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WORKLIFE -- A woman’s role in corporate America |
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Written by asap
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Tuesday, 04 July 2006 |
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Talk to a group of ambitious female college graduates, and you are likely to find aspiring CEOs, law firm partners and executives.
Fast-forward 10 or 15 years, though, and you’ll hear a different story. With families and children to consider, many women shift their focus away from professional advancement to careers that allow them the flexibility to take care of a sick child, attend a school play or simply end their workdays before daycare closes. Others decide to quit citing the stress.
“At some companies, it seems like it’s all or nothing,”’ says Christine Zambito, a 34-year-old manager and mother in Cranford, N.J., describing the work environments of some of her friends. She says many of them felt they had no choice but to leave when they had children. “A lot of women have said to me that they might have chosen differently if there had been more flexibility.”
The result for corporate America: fewer women on the executive track, and a less diverse work force. It can also mean a brain drain, as corporations watch employees they’ve invested in walk away, citing the incompatibility of family and professional life.
“Even though men and women talk about family in a pretty similar way, they act on it in different ways,” says Lisa Levey of Catalyst, a nonprofit advocacy group for women in the workplace. “Women, because of the roles they tend to play in family structure, are more willing to leave a company or make trade-offs relative to financial compensation.”
Translation since women still tend to be in charge of family life, they are more likely than their husbands to give up fast-paced careers, scale back their professional goals or quit if they feel their families are being compromised.
“In the legal profession, in the accounting profession, women are now 50 percent or more of the talent pool. If by the time you get to the partner level, you’re down to 10, 15 or 20 percent women, you know you’re leaving a lot of talent on the table,” Levey says. “Clients are also asking about this, saying, ’We want continuity in our relationship. We don’t want turnover of our attorneys or accountants.”’
You don’t have to be an executive or work in a big city to feel the crunch, though.
“You can’t make up your hours if you have a sick child,” says Leslie Malkovich, a 27-year-old single mother in Weirton, W.V., who works as a supervisor for a small medical billing company. “My friend was let go from an engineering firm because her child got really sick and she had to miss a lot of work.”
Corporate America is slowly waking up to the idea that it needs to change if it wants to keep mothers working in the office and tap their full potential. Progress to reconcile motherhood and career is slowly being made. But the challenges are considerable.
Zambito’s employer, Ernst & Young, for example, has spent the last 10 years trying to figure out the best way to keep its women employees and make sure they stay on the fast track.
“We spend a lot of money recruiting and investing in our people,” says Beth Schiavo, a partner in the company’s audit practice who has been involved with company efforts to support working moms. “We want to keep them.”
As a result, Zambito was able to take an extended maternity leave of six months before returning to work four days a week, instead of five. An employer-sponsored concierge service helped her find a daycare for her son. And, at the suggestion of her boss, she works mostly at an office a few minutes from her home, commuting only occasionally into New York, where she worked before her pregnancy.
There are also weekly support meetings for mothers designed to help them balance work and family concerns. And if Zambito’s 1-year-old son gets sick, she can work from home while an employer-subsidized baby sitter helps out.
“I’m approached a lot by recruiters, and I tell them I’m not interested,” says Zambito. “There are perks that you can’t put a price tag on -- and are worth more than a higher salary.”
Ernst & Young is more the exception than the rule, however. Corporate America’s overall grade in this area leaves a lot to be desired.
“I’d probably put it at a B-minus to C-plus overall, though there are some As and A-minuses out there, particularly at big companies” Levey says.
Still, she believes that women may have more options than they know. In addition to looking for employers that value working moms, Levey says women need to more aggressive about making the workplace more friendly.
“I think there is a lot of flexibility in the workplace that gets left on the table because people are afraid to ask,” she says. “If you approach your manager and you have a plan and they know you’re valuable, I think a lot of people will work with you to come to some kind of a solution.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by Malkovich, the West Virginia mom of a 6-year-old and 2-year-old. She says her current employer allows her to make up missed hours related to childcare or school functions.
But Malkovich says it’s no accident her employer is so supportive. She researched the company before joining, and having a flexible job was a key decision in expanding her family.
“I chose to have my second child based on how much dedication I could give,” she recalls. “I wanted to be able to be with them when I needed to and stay home if they were sick. If I had to work for a company that would not allow me to, I might not have had a second child.”
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asap columnist Lisa Singhania is an AP reporter. Have you ever had a terrible boss? How did you cope? E-mail lsinghaniayahoo.com to discuss.
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