Attracting and Retaining Women at Boston Consulting Group

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By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)iStock_000006712763XSmall

Something is working. The number of women at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has doubled over the last five years and now three women sit on the firm’s 13 member Executive Committee, up from none in about the same time frame. Women represent 33 percent of the firm’s approximate 4,300 consultants. These numbers are inching towards the kind of critical mass a company needs to realize the benefits of gender diversity.

How is Boston Consulting Group, a business built on the grueling model of consulting and billable hours, able to not just attract and retain, but also promote women? How does it make the Fortune magazine list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” and the Working Mother magazine “Best Company for Working Mothers” lists?

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Voice of Experience: Vanna Krantz, Chief Financial Officer for the Media Division of Thomson Reuters

VannaKrantzWhiteVert[1] by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Vanna Krantz grew up on Ottawa, Canada. As a child of Indian parents “who would prefer their children to become doctors, lawyers or accountants,” Krantz said she was “probably brainwashed at very young age that college was extremely important and a formal education was an absolutely necessity.”

Armed with a dual degree in accounting and mathematics from the highly regarded University of Waterloo, Krantz intended to become a chartered accountant. But, she laughed, “Did I know what it meant to be an accountant? Absolutely not. But I knew it was a professional standing and there was value to that.”

Now the Chief Financial Officer for the Media Division of Thomson Reuters, and the moderator of the recent FWA Event, Krantz has settled into her best role yet. “Thomson Reuters is a good fit for me because the Finance organization is highly valued (obviously something important to me), with tremendous talent/leaders. But it is also an organization where people skills matter quite a bit.”

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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group.Martin Mitchel of CTG

The U.K. revised initial figures for the third quarter from a gross domestic product fall of 0.4% to a fall of 0.3%. Cadbury may receive an offer from Hershey. China issued its first 50 year government bond. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.

Economic Backdrop

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Speculation is rife that Cadbury is about to receive a ‘white knight’ offer from Hershey, possibly in conjunction with Italy’s Ferrero. The charitable trust that controls Hershey has informed the Pennsylvania’s Attorney General that it is considering its options in relation to the UK confectioner. Cadbury is already facing a hostile offer from Kraft, and there is a possibility that Nestle may also make an offer.

Financial Institutions

  • Sir David Walker published his proposals for corporate governance of U.K. financial services companies. The proposals include the requirements to disclose bands of numbers of employees receiving bonuses of greater than £1m, and a requirement to vet new non-executive directors.
  • Lloyds Banking Group’s fundraising plans were approved by more than 99% of their shareholders. The plans will see capital increase by £22.5bn through the combination of a rights issue and a debt swap, allowing the group to break free from the U.K. government’s asset protection scheme.
  • Royal Bank of Scotland signed the formal agreement to enter the U.K. government’s asset protection scheme, paving the way for £240bn of toxic assets to be insured.
  • The Bank of England revealed that it had acted as ‘lender of the last resort’ and lent money to both Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS at the peak of the financial crisis. The loans peaked at a massive £61.6bn (£36.6bn to RBS and £25.4bn to HBOS) and have since been repaid.
  • German bank WestLB has secured a €4bn bailout from the German government. Berlin will inject an initial €3bn, and then a further €1bn later if required.
  • German bank Commerzbank is being sued by a further 21 investment bankers for €16.7m of unpaid bonuses. The bank is already facing a claim from more than 80 bankers relating to €33m of unpaid bonuses.
  • Spain’s BBVA is set to exercise an option to acquire a further 5% in China Citic Bank for €1.1bn. BBVA’s stake will rise to 15%, comfortably below the 20% limit for investments by single foreign groups in Chinese banks.
  • The Middle East’s largest private equity house Abraaj Capital has raised its capital by almost a third as it prepares for a new round of investments. Abraaj’s parent entity has raised $375m from existing shareholders in a rights issue.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

iStock_000004795159XSmall[1]It’s that time again – the time of year where people in the United States get together with family and friends to feast on turkey and all the trimmings and talk of all things for which they are grateful.  We want you to know that we are grateful to you members of The Glass Hammer for sticking with us as we continue to grow and to our sponsors for making it all possible. 

For those of you in the U.S., have a great Thanksgiving! And for those readers around the globe, have a very happy Thursday. (Hang in there – only one more day until the weekend!)

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Avenues to Advancement: Ms. JD’s 3rd Annual Women in Law Conference

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By Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)iStock_000000689853XSmall

“Roll up your sleeves!”

This is the advice Karen Lockwood, of the Lockwood Group, told the audience at Northwestern University at Ms. JD’s 3rd Annual Women in Law Conference on Friday, November 20th. “Exposing your wrist bone,” she explained, “exudes confidence and makes you look taller.“

The advice was symbolic as the day unfolded. The women ‘rolled up their sleeves’ and participated in intense workshops and break-out sessions. It was the second time Linda Bray Chanow from the Center for Women in Law at University of Texas Law School organized this conference focused on communication, networking and self-promotion.

