By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
Last Monday, the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future held a discussion panel entitled Human Capital for a Sustainable Economy. WNSF Executive Director Anne Goodman said that a focus on sustainable careers can improve the economy and create jobs. She said, “WNSF envisions a future for sustainable jobs.” She explained that these kinds of careers can create financial, environmental, and social progress.
Moderated by Michelle Kahane, Professor of Professional Practice at Milano the New School for Management and Urban Policy, the panel featured Melinda Wolfe, Head of Human Resources at Bloomberg, Susan Heaney, Global Director of Corporate Responsibility, Avon, Natalie Thompson, Vice President, Global Leadership and Diversity, Goldman Sachs.
“Bloomberg has some very dramatic goals to reduce our carbon footprint by 50% in a couple of years,” said Wolf. She continued, “Our commitment is a defining hallmark for the company.”
Thompson said, “At Goldman Sachs, we’ve had an environmental policy in place since 2005. It is fully integrated at every aspect of the business.” Thompson also cited Goldman’s new LEED certified facilities.
Heaney explained that at Avon, CSR “functions very much like HR. It intersects with every single department in the company, and sets policy and procedural standards” across the organization. “When Goldman Sachs started tracking social investing, [we realized] this must really count!” she joked. “It was really a turning point.”
Social Networking for Grown-Ups
Managing ChangeBy now you’ve heard of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) and social networking (interacting in these different online spaces). In fact you may be sick of hearing about it!
Perhaps you have a Facebook account, and maybe you’re even on Twitter. While these sites can offer great ways to keep up with friends, share photos, and be part of an online community, social media also offers important business opportunities as well. While you have to be careful what you post online (“Don’t Get Dooced“), don’t pass up the chance to make connections, brand yourself, and use social media in a business savvy way.
Out of the Playground
Social media may have started out as a diversion for teenagers and college students. But, in recent years, as Diane Garnick, Investment Strategist at Invesco Ltd. (and noted social media practitioner) explained:
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Funding: Why money is missing when it comes to creating and sustaining female leaders in high tech
Featured, Money TalksPart 1 of a 2 part series on “Why women should stay technical,” an introduction to our upcoming event Women in IT: Staying Technical and Getting to the Top, held in conjunction with Goldman Sachs and Accenture.
Recently, the New York Times reported on the lack of access to funding for women playing in the start-up environment of Silicon Valley. The numbers reveal just how underrepresented both professional executive women and female entrepreneurs are, citing that women account for just 6% of CEOs of the 100 top tech companies. Women create only 8% of venture capital money to fund tech companies – despite women owned businesses providing 40% of the US’s company revenues. In fact, in 2009, Techcrunch’s The Funded list included only one woman.
Why are the numbers so low? Well, it seems to be a function of critical mass (or rather the lack of it). The same dynamics keeping women out of the boardroom explain why women are not as easily funded in their businesses.
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Movers and Shakers: Christine Breck, Principal, Source Trading
Movers and ShakersImage Courtesy Oprah.com
By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
“The importance of building a network is critical. From what I’ve seen in my life, women are good at their jobs and perhaps building networks in our own companies. But we don’t often have our own external network.” said Christine Breck, Principal, Source Trading.
A founding member and current president of Texas Wall Street Women, Breck is enthusiastic about the value of building and nurturing network connections.
She is also enthusiastic about the people she works with. “I’ve been very lucky to build a client base of outstanding human beings. They’re smart, ethical, nice, wonderful people.”
Now a veteran in financial services, it wasn’t always Breck’s plan to work in the industry. She joked, “My family was in the financial industry. I was not going to be in the financial industry.”
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WNSF: Building a Sustainable Workforce
Corporate SustainabilityLast Monday, the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future held a discussion panel entitled Human Capital for a Sustainable Economy. WNSF Executive Director Anne Goodman said that a focus on sustainable careers can improve the economy and create jobs. She said, “WNSF envisions a future for sustainable jobs.” She explained that these kinds of careers can create financial, environmental, and social progress.
Moderated by Michelle Kahane, Professor of Professional Practice at Milano the New School for Management and Urban Policy, the panel featured Melinda Wolfe, Head of Human Resources at Bloomberg, Susan Heaney, Global Director of Corporate Responsibility, Avon, Natalie Thompson, Vice President, Global Leadership and Diversity, Goldman Sachs.
“Bloomberg has some very dramatic goals to reduce our carbon footprint by 50% in a couple of years,” said Wolf. She continued, “Our commitment is a defining hallmark for the company.”
Thompson said, “At Goldman Sachs, we’ve had an environmental policy in place since 2005. It is fully integrated at every aspect of the business.” Thompson also cited Goldman’s new LEED certified facilities.
Heaney explained that at Avon, CSR “functions very much like HR. It intersects with every single department in the company, and sets policy and procedural standards” across the organization. “When Goldman Sachs started tracking social investing, [we realized] this must really count!” she joked. “It was really a turning point.”
