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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Lambeth Hockwald

Aired June 22, 2002 - 18:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, also on the health front, in the workplace there's an understanding among select companies for the needs of their female employees. The current issue of "Health" magazine looks at the top 10 companies with programs aimed at helping women. With us now to discuss this is writer Lambeth Hockwald from "Health" magazine. Lambeth, hello, and welcome.

LAMBETH HOCKWALD, "HEALTH" MAGAZINE: Welcome -- thank you.

OSBORN: Now, I understand in your study you looked at companies which had a high percentage of women, and sure enough, there were certain programs in place to help those women.

HOCKWALD: Yes, there were plenty in place, actually. There's a lot of women who are loving the fact that they work at companies that support them.

OSBORN: Well, let's talk about some of the details of what your findings included.

HOCKWALD: Sure. Well, we found really that women appreciate it the most when they have a company that respects what they need. Which, in our story we found that women love having on-site mammograms, they appreciate having an on-site gym, and even enjoy organic food at their company cafeteria, if it's offered.

OSBORN: Well to have things like an on-site concierge where one can order flowers, etc.

HOCKWALD: Exactly, which is actually great for both men and women. How nice to be able to order a birthday cake without even having to leave the office. And you have it waiting as soon as you're ready to leave the office. One less stop that you have to make on the way home.

OSBORN: You know, one of the big picture issues which seem to inform both your studies and its findings are that a number of feminist intellectuals and just those in greater culture have often made the point that women, particularly in modern society, face the pressures of needing to find a variety of different roles, meaning the social prescriptions for what's expected of them, perhaps is greater.

HOCKWALD: Absolutely, and in fact there's been studies that have shown that women tend to worry about usually about a dozen things at once, which is a lot to juggle. And then when you add on a full day at work and a lot of pressure there, there's a lot of reasons that these companies are really worth saluting.

OSBORN: Well, let's talk about a couple of them, like Tom's of Maine, I understand, gives employees, female employees, and all of them slightly more vacation time?

HOCKWALD: Exactly. At Tom's of Maine, which is a small family run company of just a few, over a hundred employees, women and men actually can use five percent of their work time to volunteer. So, when they interviewed a real woman, a mom, who works at Tom's of Maine, she was able to use that time to go to her son's school and not feel guilty about it. That's the idea of our story was that these were companies that support and understand women's multiple roles in life.

OSBORN: now, of course in part the rationale here is happier employees are therefore more productive employees, correct?

HOCKWALD: Absolutely. And the companies we found actually showed -- definitely showed lower turnover rates and higher productivity. So, it's a win-win for the company and the employee.

OSBORN: I was curious, reading through your research about one thing, which is Patagonia has an environmental program? Tell me about that.

HOCKWALD: Yeah, at Patagonia, which is known for supporting the environment anybody, women or men, can spend doing internship at an environmental non-profit that they support. The idea there is that just like they have surfboards stowed underneath the staircases at Patagonia, which is just miles from the beach in Ventura, the idea is that you can be able to enjoy your home life and be philosophical about a cause that you believe in, and enjoy it and be supported by your employer.

OSBORN: Health magazine's Lambeth Hockwald. Thank you very much for talking about this study. Absoultely. And the companies involved. Appreciate it.

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