Investment. This program has become critical to its branding in the marketplace and in fostering a workplace culture that is flexible and inclusive.
Finally, KPMG discussed its initiative—Great Place to Build a Career—that includes a variety of programs intended to foster a bond with KPMG for an entire career lifespan, from recruiting to maintaining connections with KPMG alumni.
Panelists from all the companies spoke of the business case to be made for the meaningful inclusion of women at all levels of management. In the Gibbons presenetation, Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., Chairman and Managing Director said, “Last year at Gibbons, we could attribute $6 million of business to our Women’s Initiative so we know the Initiative has made a direct impact on our bottom line….Diversity of thinking brings the best results.” Christine Amalfe, who is the Chair of the Employment Law section added, “There is no doubt that there is a business case for promoting, retaining and advancing women in law firms and in every company. And if the senior management gets that, even in difficult economic times, they will find a way to continue.”
All the companies also stressed the importance of “buy in” from men at all levels of the organization. In both the general session and the breakout sessions, panelist after panelist cited the “men who get it” – those who champion the career development, mentoring and networking programs to ensure that highly capable women are in the pipeline and to encourage female representation in management.
During the luncheon session, Andrea Jung, Chairman & CEO of Avon Products, Inc. had an in-depth dialogue with Ms. Lang. The two covered a wide range of topics including how Ms. Jung’s traditional Chinese upbringing impacted her leadership style and career, her rise within the ranks of Avon, the hard choices she had to make along the way, and how she handles the sticky issue of work/life balance.
Stay tuned for more coverage over the next couple of weeks on the award-winning companies and the topics addressed at the conference, including work-life effectiveness, the effect of the unwritten rules on women’s advancement and the elements of an inclusive corporate culture.
