Conference turris::womannotes-v2

494.0. "Womens Issues & Opportunities At DEC" by LEZAH::BOBBITT (Be *Excellent* To Each Other) Thu Mar 09 1989 13:30

Women's Issues and Opportunities:  Business Implications For Digital

from Feb/Mar 1989 mgmt memo, Volume 8, #2, written by Corporate Employee
Communication for the Office of the President.  Editorial contact: Richard
Seltzer, CF02-3/K23.

A hundred people concerned about the role of women at Digital gathered in
Marlboro, Mass., for two days this January to discuss their research and
plan future steps.  The symposium - the first of its kind - was sponsored
by Corporate EEO/AA/Valuing Differences, with the intent of bringing
together people who had done research on the experience of women at Digital
and had initiated programs to improve the work environment.  It began with
the premise that to meet its long-term business goals, Digital must
maintain a competitive edge in attracting the best people.  From the
perspective of the symposium attendees, this mean Digital must improve the
opportunities for women and increase their representation at all levels.

Carol Burke, senior manager, Strategic Relations, spoke of the need to
focus on women's issues as they relate to business.  "These issues are
important and need the attention of the leadership of the company, not
simply because they are women's issues, but because they are people issues
that are impacting the business - issues such as alternative work
schedules, child care and dependent care.

"As women in business, we need to be leading the company to a position of
'being best' - with the best products and services.  These issues might get
in the way of Digital 'being the best,' and we should look at them in the
business context."

While the percentage of women at Digital in the US has remained relatively
steady at about 37-38% for the last ten years, there has been a shift in
the kinds of jobs women perform, noted Jay Palermo, Research and
Development manager, Corporate EEO/AA/Valuing Difference.  Changes in
manufacturing methods have reduced the number of hourly jobs that tend to
be filled by women, but meanwhile the number of women in professional and
managerial positions has increased.

Mary Couming, senior Manufacturing Manager, US Area Manufacturing, reported
on research she did as part of a master's degree in Management of
Technology at MIT.  She interviewed men and women in senior line positions
at Digital, asking them to tell about their personal and external barriers
to advancement they perceived.  Mary described the common experiences and
the unique experiences of women in terms of the "glass ceiling" - the set
of invisible barriers that one faces when moving up in an organization.
Mary concluded the diversity of gender and culture will become more
prevalent in the workplace in the next 10-15 years and business success
will depend on making full use of all human resources.  "The successful
competitors in our industry will be the ones who optimize all their
resources:  technologies, market resources, financial resources, and human
resources."

Donna Taylor, MEM AA/Valuing Differences Manager, reported on the results
of an internal study of the contributors and barriers to women reaching
upper level positions in Digital.  She noted that for women and men in
Digital the word "power" means the ability to get things done and have
influence.  But twice as many men as women add "control, authority, and
position" to their definition of power.  She found that men and women
viewed the barriers to their success quite differently, with an
overwhelming number of the women believing there were factors specific to
women that impeded their success:  from managers not being comfortable with
women to pervasive stereotypes about women.

She discussed national studies on the differing attitudes of men and women
toward their successes and failures and potential impact at Digital.  Data
was also presented on the differing input of mentors to men and women.  She
raised a number of questions that emerged from the study:  "If men and women
view the Digital environment and the road to success so differently, are
women trying to be successful in a culture they don't truly understand?."
Finally, she observed that different perceptions could be part of the
problem, "What we perceive is what we think is real and that dictates our
actions."

"Being a woman in business is sometimes like living in another culture and
constantly having to translate," observed Maureen Harvey, Personnel
manager, Open Software/Software Business.  She reported on the results of
the Stone Center Task Force, which was created to put into practice the new
theoretical understanding of women's psychological development that has
been developed at the Stone Center at Wellesley College.  With the
endorsement of Bill Heffner, then vice president, Systems Software Group
(SSG) and his staff, the Task Force used this perspective to examine the
environment for women in SSG and to make recommendations to management.
The Stone Center emphasizes the importance of trusting one's ability to
build relationships in which both people feel heard and valued.  These
qualities are essential for women's sense of worth and empowerment.  The
Task Force consisted of women who represented each of the ten organizations
in the Systems Software Group.

"There are a lot of women in software engineering, and we need to create
conditions that will maximize their potential," explains Maureen.  "The
current environment does not use some of women's potential strengths and
operating styles.  I believe this results in increased stress that leads to
reduced productivity, turnover and burnout - some of the things that we
characterize as performance problems.  Its more subtle effects are lack of
enthusiasm and commitment.

"In Affirmative Action, we have emphasized numbers, getting people in.  As
we're bringing diverse people into the work environment, we also need to
ask 'Are we bringing them in just to make them like everybody else?  Or do
we bring them in to use the diversity to enrich the environment?'

"Digital's success in business is, in part, dependent upon people's ability
to understand each other and work collaboratively to achieve results.  The
paradox is that those strengths are more developed in women, but are not
strengths which are typically recognized or rewarded," she concluded.

Based on their findings, the Task Force members submitted a set of
recommendations to Bill Heffner in June 1988.  The recommendations
responded to recurrent themes and the task force encountered in its study
of women in SSG:  basic comfort, safety, and trust; perceived differential
treatment of men and women; and the often undervalued skills that women
frequently bring to their work.  Recommendations targeted management and
Personnel activities in support of improving the work environment.

The recommendations were endorsed by Bill Heffner and a full-time project
leader was hired, who reports to Kurt Friedrich, group Engineering manager,
Systems Software Engineering and Manufacturing.  She will manage the
implementation of these recommendations across the three new software
businesses which include Bill Heffner's OS/SB group and Bill Keating's SDT
group.

