NANCY & DENNIS: WORKING AT A WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS

I'm privileged to work at a Woman-run business and have for ten years. We are a small software company that is not only women-run, but feminist-run! We actively mentor women, both in our firm and at local colleges as part of a feminist outreach program. We have an affirmative action program that seeks to hire women, move them into positions of more responsibility, and eventually into management. Even though Nancy and I have decided that her career takes precedence over mine, I've managed to establish a good career for myself. I'm deeply satisfied with the work, the opportunity to work for a team of driven female executives, and the opportunity to mentor and promote the careers of talented women. The relationship Nancy and I have has been instrumental in my success working for and with women at the company. I suspect that men with traditional ideas of male-female relationships may be at a disadvantage at female-led entities.

We weren't always a woman-owned business. Our company was once part of a conglomerate, and, while we had women in a few key positions, we were a typical sexist male enclave of the type that is all too common in the business world. When our corporate parent decided to sell us in 2002, some women managers quickly banded together, secured loans, and – much to the chagrin of the all-male executive staff – bought the company.

Overnight things changed. The all-male executive team resigned or stayed with the conglomerate. The new executive team consisted of eight high-energy, assertive women. Soon afterward, Tom, a friend also in an FLR, and I were added to the executive team as managers. Our task would be to help the executives realize their vision for the company, especially their desire to bring women into the organization. We were chosen because of our well-established feminist credentials and because we had always worked well with the women. Some of the male employees ridiculed Tom and me as being members of the “Girl's Club,” but the “Girl’s Club” was a good place to be once the girls were in charge.

Our new CEO, Carol, had a dual vision. She wanted to grow a profitable business, but she also wanted actively to attract and promote female computer programmers. She realized that there were too few women in the lucrative software field, and she wanted to change that. She also wanted to improve the situation for our mostly female clerical and secretarial staff. We all realized that unless women were economically empowered, they were dependent on men; this was unacceptable to all of us. We put together an aggressive program not only to bring women into our company, but to empower them. Some of the many things we did include:

• Got our company certified as a woman-owned business. This has many advantages including the ability to obtain government contracts specifically set aside for women-owned businesses. It is also good for corporate relations since many companies want to do business with woman-owned firms.
• Increased the salaries of secretarial and clerical positions, largely occupied by women. We also put together promotional opportunities for women in these roles to move them out of these functions.
• Forged relationships with a local college to mentor and recruit women
• Put together and carried out an affirmative action plan with aggressive targets for recruiting and promoting woman
•  Conducted mandatory workshops for male employees on how to work for women. Even the most senior men remaining in the company were likely to be reporting to women in the new paradigm. Learning to be open, communicative, and, yes, deferential was a benefit to some of the more open-minded men both at work and at home.
• Accelerated the promotion of women into key technical positions. We ensured their success by assigning Tom and me to assist women in transitioning to their new managerial roles. Tom and I were responsible for the women's success.
• Provided women with management training as well as training in assertiveness. Centuries of patriarchy have conditioned women to “be nice,” something that men have capitalized on to usurp their authority. For the business to succeed, even the most petite woman has to have obedience from even the biggest man.
• Actively supported women's groups and causes. Men were encouraged to participate in these efforts; those men who developed feminist credentials have done well.
• Advocated for women-owned businesses and economically empowered women by guiding them into technical fields

Tom and I have done well. Many of the behaviors we developed at home under our strong wives have benefited us in a female-led company. Strong independent women love to have their authority recognized and appropriate deference shown. Unfortunately many men aren't so conditioned as Tom and I are. “Yes, Ma'am!” goes a long way, as does making and serving a good cup of coffee!

The results? The company has succeeded beyond anything our executive team – yes, it’s still in place – might have imagined:

• We have grown three-fold.
• Over 60% of our technical managers are female.
• Over half of our technical professionals are female.
• Communications, human resources, and finance are all female-managed. The latter two units are all-female staffed.

Our program to promote women out of traditionally female-staffed secretarial and clerical positions has resulted in 60% of them moving to other positions. What was surprising was that, with the increased salaries we provided for these positions, we have had a huge influx of male candidates for these positions. As a result, over half of these traditionally female-staffed positions, all subordinate to women, are now staffed by men.

How's that for role reversal?