FORT WAYNE – Three of four local GM workers are men, making it relatively easy for them to find camaraderie with co-workers.
The women in the southwest Allen County truck assembly plant have to work a little harder for the same result.
That doesn’t surprise Cathy Severson, administrative assistant to the plant manager. She has worked at General Motors for 32 years, including time spent on the factory floor.
Manufacturing has “been, for a majority of time, a man’s world,” she said.
Severson finds support from fellow members of Women in Manufacturing, a GM affinity group whose mission statement calls for the group to “attract, engage, develop and retain great women employees.”
GM makes no secret of the bottom-line benefits such groups bring to an employer. The company cites the findings from a 2004 Catalyst Inc. study of the link between corporate financial performance and gender diversity.
“Companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial performance than companies with the lowest women’s representation,” the report concluded.
It makes business sense for the Detroit-based manufacturer to reach out to the 47 percent of U.S. workers who are women, according to Labor Department data. Also, women now earn 60 percent of all U.S. bachelor’s and master’s degrees, according to federal data.
Even men see the need to support women in the workplace.
Michael Armstrong, shift leader in trim at the local GM plant, said the factory’s men aren’t as organized with professional development and other programs, but he doesn’t feel slighted. Workplace minorities can benefit from groups that allow members to share stories and support, he said.
Women in Manufacturing, which has about 50 local and more than 2,000 companywide members, was created in 1999 for salaried staff. United Auto Workers Local 2209 has its own group for female workers on the production line.
Other GM affinity groups include one for Asian/African-American workers and another for Asian Pacific employees.
Severson, 51, wants her employer to grow financially strong. But the women-centered affinity group’s primary benefits are more personal to her. She relies on the group for mentoring, networking and additional training.
Workshops have focused on topics including how to use PowerPoint software for presentations and how to run an effective meeting.
Members also share ideas for how to tackle problems at work and at home.
“Sometimes you get some really good ideas of how to juggle things or approach things,” said Severson, a single mother.
She believes women approach situations differently from men. Armstrong agrees.
“I think there’s a little bit more of a soft-side approach … understanding the human element of a situation,” he said.
But Armstrong, who has been with GM almost 15 years, doesn’t see a strict pink-and-blue division between how women approach things and how men do. It depends on the individual, he said.
Severson has worked at the local plant since July 1987, when she transferred from a Chicago GM plant that was being closed. In more than three decades with the company, she has never looked elsewhere for a job. When she needed to work more day shifts so she could be home at night as her son was growing up, supervisors helped her find appropriate job openings within the company.
But life is about more than work. Some events, including a recent dinner at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, are about having a good time. Others are focused on good deeds. Women in Manufacturing allows members to give to the community by organizing fundraisers.
Susan Roth, president of the local chapter, said the next event on the calendar is a walk to raise money for cancer research.
Stephanie Jentgen, GM spokeswoman for the Allen County plant, is in her second month with the company.
“I was actually surprised by the number of women working here,” she said, revealing that she’d expected to see fewer than 25 percent of the workforce.
Jentgen appreciates the emotional support the company’s female workers offer each other.
The former spokeswoman for SCAN, or Stop Child Abuse & Neglect, also appreciates the opportunity to support local non-profits by participating in Women in Manufacturing.
In May, the group worked with the union to sponsor an event they hoped would raise enough money to grant the wish of one sick child through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Instead, the motorcycle run and car show generated enough money for five seriously ill children to receive wishes.
“We had no clue that we would be that successful,” Severson said.
These days, GM’s female employees are finding power in the workplace. The local plant was led by a woman, Cathy Clegg, from January 2003 to November 2007. Clegg left when GM promoted her to a corporate position.
Severson said women are treated fairly and taken as seriously as their male counterparts.
“The working environment for women,” she said, “has improved over the years tremendously.”
