By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)
“Taking risks is not the way I looked at things. I thought of them as opportunities,” explains Niloufar Molavi, PricewaterhouseCoopers‘ Chief Diversity Officer, when describing her career progression. “You have to be willing to step outside your comfort zone.”
Having worked for PwC for nearly 20 years, Molavi has seized upon many opportunities. She began her career as a tax associate in PwC’s Houston office in 1991, and was admitted to the partnership in 2001, working in the firm’s energy tax practice. In 2006, she assumed the leadership role for PwC’s national energy tax practice.
Throughout her career at PwC, and particularly for the last several years, Molavi has championed diversity in the firm’s Houston office. Her efforts grabbed the attention of Bob Moritz, PwC’s chairman and senior partner, who last summer asked Molavi to take on a larger, national role leading diversity and inclusion initiatives as the firm’s CDO.
What most excites her about the new role is the one-to-one connection she is able to make with PwC’s people. “One of the things I’ve always loved about being a professional accountant is the ability to connect with people,” says Molavi. “Everything is about making sure we are building a much more inclusive organization. We want to make sure our people understand and are comfortable working and interacting with people who are different from them. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”
In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up
NewsUS stocks moved to fresh 19-month highs. The euro fell to a one-year low against the dollar and a three-month low against the pound. George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister, has made a formal request for the proposed European Union-IMF emergency loan package to be activated. President Barack Obama argued last week for a bill that would overhaul US financial regulation.
Economic Backdrop
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Voice of Experience: Niloufar Molavi, Tax Partner and U.S. Chief Diversity Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Voices of Experience“Taking risks is not the way I looked at things. I thought of them as opportunities,” explains Niloufar Molavi, PricewaterhouseCoopers‘ Chief Diversity Officer, when describing her career progression. “You have to be willing to step outside your comfort zone.”
Having worked for PwC for nearly 20 years, Molavi has seized upon many opportunities. She began her career as a tax associate in PwC’s Houston office in 1991, and was admitted to the partnership in 2001, working in the firm’s energy tax practice. In 2006, she assumed the leadership role for PwC’s national energy tax practice.
Throughout her career at PwC, and particularly for the last several years, Molavi has championed diversity in the firm’s Houston office. Her efforts grabbed the attention of Bob Moritz, PwC’s chairman and senior partner, who last summer asked Molavi to take on a larger, national role leading diversity and inclusion initiatives as the firm’s CDO.
What most excites her about the new role is the one-to-one connection she is able to make with PwC’s people. “One of the things I’ve always loved about being a professional accountant is the ability to connect with people,” says Molavi. “Everything is about making sure we are building a much more inclusive organization. We want to make sure our people understand and are comfortable working and interacting with people who are different from them. It’s been a lot of fun so far.”
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The Busy Women’s Guide to Mobile Banking
Expert AnswersAs all busy women know, time has become the most valuable commodity in our lives, more cherished than that corner office or, in some cases, extra vacation days. And, we are constantly trying to find ways to “multi-task” our way into gaining another 15 minutes in our day. Whether you are an entrepreneur, corporate executive, or a multi-tasking working mom, the common thread among us is that time is precious. We all get creative in how we “find” extra time in the 24-hour day to either fit in one more task or spend a little more time with friends and family.
In the quest to simplify our lives in small ways one important place to look is to your mobile phone – and more specifically to the mobile banking tools that many banks are now offering to customers that help manage day-to-day finances on the go.
There has been a revolution in what people are doing on their mobile devices and the way they are staying connected to the world through them. Whether it’s calling a taxi, getting driving directions, checking email, or using it for banking, personal mobile devices are the center-piece of communications and information. These days you can get a snapshot of your bank account details, make a payment while traveling by bus or train, pay your bills on your mobile device (even during the middle of the night if you have a fussy baby), or transfer money to a cash-strapped loved one.
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Movers and Shakers: Melody Rollins, Executive Vice President and Client Servicing Account Manager, PIMCO
Movers and Shakers“People chase money or what sounds like a good job. They should be focusing on what their genius is,” said Melody Rollins, an executive vice president and client services account manager in PIMCO’s New York office.
Rollins, a native Northern Californian, went to Georgetown University with the intention to enter the Foreign Service upon graduation. She quickly realized that “to be an ambassador, I’d have to work for 30 years in the civil service all over the world. I wouldn’t really have a personal life, and I would never get to be an ambassador: they are all political contributors and celebrities.”
Following a near-failing grade in economics—“I did horribly in micro in my first semester”—she spent a lot of time in that professor’s office, attempting to understand the principles of economics and raise her grade. That same professor was clearly impressed, recommending that Rollins pursue an economics major, which put her on the road to Wall Street.
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New Role? Plan your own induction
Office PoliticsStarting a new job is always daunting. There’s so much to take in – settling in to your new desk, working out how to use different software to your old company, finding out how the coffee machine works. But on top of all that ‘new girl’ stuff you also have to make a fabulous impression on your new colleagues by quickly getting to grips with your new responsibilities.
Many companies offer induction or on-boarding programmes for staff that include pre-booked meetings with key employees, a buddy and general corporate orientation. However, as senior employee, you might not have the opportunity to join these programmes – or there might be nothing planned for you at all. What do you do if you turn up on your first day and are told to get on with it?
