Network of Executive Women calls for workplace transformation in new 'It's Time' campaign
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The Network of Executive Women has launched a new movement for women's leadership and workplace change via a campaign dubbed “It’s Time,” which calls on industry leaders to advance more women leaders in the retail and consumer goods and services industry, and to create a workplace that is more collaborative, flexible and inclusive.
NEW presented an agenda for change to senior executives during a special briefing at the Food Marketing Institute’s 2015 Midwinter Executive Conference at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach on Jan. 25 to 26.
“We’ve helped put women’s leadership on the agenda. We’ve changed hearts and minds throughout the industry. We’ve advanced tens of thousands of individual leaders through our education programs and events. But we’ve sent these empowered and inspired women back to companies that have not changed,” Joan Toth, president and CEO of the NEW, told attendees during a Jan. 26 webinar to unveil the initiative.
Toth went on to explain that women make up half of the retail industry’s workforce, yet less than 1-in-5 are corporate officers and 1-in-20 are CEOs.
“Despite our best efforts, and despite your best efforts, the number of women in decision-making positions has improved only marginally, if at all,” Toth said.
In order to bring about change, NEW believes it boils down to transforming organizations. A change in corporate culture is needed to provide advancement for women and a better workplace for all, she said. Such a change would lead to a great opportunity, since women consumers control 70% of household spending, make or influence 93% of all food purchases, and take 63% of all trips to the grocery store.
Toth also urged attendees not to overlook Millennials, a group that is 80 million strong in the United States, alone, and will become the majority of the workforce this year.
“Millennials want what women want — balance between work and life, a flexible work environment, an opportunity to make a difference. They want to work and lead their own way and be judged on results,” Toth said. “In short, when you create a workplace that attracts and retains women you create a workplace that attracts and retains Millennials too.”
To support the Movement, NEW is launching an industry-wide awareness campaign and expanding its education and training platform with four new programs:
• The NEW Executive Institute, a 12-month learning course for emerging executives;
• NEW Career Accelerator workshops, developed in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership, to help companies benchmark and improve leadership skills of their high-potential women and men; and
• Two new skills-building webinar series, Innovation You and the Multigenerational Leadership Course, to help participants control a career path, navigate pitfalls and develop work/life balance in workplaces that tap into diverse talent of men and women of all races and ethnicities, gay and straight and multigenerational.
“We’re launching this movement because we’ve reached a tipping point. Because it is time to leverage the power of the Network community to advance women, build business and create a better workplace for all,” said presenter Nancy Krawczyk, VP, marketing and corporate partnerships at NEW.
Krawczyk added, “Today, we introduce a vision: a workplace with no limits where everyone can be their best. And today, we introduce a new image to go with that vision: three interlocking circles that represent the diversity and community of our network. And today we launch a movement with this manifesto: It’s time for a new leadership culture, less rigid and more flexible, less authoritative and more collaborative, less forced and more authentic.”
The “It’s Time” Movement and the new programs are a result of surveys, interviews and focus groups with more than 1,500 NEW members and industry people. It's an outgrowth of the NEW 2020 initiative chaired by NEW vice chair Karen Stuckey of Walmart. The findings showed that individuals sought greater opportunity, authenticity and work/life flexibility, while corporate partners wanted to find and keep high-potential talent and grow their businesses. These overlapping needs are the basis for the NEW transformation of the workplace.
The Network has more than 9,000 members in 20 regions across the United States and Canada, with more than 750 companies and 100 corporate partners. Members attend two national conferences and dozens of regional events, tap into educational webinars and other learning programs, and participate in a robust networking system.
As part of the movement, the Network of Executive Women unveiled a new logo and updates to its website, newonline.org.