WFF event notes women's progress and challenges ahead

Nation's Restaurant News,  June 11, 2007  by Robin Lee Allen

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CHICAGO -- The role of women in the restaurant industry has grown steadily over time, but there still are barriers to full inclusion that must be torn down, said Marilyn Carlson Nelson in a keynote address at the Women's Foodservice Forum's Annual Leadership Luncheon.

The chief executive and chairman of Minneapolis-based Carlson Cos. said companies must help women manage both their careers and homes by offering, among other things, access to daycare and health care, and creating a culture that does not shut out women who briefly leave the workforce to have children.

"We have a tailwind--business does acknowledge the creativity of women," Nelson told attendees. "We cannot stop here. We must keep asking ourselves what are the new issues?"

Finding solutions to those issues is particularly important now as the United States girds for increasing economic competition from China--a challenge that will require the talents of all people--and projections that women will make up 61.5 percent of the workforce by 2015, Nelson said.

"So what do you stand for?" she asked the crowd. "For me, you can be competitive in business and still win if you have a caring, compassionate workplace."

At Carlson, parent company of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide in Carrollton, Texas, women make up 40 percent of the executives, 30 percent of the executive committee and 30 percent of the board of directors. In recent years, the company has added daycare to its campuses and created financial accommodations for paternity leave as well as infertility and adoption benefits--all geared toward making it easier for women and men to work.

In addition, the company's headquarters now has a small health clinic so employees don't have to be out of the office all day for doctors' appointments on less-serious health issues.

Nelson acknowledged that Carlson--along with the rest of the business world--was once much less progressive. She recalled that when she was first employed as a financial analyst, she was known as M.C. Nelson, a purposely genderless name. And when she was three months pregnant, she was given an office with a separate entrance so her male colleagues and customers would not see her growing belly.

"There are moments when you must take a stand or sit down and shut up forever," she said. "I've had a few of those myself."

For instance, she recalled as the first woman on a nonprofit board not being allowed to use the front door of the club where meetings were held. As the first woman on a trust board, she discovered that the trust floor where meetings were held had no ladies' room--and that the other board members would often go into the men's room and make decisions.

"So I was thrilled three years ago when a group went into the ladies' room and made a decision," she said.

When Nelson joined Carlson in the 1980s, she said she had an uphill battle in changing the corporate culture and her father's mind-set, which had been greatly influenced by the Great Depression of the 1930s.

At one low point when she considered quitting, she said the lyrics of Helen Reddy's 1972 song, "I Am Woman" bolstered her:

   "You can bend but never
   break me
   'cause it only serves to
   make me
   more determined to achieve
   my final goal.
   And I come back even stronger,
   not a novice any longer,
   'cause you've deepened the
   conviction in my soul."

Going forward, people need to organize around the issues that affect us all, Nelson said, adding that an increasingly diverse workforce should help lead to creative solutions.

"You are the answer," she told the attendees."When I find myself saying, 'Why don't they do something about that?' I ask myself, 'What am I doing?'"

Also during the luncheon, the Coca-Cola Co. was recognized for its commitment to gender diversity and the advancement of female leaders with the second annual Jackie B. Trujillo SOAR award. The award, sponsored by U.S. Foodservice, is named for the retired chairwoman of KFC franchisee Harman Management and one of the founders of the WFF.

"Jackie moved through her career with such grace that she almost made it look effortless," said Chris Lowe, president of Coca-Cola Foodservice, in accepting the award. "Those who want to soar should follow her."

rallen@nrn.com

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