Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 17, 1994 TAG: 9404130135
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY AMY GAGE KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: ST. PAUL, MINN. LENGTH: Long
Little did they know they were laying the groundwork for one of the nation's first corporate women's groups.
Nineteen years later, the 3M Women's Advisory Committee is an integral part of the organization. The 30-member group has a budget, a mission statement and a formalized structure. More important, it serves as a resource and adviser on issues considered key to women workers, including health and wellness, flexible work schedules, dual careers and how relocations affect families.
"We're basically a policy group," says WAC Co-Chairwoman Arlene Musser, a corporate patent liaison at 3M. "We want to make this a better place for women and all employees."
Corporate women's groups have enjoyed a resurgence in the past few years as companies try to deal with changing work forces and women employees find themselves in new roles. While each council is as different as its corporation, each also struggles with one basic issue - how to survive.
How does a group convince busy employees that a council can be worth their time? Conversely, how does a women's council persuade management to devote resources and employees' energies to monthly meetings and other events?
One of about 250 corporate women's groups across the country, the 3M committee has succeeded by forming strong alliances with the people at the top - the men and women, but mostly men, who run the company. Its survival tactic, though 3M women may not term it that, is one from which other groups could learn: Become so visible as to be indispensable.
It's hard to do away with something once it's entrenched.
The WAC works with several executive liaisons to get its message across to senior management. Its members serve on policy-making task forces through the Department of Human Resources. And it is one of eight employee groups represented on 3M's new U.S. Diversity Council, serving as a mentor of sorts for the committees that represent gays and lesbians, people with disabilities and various ethnic groups.
Making a difference, affecting the workplace, is the primary purpose of most corporate women's groups. Exactly what they aim to change, however - the breadth of their dreams - varies from corporation to corporation.
Women's groups that have formed in recent years wrestle with a number of questions.
Should the councils serve as vehicles for women to advance into management, or does that goal neglect the quite different concerns of female administrative help and other nonexempt workers? Do the groups risk diluting women's issues by taking on the concerns of other minorities? How important is the membership of senior women executives? How important is the presence of men?
At Unisys, the 4-year-old Women's Forum is feeling the effects of pink slips becoming as common as paychecks. Women have suffered the brunt of company layoffs, says Unisys senior software engineer Pauline Ash. As a result, participation in the Women's Forum has fallen off, either because members have lost their jobs or because they've lost their spirit.
"When there are layoffs, people start jumping ship," says Ash. "For whatever reason, when these negative things happen, people stick to themselves. They don't want to put out the extra energy for a group like this."
Lynn Povich, editor-in-chief of Working Woman magazine, has said that senior managements are beginning to encourage the development of such networks in lieu of being able to offer raises.
And the changing face of the work force can only help. Laura O'Loughlin, a senior associate at Catalyst, the New York-based businesswomen's research group that has studied women's issues says that, as the number of white men in corporations shrinks, women's councils will become crucial to diversity initiatives, advising their companies on how to do the right thing.
"It's a low-cost way to enhance communication between women and their employers," O'Loughlin says. "It breaks what we call the conspiracy of silence. Often, women don't want to discuss barriers they face for fear of being labeled different from men. And employers don't want to acknowledge inequities for fear of litigation. Women's groups are a constructive outlet."
Fueled by the feminist movement, corporate women's groups began organizing in the mid-1970s. Back then, they served as sources of support for women who felt isolated and ignored in the workplace.
Groups that failed to find an agenda, or were too impatient for change, petered out, says O'Loughlin. "In the beginning, there's a lot of enthusiasm and interest," she says. "The trick is to structure that."
During the '80s, as women became more visible in the work force, corporate women's groups declined in popularity. Whether for fear of appearing too radical or because demands at home put pressures on their time, some women - especially managerial women - ceased to align themselves with their workaday sisters.
One prominent exception was at Dayton Hudson Corp., a Minneapolis retailer operating B. Dalton Bookseller stores. Its Women's Network for corporate staff lasted from 1981 to 1987, when the group believed it had achieved its goal of increasing women's presence and influence in the corporation.
With an emphasis on education and workplace skills, the group's programs sparked widespread interest among female employees. The network also admitted men to its membership, a prudent and not insignificant step, says Dayton Hudson Vice President Ann Barkelew.
"The general counsel was an active member. The head of real estate and the chief financial officer were active members. These were men who were really interested in knowing, `What are these barriers?' " she said.
Barkelew notes with pride that three women now sit on the 12-member Dayton Hudson board.
The Dayton Hudson network proved to be a forerunner of the corporate women's groups that began flourishing again several years ago. Many of the newer women's councils have been instigated by senior executives, who use the groups as a yardstick to measure everything from workplace morale to compliance with diversity trends.
Catalyst's O'Loughlin says many corporate women's groups have evolved into a membership of primarily middle managers. Unlike secretaries or line workers, these women have schedules that allow them some freedom. And unlike more senior executives, they can participate in a women's group largely without risk.
by CNB