Business Blues: Losing Women to Their Professional Dreams
What many in the business world have failed to realize about equal opportunity is that its impact isn't in increasing the number of minorities you hire, but in keeping them on board and satisfied.
For those who are guiding internal employee communications programs, here's a heads-up about why you may lose female execs to the dream of having their own companies: A national, random telephone survey (conducted in September and polling 650 female business owners and 150 male business owners) revealed that most women said the reason they start their own companies is because of frustrations in their work cultures. Specifically, 45 percent have concerns about the "glass ceiling".
We recommend that if this has been a problem for your company, you hold some focus groups or allow employees to present anonymously their perceptions about how women view their roles in the company. The survey, "Paths to Entrepreneurship: New Directions for Women in Business," was released by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, Catalyst and The Committee of 200. (NFWBO, 212/514-7600)
Cyber PR: Media Relations Execs Using the Web Need to Remember Its 24-Hour Impact
The just-released Middleburg/Ross "Media in Cyberspace" study provides more proof that using the Internet as a 24-hour medium to reach journalists will become a necessity, not just a possibility. (Many a reporter or editor have been frustrated when they can't reach a spokesperson or access company info. because the company has shut its doors for the day.)
The 1997 Fourth Annual National Survey, which probes journalists' Internet usages, indicates that 38 percent of queried newshounds are accessing the Internet from home.
(http://www.middleburg.com)