S5E6: Establishing a Workplace Culture Takes All Of Us feat. Dr. Susan Madsen & Nubia Peña

This season, we are exploring the experience of women in the
workplace, especially here in Utah. In a recent study published
by Wallet Hub, Utah ranked as the worst state for women’s
equality. The study put Utah last for women in education and
health and 49th in both political empowerment and workplace
environment for women. The study also found that the income gap
between men and women was worse in Utah than in any other state
and that Utah is seriously lacking when it comes to women in
executive leadership positions. 





Here to help us make sense of the numbers and to paint a picture
of the landscape for professional women in Utah and beyond are
Dr. Susan Madsen and Nubia Peña. 





Dr. Susan Madsen is the founding director of the Utah Women &
Leadership Program and the inaugural Karen Haight Huntsman
Endowed Professor of Leadership at Utah State University, and
Nubia Peña is the Senior Advisor of Equity and Opportunity for
the Cox/Henderson Administration and the director for the Utah
Division of Multicultural Affairs.





Listen to this dynamic conversation as these three women discuss
women who live at the intersection of sexism and other
marginalized communities, working on making workplace culture a
more intentional product, and their shared optimism for the
future of working women in Utah.





Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School
of Business and is produced by University FM.



Episode Quotes:




Turning gaps to opportunities





[10:13] Nubia Peña: I created the opportunity framework for our
team that follows a three-pronged approach, which is
data-informed, opportunity-driven, and people-inspired. By using
the data to understand employee climate, culture, and
satisfaction, we can then identify the gaps that may cause us to
lose great talent to other companies. And those gaps would then
be turned into opportunities so that we better serve our
employees, which are our most important assets. So, we really
want to tell the story of Utah. While we know that there are
challenges, we also know that there are some great successes
coming out of our industry and corporate leaders. We know that
Utah is probably, and most likely, in the next five to ten years,
going to be leading for being some of the best and
family-friendliest corporations in the nation.





The power of collaboration in leadership





[15:48] Dr. Susan Madsen: Don't just do a side women's network;
connect with your leadership team, align your goals with the
goals of the company, be strategic, and help your leaders
understand how important this is. And I'll tell you, there's
numbers, research, and there’s the business case. It's going on
and on that when men and women work together in more equal
numbers on teams, in leadership roles in the C-suite, on
corporate boards, there are so many benefits for the teams, for
the individuals, for the communities, but then in society as
well. When you learn things at work, you take them to your
family, your congregations, and your community.





Utah's unique approach to empowering women in the
workforce





[21:59] Dr. Susan Madsen: Utah is unique, and the leaders of
this, as we're calling it in A Bolder Way Forward, are looking
even differently than other states. There are so many women who
want to work professionally but want to work part-time; that is
unique. And so the leaders in that spoke and another one on
workforce development are working on helping companies understand
that women can work part-time and contribute, and it can benefit
everyone involved.





Utah way: Having the value of choice for women





[18:14] Nubia Peña: Our desire in championing the beauty of all
of these pathways that can create thriving for women in the
workforce and women to choose to stay at home is the value of
choice. And as we partner with our corporate leaders with our
legislative sector, when we're thinking about all the people that
are needed to create the type of state where there is an
abundance of opportunities, there is something that many of us
know, which is called the Utah way. And we think differently and
out of the box.



Show Links:

Susan Madsen | Huntsman | USU

Susan R. Madsen

Susan R. Madsen - Inaugural Karen Haight Huntsman Endowed
Professor of Leadership - Utah State University - Jon M. Huntsman
School of Business | LinkedIn

Susan R. Madsen (@SusanRMadsen) / X

Susan R. Madsen (@susanrmadsen) • Instagram 

Utah Women and Leadership Project | USU

Nubia Peña | Governor Spencer J. Cox

Nubia Peña - LinkedIn

A Bolder Way Forward | USU