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National Association of Women Lawyers’ Fourth Annual National Survey On Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms

iStock_000000833837XSmallBy Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) recently released their Report of The Fourth Annual National Survey On Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms. The survey program, which began in 2006, is, according to the report, “the only national study that annually tracks the professional progress of women in the nation’s 200 largest law firms by providing a comparative view of the careers and compensation of men and women lawyers at all levels of private practice, including senior roles as equity partners and law firm leaders, and data about the factors that influence career progression.”

Stephanie Scharf, founder of the Survey and President of the NAWL Foundation which co-sponsors the Survey with NAWL, explained its genesis: “The old saying is that if you want to change something, first you have to measure it. An important purpose of the survey is to provide baseline benchmarks for how a typical law firm is performing. People can assess a firm against those benchmarks and determine where women in private practice stand.” Scharf was quick to state that the NAWL doesn’t publish firm-by-firm data—“we want answers without fear”—and instead, publishes findings based on objective measures like retention and promotion.

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Mind the Gap: How to Increase Your Salary

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By Elizabeth Harrin (London)Photo of a young business woman holding currency notes and smili

If you’ve been following the release of various studies into the gender pay gap, you might be wondering what you can personally do to increase your chances of not falling into the chasm between men and women’s pay. In this difficult economic climate – although there are some small signs that things are looking up – can you really get a pay rise?

“It is far easier to fix your own situation on a one-on-one basis than to lead a revolution on behalf of woman everywhere,” says Cy Wakeman, HR expert and President of Cy Wakeman, Inc. “If each woman would step up on an individual basis – the issue would be fixed and we wouldn’t need mandates, audits and programs.”

Not everyone would agree that it’s that easy. You can’t just walk into your boss’s office and demand more money. Well, you could, but you wouldn’t get very far. It’s also difficult to work out how to pitch your request, as ‘John earns more than me’ is unlikely to win you many points in the argument, even if that is your primary reason for wanting to approach the topic of salary increase. Your employer’s first reaction is liable to be ‘How did you find out?’, especially as many companies make use of gagging clauses in contracts – or at the very least make a special point of telling employees not to share salary and bonus data when it comes to pay review time. Therefore it is worth putting together a case for why you deserve a rise, particularly if your compensation package – or lack of it – is a major concern for you at work.

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Voice of Experience: Lisa Cregan, UBS, Dallas Complex Director and Director of Women’s Development Wealth Management Advisory Group

lisa-mediumBy Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

It’s the rare 13-year-old who can clearly set the course for the rest of her life; indeed, it’s the rare 13- year-old who knows from moment to moment what she wants from that day. So when Lisa Cregan—all of 13 years old—told a local newspaper reporter “I want to be a stockbroker one day,” she was likely met with some surprise. Since that time, however, Lisa Cregan has made her dream come true, and now works to help other women do the same as the head of career development for women at UBS.

Not that it was based only on her seemingly precocious response to the reporter. Cregan, who is also the Dallas Market Area Manager for UBS, did her homework.

During the second year of her MBA program, she conducted informational interviews with executives in various industries. “I wanted to gain a perspective on each industry, learn more about the industry culture, the skills needed to be successful, and the career paths I might be able to follow.”

Based on what she learned, she confirmed that she did indeed want to end up in finance. “I was intrigued by the culture of constant change. I liked the idea of high pressure coupled with high opportunity.”

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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group.Martin Mitchel of CTG

The dollar fell to its lowest level since August 2008. The British economy may be out of recession already. Goldman Sachs has apologised for its role in the financial crisis. And Bernie Madoff’s vintage 18-carat gold Rolex Monoblocco watch fetched $65,000 at auction. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.

Economic Backdrop

  • Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve is monitoring currency markets ‘closely’ and will conduct policy that will ‘help ensure that the dollar is strong’. However, his comments saw the dollar fall to its lowest level since August 2008.
  • The U.K.’s public debt added a further £11.4bn in October to reach £86.9bn for the fiscal year to date, against just £84.7bn in the whole of the preceding fiscal year.
  • Andrew Sentence, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee believes the British economy is out of recession already, despite official data showing a contraction in the third quarter. He said ‘there is enough positive evidence elsewhere to suggest that recovery is getting under way, though it is fragile and in its early stages’.
  • The U.K. consumer price index was 1.5% in October, against just 1.1% in September. The retail price index also rose to minus 0.8% from minus 1.4% a month earlier.

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Thriving with Breast Cancer

Kim_Michel_Photo[1]By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

“Thank god for hot flashes,” said Kim Michel, owner of Michel Financial Services firm in Los Angeles, “They very likely saved my life.”

Last year, just as Michel turned fifty, she began to be troubled by those telltale signs of menopause, and went to consult with a doctor about hormone replacement therapy. During that examination, the doctor felt something “very deep down” in her left breast. And although the annual mammogram and ultrasound she’d had just 30 days prior had disclosed nothing, the doctor wasn’t convinced, and sent her for an urgent MRI.

Just a couple of days later, the doctor called with the results. “He said, ‘You have four tumors on both sides.’ I was shocked, stunned,” said Michel.
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