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Ask-A-Career-Coach: The Pros and Cons of Continuing Education Courses
Ask A Career CoachAs you plan your career, there are so many things you can invest your resources in – taking continuing education courses, working towards a certification or advanced degree, getting involved in a professional group, expanding your network, attending conferences, getting published, looking for better jobs. The decision on whether to choose a continuing education course needs to be weighed against all these other options. It will depend on what you want to get out of the course and your career overall.
Continuing education is good to expand your skill set without the commitment and expense of an all-out certification program or additional degree. You can pick and choose exactly what captures your interest or what you feel will most benefit you right now. Company tuition reimbursement plans are often capped, and continuing education courses can be selected to fall below the maximum. On the other hand, a course here and there will not have the weight of completing a certification or advanced degree. Many companies will reimburse only for full programs, not a select course.
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up
NewsMarket interest remains centred around the Greek/Eurozone financial crisis, with the number of economists calling for Greece to withdraw from the Euro increasing. Goldman Sachs executives have had to defend themselves during a day-long grilling by the Senate subcommittee on investigations. An ecological disaster is growing in the Gulf of Mexico, where a massive oil slick is threatening the Louisiana coastline.
Economic Backdrop
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Whose Responsibility is Fixing the Wage Gap?
Money TalksThe wage gap between men and women is still running strong – 23 cents strong, according last year’s U.S. Census Bureau report. In fact, a new study conducted by Forbes leads women to believe that a little change in their actions could assist them in improving their chances at better pay. But it begs the question: is the wage gap our responsibility to fix?
According to the study, women can increase their pay by better managing their relationships with their bosses, peers, and subordinates. This conclusion was reached after surveying 315 white-collar professionals recently enrolled in the M.B.A. program at the Villanova School of Business and another undisclosed school. Information concerning the participants’ pay histories and job relationships was analyzed to look for correlations between change in pay and types of network relationships. Three specific types of networks were singled out to see which was the most influential in increasing compensation: subordinate networks (relationships with those working below an employee), peer networks, and networks with superiors.
The study was intended to offer insight to both men and women, as both sexes were also used for the findings, but little insight was actually given to women. Rather, common knowledge was simply reiterated. At The Glass Hammer we’ve discussed the importance of networking effectively at length. Forbes’ assertion that women’s corporate networks are significantly less effective than men’s wasn’t a major revelation. What was rather shocking, however, was the study’s claim that this fact alone suggests that “women have a bigger opportunity to increase their pay and close the wage gap by taking specific actions to understand and cultivate their relationships with supervisors, peers and subordinates.”
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Voice of Experience: Linda Carlisle, Partner, White and Case
Voices of ExperienceLinda Carlisle is a straight-talker. This daughter of Texas and partner at White and Case rapidly acknowledges the challenges facing women in her industry.
“In a law firm—back when I started and even today still—you have very few women mentors. You don’t want to be a mother or girlfriend to people: you want to be a colleague, a top partner and a trusted advisor. You want to be respected for what you can bring to the table. But you are also different from many of the people whom you are working with. You’ll very seldom walk into a room and be in the majority. You learn, over time, to handle that with wit and humor and a strong hand.”
An undergrad biology and chemistry major at the University of Texas at Austin, Carlisle believed she would follow her father and brother into a career in pharmacology. Two years later, she decided that she no longer wanted to go that route, and felt her only option was to teach. She married and, upon graduation, she and her husband moved from Austin to Pennsylvania, intending to pursue a career in academia.
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The Ten Best Accounting Firms for Women
Industry Leaders, LeadershipAccording to the annual Accounting MOVE Project, created by the American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) along with Joanne Cleaver, president and founder of the research firm Wilson-Taylor Associates, women account for over half (51.4 percent) of all accounting firm employees, yet, they rarely make it “to the top rank in their profession: partner or senior executive.”
A 2010 MOVE study, released in early April, revealed one reason why women hit the glass ceiling at the senior management level: firms neglect to build women’s skills in business development, forgoing new clients and revenue in the process. And this is just one of a few crucial oversights that make it hard for women to advance in an industry that is otherwise seen as supportive of them.
In conjunction with the findings, ASWA and Cleaver have also released – for the first time ever – a list of the Ten Best Accounting Firms for Women, based on the MOVE research. According to Cleaver, showcasing the best firms provides learning points and insight that other firms can put in place to increase their pipeline of women and help them reach the next level.
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The Changing Role of Finance: Business Partnering
NewsA new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that finance functions are moving away from being transactional centres and becoming key strategic business partners, assisting with decision making. Nearly two thirds of participants in PwC’s benchmarking work said that their finance function primarily acts as a support group for the CEO and the strategic planning process.
PwC’s finance effectiveness benchmark study looked at the finance functions of 1700 businesses in over one hundred FTSE 200 and international companies. It shows that CFO’s have a tough job to do: balancing running an efficient division and providing proactive and insightful information to support business decisions. And of course motivating their teams as we come out of recession, when many of them will have seen colleagues pack up their personal effects in a cardboard box and leave.
Times have been tough for finance teams recently, and they now carry the demands of the wider organisation to steer them along the path to recovery. This is what has prompted adoption of a new model of working with the rest of the business: partnering.
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