What the Old Boys Knew

• Since 1995, Hewitt Associates has seen the formation of networking circles for its black associates, gays, Latinos, and Hispanics. Its Working Parents group predates them all.

• Two years ago, Arthur Andersen's St. Louis office launched a networking group for its executive women that is also open to the business community at large. This particular model is expected to be emulated in several other offices in the coming months.

• Booz-Allen & Hamilton created a task force three years ago to examine how inclusive the firm was for people with disabilities. The task force has since been replaced by a forum, which functions as a networking group for employees with disabilities and tailors support programs to their specific needs.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers has been piloting a networking group for minorities in its Florham Park, NJ, office this year. By next year, it plans to start a dozen more minority circles in offices around the country.

A response and catalyst

"The circles are simply one response to a changing environment within corporate America," says Barbara Bell Coleman, a consultant in the office of minority recruitment and retention at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Florham Park office. "Most firms are going through cultural changes as they expand and bring on a relatively new and more diverse workforce. There's certainly a much higher number of minorities in our firm today than there was five years ago."
 In the past, there may not have been enough people to even make up a circle, she adds. "But now, you have a number that makes up a community of people that collectively have issues and concerns they want to raise."
A number of informal minority networking groups have existed at PwC for some time. But in January, under Coleman's guidance, the firm began piloting a more formal version, Minority Circles, for African Americans and Hispanics. This Florham Park program, which is open to all levels, has about 50 participants. It has a major event every other month, but members hold casual meetings each week. By next year, the firm expects to launch a dozen more minority circles in offices around the country.
While the Circle provides networking and mentoring opportunities, it also functions as a communication vehicle leading to top managers. Its goals are also to raise diversity awareness within the firm and to mobilize a volunteer force to assist with outreach efforts and recruitment efforts.

Management buy-in

The PwC group has weekly participation from minority and nonminority partners, which, career experts say, is a key to a networking group's success. There has to be some visible sign of support. For the gays at Hewitt, it was the extension of health insurance benefits to domestic partners and the CEO visiting them at their meetings. The female executives at Arthur Andersen feel that their group has been accepted by their male coworkers, who frequently make referrals to it.
Two years ago, a team of women, including partner Nancy Pechloff and the office's human resources director, concluded that female executives wanted help in building their business development skills as well as a program for keeping on the partner track. They accomplished this by forming the group and inviting female executives from the business community at large to attend.
"We knew that the network would have more lasting support from Arthur Andersen if it had an external as well as internal focus," says Pechloff. "People could see that this could lead Arthur Andersen to be more successful."

The group has 1,100 executives on its mailing list, with 10 percent from Arthur Andersen. Both Arthur Andersen executives and potential clients are able to attend sessions on work/life balance, financial planning, and conflict resolution — as well as the very popular golf clinic. In addition to these group sessions, the Arthur Andersen members meet informally as well.
"We found that as executive women, we have so many work/life challenges that we needed to create an event which would accomplish multiple things at one time," says Jan Torrisi-Mokwa, the director of human resources in St. Louis. "I could go to this event and get mentoring from a partner like Nancy, meet outside executive women who have the same issues I have, and work on my business development skills."
By several measures, AA's Executive Women's Community appears to be meeting its goals. Retention rates for women improved by 30 percent. Participation in the group is consistently high, with about 400 women regularly attending. And, there are already several anecdotes about contacts with potential clients being made and business relationships strengthened.

The first group at Hewitt

In the early 1990s, a group of working moms at Hewitt Associates decided to meet occasionally to share information about juggling parenthood with a full-time job.
"Working parents have a certain set of needs that need to be addressed so that they are able to function more efficiently, both in their home and their professional lives," says Sue Richards, one of the group's leaders and a mother of two. She signed up five years ago, after returning to work when her youngest daughter was a 1-year-old.
A group of 150 to 200 (mostly) women regularly attend meetings, which cover topics such as sibling rivalry, summer child care arrangements, and what to do when a child is sick. Those who can't fit the meetings into their schedule receive summaries and tips via a group newsletter, which has 300 readers.
Hewitt's gay and lesbian group plays a greater role in changing culture at the firm. GALAA meets once a month to work on business initiatives such developing a diversity course for human resources. Currently, the goal is to attract more allies — the nongay and -lesbian associates — to the group.
"We know we have a lot of work to do as far as educating associates in general, and we know we can't do that alone," Balster says.
The group has certainly come a long way. Back in July 1996, an associate posted a note on the company's intranet which read, "Are there any gays or lesbians out there who would like to meet for lunch?" "The human resources department got responses from associates asking, 'Why are people meeting to have sex on Hewitt property during lunch?'" says Balster.

There are still some people, at times unit managers, who are not open to homosexuality, and occasionally there is negative feedback, he says. But the group has hit a number of milestones, including having CEO Dale Gifford and members of the Diversity Council attend a meeting in March. It was they who encouraged the group to celebrate gay awareness month in June. The group took it slowly, simply putting up posters around the various offices and making postings on the company's intranet.
"It's pushing the envelope a little more," says Balster. "Officially, they want it to be a grass roots effort. And we're happy to do the work, but we want to make sure we have the backing from above."

