Female Perspective

Cable told the Hill Thurs about its achievements in improving workforce issues for women at a WICT event that included Rep Diane Watson (D-CA). The idea was to share cable’s work with other industries. As NCTA pres/CEO Kyle McSlarrow put it during the event, "The cable industry has a lot to tell… And there is a lot we can learn." A panel of execs, which included Bright House‘s Nomi Bergman and Discovery‘s Jennifer Dangar, spoke about the opportunities cable offers women and WICT’s annual PAR Initiative, which studies pay equity, advancement and resources for women. Since the PAR study began in ’03, the number of companies with formal pay equity policies has jumped from 29% to more than 60% in ’07. Food Net pres Brooke Johnson talked about how she never saw a female gm when she was in the broadcast business and how excited she was when joined the cable industry and discovered 2 of the biggest nets were run by women ( USA by Kay Koplovitz and Nick by Gerry Laybourne). The female execs spoke about what companies can do to retain women, and not just those in senior level positions. Comcast has started allowing some CSRs to work from home. While there was an initial resistance by some who were afraid they’d "sit around and watch ‘Oprah’ all day," the result is that in-home CSRs answer an avg of 12 calls/hour vs 10 calls/hour for those in call centers, according to vp, talent & leadership initiatives Grace Killelea. "We’re giving them an opportunity to be successful in their lives, the way their lives really are," she said.