“New hires should strategize their entry with a strong awareness of setting the stage for their success,” says Stephanie Smith, who leads Stratex, an executive consulting and coaching firm based in New York City. She recommends finalising a written job description including your strategic purpose, performance criteria and reporting structure.
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Ask-A-Career-Coach: Career Success Requires Quantity, As Well As Quality
Ask A Career CoachRecently, I heard from someone who was frustrated that, despite following all of the recommended career advancement strategies (networking, following up, working on her pitch), she was not moving forward. As an example, she referenced a few leads that had grown cold. What is the problem?
Now it could very well be that she is not networking, following up, or positioning herself as well as she says. But even if she is doing all of the steps right, and the quality of activity is there, a handful of leads not working out is not surprising. You also need quantity of activity in your job search and career plans.
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Showing Support for Equal Pay Day
Money TalksA few weeks ago, The Glass Hammer shed some light on the Paycheck Fairness Act by speaking to the AAUW‘s passionate Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, Lisa Maatz, as well as labor and employment law attorney, Counsel Dena Calo of Genova, Burns & Vernoia. The Paycheck Fairness Act would essentially act as a much-needed update to the nearly 47-year-old Equal Pay Act and would create stronger incentives for employers to follow the law, empower women to negotiate for equal pay, and strengthen federal outreach, education, and enforcement efforts. If passed, the legislation would also deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations and by prohibiting retaliation against workers who ask about employers’ wage practices or disclose their own wages.
On March 11, 2010 the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the Paycheck Fairness Act. According to Maatz, who attended the hearing, some who testified on the Republican side deemed the act unnecessary because of the already-existing Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which now enables employees to challenge any discriminatory paycheck they receive. Maatz says that President Barack Obama’s signing of this important Act is a step in the right direction for women in the workforce. But recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau perfectly illustrate the real problem and the reason why organizations like AAUW are fighting to get the Paycheck Fairness Act passed: The wage gap. In 2010, the average woman continues to make just 77 cents for every dollar made by her male counterpart.
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How Much for a Personal Serving of Work-Life Balance?
NewsI was doing fine until I released the whale bath toy into the bubbles from the Jacuzzi jets. I was fulfilling a working mother’s recurring dream. It goes like this: I slide into the frothing water—my shoulders are the tip of a languorous berg. I pour edelweiss nectar from the two delicate bottles of St. Germaine nabbed from the mini-bar; the faux cut-glass catches the glow of flickering tea lights lining the tub. Over the rim of my glass, I can see the rainbow-colored lights of the Santa Monica pier framed by the window of my upgraded suite. My colleagues are tucked away in a utilitarian hotel in downtown Los Angeles. This is my alone time, when for one brief interlude before the phone next rings, life can be perfect. Except that, the floating rubber bath toy brought an image of my daughter’s sweet face into my inner sanctum. “Mine, Mommy,” she would say, scooping up the bath toy in her dimpled three-year old hand.* Then there is a knock on the door. “Housekeeping.” Even here, hiding on the beach, I am found.
And what about the person with the disembodied voice that calls out to me on the other side of the door? If her life is as busy as mine, will she find a way to retreat and claim some blissful time alone? I want it to be so.
Is work-life balance just another one of those luxuries we covet – like the items in the Desire & Acquire exclusive shopping service accessed through the American Express Departures magazine? “In many ways, yes,” wrote Lisa Belkin in her New York Times column, Motherlode. “Only those with both financial security and some control over their work lives”—Belkin’s readers insist on this distinction— “have the freedom to recalibrate it.” Just what is required to recalibrate one’s work life?
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In Case You Missed It: Business News Roundup
NewsUS Fed Chairman Bernanke predicted a “moderate economic recovery” would unfold in the US during the next several quarters. For Britain, the Ernst & Young Item Club forecast weak 1% growth this year, giving way to 2.7% next year and 3.4% in 2012. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against Goldman Sachs, claiming the company misstated and omitted key facts about a collateralized debt obligation.
Economic Backdrop
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Voice of Experience: Elaine Sarsynski, Executive Vice President, MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MassMutual International LLC
Voices of ExperienceTechnically, Massachusetts is in very close proximity to the bright lights and big city that is New York, but the small town of Hadley, where Elaine Sarsynski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MassMutual International and Executive Vice President and head of MassMutual’s Retirement Services business, called her home couldn’t have felt farther away. Sarsynski is currently the top ranked female executive at the company and was recently named one of the Top 15 Women in Business by PINK Magazine. But her attraction to business and her early understanding of its most basic concepts actually came as a result of working on her parent’s 60-acre vegetable farm.
“Working on the farm exposed me to the business side of things very early on,” Sarsynski said. “I can remember being a little kid and listening to my parents discuss things like venture capital, wholesale, and investment strategies at the dinner table and I soaked it all up. My mother was actually an astute business woman and was always thinking of clever ways to grow the business and make it profitable. I decided early on that I wanted to be a business woman, too, but I didn’t know it would ever actually take me off the farm.”
Sarsynski’s big chance came when she was just a junior at Smith College majoring in economics. One day, MassMutual came to her campus offering “a Day at MassMutual” to young women interested in the financial services industry. The young college student was eventually chosen to participate in the visit to corporate headquarters and upon making her entrance to MassMutual’s beautiful building, Sarsynski immediately knew she wanted to work at the company someday.
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