S5E8: Check Your Humble At The Door feat. Katie Abby
31m | Nov 16, 2023We’ve been talking this season about the challenges women face in the workplace, especially here in Utah. But today, we are going to pivot to talk about some solutions, and how the Eccles School is working to prepare women – and all students – for a more successful and equitable workplace experience.
With us today is Katie Abby, Special Advisor to the President of the University of Utah and Assistant Dean of Business Career Success and Corporate Outreach at the David Eccles School of Business. An experienced staffing executive, Katie graduated from the U in 1984 and, in 1990, co-founded VISTA Staffing Solutions, where she served as COO and then President.
She transferred her skills as an entrepreneur to build a professional placement firm at the Eccles School and is now scaling this program to other colleges on the University of Utah campus.
In our last episode of season 5, Katie sits down with host Frances Johnson and chats about building confidence, becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, practicing empathy in the workplace, and what millennials and boomers can learn from each other.
Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
Expanding company perspectives on women's skills
11:25: We encourage employers to treat women differently. The key point is, women have different skill sets. They have different things that motivate them. They bring a different set of values to the organization. So if you try to hire a group of women or individuals from underrepresented groups and then treat them as you would the white male population in your organization, you're probably not going to succeed. We encourage employers to do bias training for all of their staff, and in particular, people in management and leadership positions.
On teaching the value of speaking up
18:03: We want our female students to stop saying, "My work should speak for itself," and teach them how to speak up for themselves, know and appreciate how important they are to any employer, and know and appreciate that they have a unique skill set.
The importance of articulating your strengths and value as women in the workplace
09:24: It all starts with building that confidence, understanding what it is that you bring to the table, and then learning how to articulate that.
Why putting employees first is the key to a successful workplace
03:52: We decided to create this incredible environment where our philosophy is that the customer comes second. And by that, we felt it was very important to put our staff and our employees first.
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