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May 2009

Women in Aviation

by Ellen Schmidt

Thursday, May 21 Champaign Country Club

11:30 a.m.:  Registration and Networking

11:45 a.m.:  Buffet Opens

12:15 p.m.:  Mtg/Program
Karen Koenig is a long-time pilot for UPS.  She offers an informative, entertaining interpretation of her work as a female pilot. You won’t want to miss this one!!

Registrations are due by noon on Monday, May 18. Please indicate if you are bringing a guest.  Register online now! 

 *Remember, there will be a $5 late fee for reservations received after the Monday Noon deadline.  Attendees with late or no reservations will be permitted to attend as seating is available.  

Pre-register online and send a check for $15 to ECCC, P.O. Box 61, Champaign, IL 61824-0061 OR pre-register online and pay on day of luncheon.  Contact the Treasurer with questions about registration. 

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Mentoring Women

President’s Message

by Hope Wheeler

Finding and retaining talented and experienced workers is a critical need for most businesses.  Turnover is very costly to operations.  Mentoring new employees and helping them become successful on the job is one way to reduce turnover.  Women can benefit greatly from a female who has knowledge and experience and can “show them the ropes.” 

Women need mentors, specifically other women who are willing to take the time to help them learn how to be successful in their career.  I read some research from The Women Speak project that shows women of all ages can be extremely competitive and negative to younger women entering a profession.  The study reported women feeling isolated and alone on the job.  It also reported that women did not feel they could burden others with their workplace issues and concerns.  This attitude makes it difficult for women to mentor and be mentored.  If we as employers don’t use mentoring techniques, we can face the costs of high turnover rates and ineffective job performance.

Mentoring programs can help women transition from little to no education or job experience by assisting them with educational needs, clothing, social skills, and overall support.  They can also help employees become more confident and allow them to ask questions in a comfortable one-on-one setting.  Career goals and development can be reviewed on a regular basis.  Mentors can learn valuable information from the meetings such as what we can do to improve the workplace and increase employee satisfaction.

Consider starting a mentoring program at your company if you do not have one.  My company has had a good program in place for several years and it is really a selling point to recruits, especially for women.  Make sure everyone has a mentor, preferably one of their choice that they would be comfortable talking with.  Schedule regular meetings—if you don’t schedule them they may not happen.  Meeting outside of the office can be a good idea.  Find out what the employee wants to talk about.  We as women are often easier to talk to than some of the men—you may be a popular choice for a mentor!

Mentoring helps build a healthy workforce and ensures that new, excited, and trained women come up through the ranks.  And that will help your business!    

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Clear Your Clutter

by Ellen Schmidt

Our April speaker was Kathy Sweedler, Extension Educator, University of Illinois Extension.   She offered a lot of good ideas on how to clear your clutter.  She suggested that you pick from one of four options for what you might consider your “clutter.” 

1.        Throw away

2.       Recycle

3.       Donate

4.       Sell

She suggested working in 10 minute increments focusing on a small specific area of your home.  Take a laundry basket with you for those things that you find that might have another place in the home, that way you won’t get distracted while putting something away before finishing the de-cluttering of your area. 

Kathy recommended that if there is a question as to whether you will be using certain items again, box them up, seal and date it.  If in 6 months you have not used it you probably don’t need it. 

Suggestions on how you can cut down on the catalogs that you get in the mail (an option instead of moving) can be found at www.catalogchoice.org

For more information on Clearing your Clutter, visit www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/clutter/

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