Women will be force of business change

"There are gender trends evolving that will lead to radical changes in the workplace in the next 10 years — and businesses need to learn the differences between women and men to prepare for them."

Carol Kleiman / Syndicated columnist The Seattle Times

That warning comes from Martha Barletta, president of The TrendSightGroup, a consulting firm that focuses on marketing to women.

"There are not an abundance of corporations even raising the issue of gender trends — instead, many businesses are managing people they have no understanding of," said Barletta, author of "Marketing to Women."

Anticipating trends affecting women is a necessary survival skill for businesses that need women not only as customers but as employees, she says.

Barletta says most of the U.S. labor-force growth is projected to come from women. "Men are leaving jobs faster than they’re coming in, and women are entering faster than they’re coming out," she said.

She notes women are expected to account for 57 percent of the growth in the U.S. labor force between 1992 and 2005.

"Another trend is that women increasingly are better educated — they’re earning 57 percent of all bachelor’s degrees and 59 percent of all master’s," said Barletta. "In our information society, workers most in demand are those with the best education. And guess what: That’s women."

And then there’s that glass ceiling, which the consultant reflects on positively. "A lot of attention is paid to the fact that women are not moving ahead as fast as they should, but women have made an enormous impact in the workplace in only 30 years," Barletta said. "That may sound like a long time, but compared to the years of history preceding it, it’s a radical change."

Changing leadership approaches is another trend.

"Every study I’m aware of finds that women managers are more effective than men in decision making, analysis, so-called people skills and communications," she said. "Women have emotional X-ray vision. And they deliver results."

E-mail questions to Carol Kleiman at [email protected]. Copyright 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company

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