Because of the sensitive topic, confidentiality is a big issue with many members. All meeting notes are blind-carbon-copied. As a result, unless a member comes to a meeting, he or she won't know who else is in a group. Those who are comfortable with coming out have the option of being listed in the group's networking guide, which lists the members' contact information and is only used internally. Only two-thirds of the group have opted to be in the guide, but this includes those who have been designated as allies.
Obviously, privacy concerns have made it difficult to organize teams to work on group projects or even cast votes. "It's really hard to get people to do things when they don't know who's on their team," says Balster, who is one of the few people who knows every member. "When we need to make a decision, we send out e-mails to everybody, which are blind-carbon-copied. We can't have an e-mail discussion as you can with other topics. Everybody has to respond to me or my coleader, and we'll summarize and send it back."
However, Balster says that he's noticed a change in the openness and awareness of his coworkers over the years, and especially in the last six months. Internally, the members seem to be less worried about the confidentiality of the group.
"Personally, having the group makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. I know that I can put a picture of someone I'm being with on my desk and not get fired because of it," says Balster. "We know we have a long way to go, because a lot of people are still very scared for their careers."

Sidebar: At Booz, Consultants With Disabilities Blaze a Path

In less than four years, Jeff Schaffer, a principal in the information technology team at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, has helped the firm become an employer of choice for people with disabilities.

It's a story with a happy ending, but one that begins with personal tragedy. On Dec. 31, 1996, Schaffer and his wife, Carie, were on vacation when they were involved in a head-on collision in rural West Virginia. The accident left Schaffer with severe injuries, which at the time looked irreparable, to both feet and his left hip. But Schaffer searched for surgeons who would help him, and eventually had dozens of operations. He would spend months in a wheelchair, and three times he would have to learn to walk all over again.
Schaffer returned to work part-time after three months, and the experience made him quite aware of the challenges people with disabilities face.
"I had seen people along the way in rehab hospitals of whom I thought that there was absolutely no reason they couldn't be in the workforce," says Schaffer, who now gets around using a cane. "For some of them, the disabilities were not that profound. But even for those where they were, there were certainly technologies that could allow them to work and lead productive lives. But, either their own issues of self-doubt or other people's stigmas had been attached to their disabilities and kept them out of the workforce."

He approached Ralph Shrader, then the president of the firm's worldwide technology business, and offered to create a task force that would assess the firm's programs for people with disabilities and benchmark it against other companies. Shrader backed the initiative, which formed in September 1997, and committed representatives from all of the firm's consulting teams.
"Against our own industry and companies in general, we were doing very well. However, against our own internal standards, we felt we could do better. In fact, we felt we could become a leader," says Schaffer.
In early 1998, the task force released its list of 50 recommendations, which included changes in the sourcing of job candidates with disabilities, advertising, internal communication procedures, and reaching out to the community. In addition, although the firm was fully ADA-compliant in its facilities, the group suggested physical improvements such as installing power-assisted doors at the company's headquarters in McLean, VA. Shrader, who became CEO this year, funded all of the action items, and within two years, all of the recommendations were implemented.
In 1999, the task force was disbanded, and a Disabilities Forum took its place. "We didn't want a temporary-sounding organization like the task force. We needed a standing organization that would be around indefinitely and that could take on actions, plans, and objectives," Schaffer says.
The forum, which is chaired by Schaffer, is a purely voluntary organization of about 150 members. About half are people with disabilities, while half are family members, friends, or caregivers for people with disabilities. There is also heavy representation from the firm's HR department.
Booz-Allen's forum plans to continue its outreach, and specifically to tailor support programs to elements of the disabilities community. For example, it now is looking into inventing technology with collaborators that would make it easier for people who are hearing-impaired and do not speak to communicate more effectively without the use of a sign language interpreter.

The firm has received numerous accolades in recent years, including awards from the National Business and Disability Council, WE and BusinessWeek magazines, and the Virginia Rehabilitation Association.
 "Up until the last 10 years, before the advent of the Internet and other technologies, there was no way for many people with disabilities to be given the opportunity to be a part of society and fully contribute," says Schaffer, who sits on the employer subcommittee of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.
This past summer, Booz-Allen started a consulting business to help companies and nonprofit organizations be more inclusive of people with disabilities. It will also assist government agencies, which need to comply with the latest laws and regulations on accessibility.
"I want everyone to be able to achieve their potential," says Schaffer. "If I had listened to the people who told me what my life would be like after my car accident, I may never have left the hospital."

Sidebar: What to Think About Before You Join

The benefits of joining a networking group are countless. They range from influencing the policies of a company to providing information and resources to individuals, says Deb Koen, vice president at Career Development Services, Rochester, NY. However, it is important that you are your own person first.
"It is incumbent upon the individual employee to build a reputation that transcends the network," says Koen, author of Career Choice, Change, and Challenge (Jist, 2000). "The network is a strong and positive part of a person's identity, but you want your reputation and your image to be broader. You want to be known for your professional capabilities as well as being a member of the network."

Executive coach Andrea Kay recommends doing a bit of homework before signing up. Here are her tips:

• Interview the person in charge of the group to find out the group's goal. Ask him or her, "What is the intention of the group? What is it trying to accomplish? Why would someone like me join?"

• Talk to other members and find out what they have personally gained from being a member. Weigh that information against your own personal career development plan.

• Attend a meeting to see whether there is an alignment with your own personal values. Ask yourself, "Do I want to be associated with this group? Does it stand for my philosophy or beliefs? How do I feel about the people? Are these people I can learn from? Are they mentors? Are they people I can look up to?"

• Get a sense of how management truly looks at this group. Are they just playing lip service to it? Talk to your managers to get their feedback on how these groups are perceived, and ask them what their thoughts would be if you joined.