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"Balancing Acts: People-Friendly Policies That Build Productivity"
was underwritten by audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG, a sponsor of
the Network of Executive Women. It is NEW's latest "Best Practices"
report designed to help companies retain and recruit diverse
leadership teams. The report details progressive work-life
programs and policies in place at such companies as Avon,
Colgate-Palmolive, Frito-Lay, the J.M. Smucker Company, General
Mills, The Kellogg Company, Kraft, KPMG, PepsiCo, and Procter &
Gamble. Retailers cited include Publix, Wegman's and Whole Foods.
All of the companies have appeared on Working Mother's 100 Best
Companies ranking or Fortune magazine's 100 top companies survey.
Top solutions in the report include flexible and alternative work
schedules, compressed workweeks, telecommuting, job-sharing,
extended leaves, and "on and off-ramps" for executives. Other
popular options include child and elder care support and healthy
lifestyle programs.
"Flex policies reduce the need for career interruptions -- and
ease the way for executives who do take a career break to stay
trained, connected and return to standard work schedules," the
Network of Executive Women reports. "Instead of opting out of the
work force altogether, employees can take paid leave, unpaid
sabbaticals, work at home or take advantage of flextime or reduced
work schedules. And for those who must leave completely, some
companies have established alumni groups that keep former employees
connected and offer a path back to company employment." Career
development, mentoring and networking are also critical, according
to the Network of Executive Women.
"Shopability" examined
"Today's diverse and demanding consumers respond to choice but
are also challenged by too much complexity," according to NEW's Best
Practices Special Report, "One Woman, Two Lives: Shopability."
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The report is based on a survey of 250 members of the Network of
Executive Women in their dual roles as industry executives and
family shoppers. The survey, conducted by WSL Strategic Retail,
revealed that women want simpler choices and more information to
influence their shopping experiences.
The special report features a shopability agenda to help
retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers maximize
sell-through and profitability. Among the recommendations: be known
as a diverse and responsible company; simplify the shopping
experience; optimize, don't maximize, choice; replace mass marketing
with micromarketing; optimize merchandising for more results; make
the product a hero; stock shelves the way people shop; let the
package tell the story; and let underperforming products go.
The survey respondents know shopability: 81 percent do most or
all of their family's shopping; 95 percent work full-time in the
consumer packaged goods and retail industry; and they average 9.8
years in their companies. The report includes observations from
industry executives and research on the long-term effects of product
proliferation on sell-through.
Wendy Liebmann, president of WSL Strategic Retail, said, "There's
often no way to try the product, and (consumers) can't smell or
taste" what's inside, she said. The risk of buying an expensive
product that they "may not like" and packaging that "does not help
me choose" were also cited as factors that make a product hard to
buy. The solution, she said, "is to let the product sell the product
in an affordable, simple way."
For more information on the Network of Executive Women and its
best practices, education, mentoring, networking and leadership
development programs, contact Joan Toth, executive director, at
312-693-5393 or visit
www.newonline.org.
[Text from file
received from the Network of
Executive Women] |