"Women are herein significant numbers, and have been for some years," noted
Erline Belton, manager, Corporate Employee Relations.  "But we need to do
more development so women can take upper level jobs.  Let's acknowledge the
need for cross-functional, not just individual efforts.  Let's look at the
whole," she advised.

Other speakers discussed the work of other internal women's leadership
groups, such as the Women's Advisory Committee, which played an important
role in planning this symposium.

In breakout sessions, the symposium participants formulated dozens of
recommendations, such as:  "count hours not heads" (eliminating a barrier
to flexible and alternative work schedules); change policies and benefits
to reflect and value the diversity of employee needs; publicize success
stories relating to part-time, job sharing and flexible work schedules; and
publicize to managers the human cost of recruitment, training and
attrition.

At the end of the symposium, Alan Zimmerle, manager, Corporate
EEO/AA/Valuing Differences outlined some of the next steps:  prioritize
recommendations, share symposium results with senior manager, focus on
upward mobility and opportunities for people of difference and women in the
workplace, and reconvene the group in a year to discuss what has changed.
He also emphasized the need to built on the excellent work that has been
done in many organizations.

    This all sounds really good...wish it would reach my office *sigh*
    
    Barb

	How I long to be able to react as a woman in business rather
       than have to try and fit the mold men have made. To not be
       considered weak if I don't exude the "I know I'm right" attitude
       so many men have. To not have to always worry that how I act will
       affect all other women. What a glorious freedom to only be
       responsible for liesl and not the future reputation of all women
       in technical jobs. liesl

    
    I received this via e-mail today.  Apparently DEC isn't the only company
    concerned about these issues....
    
    -Jody
    

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                   I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                         Date:      6-Mar-1989 09:35am GMT
                                         From:      KAREN NELSON 
                                                    NELSON.KAREN AT A1 AT PRYDE AT OGO 
                                         Dept:      SSMI PERSONNEL
                                         Tel No:    276-8887

TO: See Below

Subject: NEW ENGLAND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COUNCIL - WINTER CONFERENCE


On February 28 I attended the winter conference of the New England 
Employee Benefits Council.  The topic of this conference was 
"Balancing Work and Family: New Directions in Employee Benefits."  The 
day was extremely interesting and I wanted to share with you some of 
the themes that were prevalent in the keynote address as well as what 
some companies are doing around the issue of balancing work and family 
life.

The keynote speaker was Fran Rodgers, President of Work/Family 
Directions.  (This is the Child Care Resource and Referral Service 
used by Digital.)  Some of the things she spoke about are as follows:

* People need more support and more flexibility.

* Changes in American culture will unleash productivity.  Days of the 
"Ozzie and Harriet" family are gone.

* The American family will revolutionize American business.

* Work/family is not just about child day care.  We are in the middle 
of the child care issue now but the elder care issue is still out 
there ready to confront us.  Elder care has not yet become critical 
because the key issue in elder care is care for people over 85; the 
largest population of people in the work force today are in their 30's 
and 40's and do not yet have parents at that age.

* We no longer have a surplus labor pool.

* There is an issue around fertility.  People are choosing between 
work and family.  There is a correlation between fertility and 
education.

* Companies need to attract into the work force people who are not 
working.  Since more men work, the labor pool is women.

* 52% of college graduates are now women.

* Access to child care would increase the participation of women in 
the labor force.

* Married female parents work the equivalent of two full time jobs.

* Women with child care responsibilities won't take jobs involving 
extensive travel, relocation, increased pressure, or overtime.  These 
factors are traditional values in large companies.  Companies judge 
people by effort, not by contribution.  Need to look at what 
constitutes productivity.

* People are frustrated at having to make career sacrifices.

* What companies need to do:

  - The notion of equity gets in the way.  Question of whether we 
    should have equity when there is such diversity.

  - Create partnerships with employees.

  - Support child and elder care.

  - Eliminate barriers that stand in the way.

* The U.S. has the highest labor force participation rate outside of 
Sweden.  Women in Sweden find it much easier to manage work and family  
responsibilities than do American women.

* 60% of women executives age 40 or older have no children; 95% of men 
executives age 40 or older have children.

* People are measured on time spent at work; not on accomplishments.

DIGITAL - Laurie Margolies

Laurie spoke about the following efforts being carried out by Digital:

* Part time work - close to 500 U.S. employees work part time.

* Some job splitting and job sharing.

* Parental leaves of absence.

* Some flex time - manager dependent.

* Need to work much more closely with benefits organization.

* Need for corporate strategiess.

* Laurie focused on the need to get past the block and equated it to 
the AIDS strategy.

* The need is for flexibility.

* Work and home life strategy.

IBM - Joan Sourenian

IBM introduced some new work flexibility programs last October.  The 
following was undertaken by IBM and led to their decisions:

* Environmental scans

* Employee survey/study

* Work Life Issues Task Force

* Work Flexibility Task Force

IBM found that only 20% of their work force represents traditional 
families.  They believe dual career issues will grow.  They have 
implemented the following:

* Personal Leave - expanded from 1 to 3 years.  Employees receive 
company paid benefits and are assured of a job on return.  People must 
be available to work part time the second and third years to keep 
skills current.

* Increase in Start and Stop Time Flexibility

* Community Service Career Program for Retiring Employees

* Work at Home

IBM's programs are an offshoot of the company's core value of respect 
for the individual.

PRIME COMPUTER - Keith Peden

Prime has implemented the following:

* Resource and referral service

* Seminars for employees on dependent care

* Section 125 - Prime diverts the FICA savings  and forfeitures into a 
Benefits Trust to be used to pursue further issues in dependent care.  
Two such programs on the agenda for the future are on and off-site day 
care and subsidies.