S5E8: Check Your Humble At The Door feat. Katie Abby

We’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.



Show Links:




Katie Abby - Eccles School of Business Bio

Katie Abby - LinkedIn

VISTA Staffing Solutions