Guest Opinion: Culture shift needed to bring change
BY ELYSSA APPLETON | Corporate communications, Mittera Group
Editor’s Note: This is part two in Elyssa Appleton’s series chronicling how she and a group of about 30 women created the Mittera Women’s Group. Since the group’s inception, major positive changes have been implemented at the company, benefiting more than 750 employees. Last week, Appleton wrote about how group members identified a need for the group. This week, she talks about how she and other members took the Mittera Women’s Group from idea to reality.
Embarking on workplace gender initiatives requires a company culture shift. For that shift to be successful, you have to get buy-in from the top, which can prove difficult if leadership doesn’t share your philosophy.
Fortunately, embracing and remaining responsive to change is part of the formula propelling Mittera Group forward. Forming a women’s group was another opportunity for our company to be true change agents, with the goal of recruiting and retaining female leadership in a predominantly male industry.
Once my colleagues and group co-chairs, Katie Miller-Smith, director of digital marketing, and May DeHaan, former director of strategic analysis, received the green light to start planning, we scoured Google to discover what other women’s groups were doing.
Here’s what we found worked for others and us too:
Start with a core group. Our first few meetings included a team of women in a range of positions from every Mittera Group company, each recommended to participate by her director or general manager. Starting small and strategic was important for our time together to be productive and meaningful.
Once you figure out your purpose, start inviting others to join your mission. If you start exclusive, make sure you finish inclusive.
Ask for feedback. The group was asked to weigh in on everything from what they hoped to get out of our meetings to how often to meet. It was important for every member to feel a sense of ownership in what we intended to accomplish, for everyone’s voice to be heard and actualized.
Skip the fluff at first. Women’s groups tend to get a bad rap from outsiders because there is a perceived focus on “soft” issues. While things like work-life balance and professional development were certainly top of mind, we incorporated those issues into larger group initiatives that would ultimately impact the entire company.
If you’re considering starting a women’s group at your workplace, the above pointers are a solid place to start. Don’t feel like you need to know the long-term plans for the group from the get-go. Your members will help you determine that.
Along the way, you’ll figure out best practices and encounter some roadblocks — many of which, more than a year later, we’re still slowly uncovering. It’s all part of the learning process.
Next week: What the Mittera Women’s Group discerned through triumphs and challenges.
Elyssa Appleton began her career at a public affairs and public relations firm in Des Moines, and then took over programming, media relations and fundraising for a statewide nonprofit. She currently works in corporate communications at Mittera Group and serves as a freelance writer and editor as well as a consultant for a local autism center.
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