Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Ranks Scripps Networks Among Top Performers in PAR Surveys
Pay Equity, Advancement Opportunities and Resources for Work/Life Balance are measured.

Best Programmer
At Scripps Networks, women are in the majority of three important metrics: women as a proportion of employees, of managers and of mid-managers. As of 2009, 56% of Scripps employees are women, which is an 11% increase over the Programmer average of 45%.

Scripps also surpasses industry averages with women now comprising 54% of Scripps managers, compared to 43.1% among all WICT PAR Programmers, and 51% of mid-managers, a 7.9% increase over the Programmer average of 43%. One of the strategies Scripps employed to attract top female talent was to offer employees a $500 recruitment bounty for successful referrals. Scripps has also advanced qualified part-time employees into full time roles.

Transparency is a recognizable hallmark of Scripps’ pay practices. Quarterly pay equity audits and evaluating industry and professional compensation data ensure that salary levels are consistent with other companies that have innovative pay equity practices. In 2009, Scripps initiated a comprehensive compensation practice that includes a compensation statement to employees that iterates their compensation, including merit raises and bonuses, along with Scripps’ compensation policies.

Women lead several lines of business at Scripps, providing multiple role models for rising employees. In addition to its internal mentoring program, Scripps partnered with WICT to offer mentoring opportunities to seniors at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. By collaborating with faculty and WICT leaders, Scripps crafted a program that mentors 23 college seniors and identifies career opportunities in cable telecommunications.

This year, Scripps offered employees a multifaceted wellness program that encourages healthy choices and equips employees with tools for health success. One such tool includes the provision of a personal health coach to customize individual wellness programs, and provide biometric readings to measure results.

Pay Equity
Traditionally, the accepted standard for pay equity has been equal pay for equal work. With its Talent Framework project, Scripps Networks is evolving pay equity practices to address the business reality that trends away from rigid job descriptions in exchange for equitable pay based on similar skill level and responsibility.

This strategy is based on compensation policies that assign job and pay classifications after a careful determination of the functional similarities, underlying characteristics and levels of accountability for results rather than solely on hierarchical placement.

This long-term effort is in sync with emerging pay equity legislation and case law, say Scripps executives. Many employers compare pay levels among employees with identical titles and responsibilities, yet current trends indicate that a more accurate comparison evaluates titles with similar responsibilities, qualifications and functional requirements. Scripps’ Talent Framework project is designed to provide snapshots of equitable pay at any given point, across titles and departments, and to provide historical context. This organic structure also reflects the evolution of career paths and career growth at Scripps.

Scripps used a surprisingly low-tech tool to establish similar job clusters: Post-it notes. Armed with yellow post-it notes bearing employees’ names, managers grouped employees by functional clusters. This exercise allowed easy recognition of the patterns that emerged and fostered trust among managers and human resources staff as consensus on compensation decisions was reached.

Scripps Networks leverages industry and professional compensation data to benchmark internal salary levels and consistent with other pay equity innovators, conducts quarterly internal pay equity audits. Scripps keeps employees informed with a minimum annual summary of their compensation, including merit raises and bonuses, contextualized with Scripps’ compensation policies, practices and priorities.

Advancement Opportunities
With four of its five networks targeting women viewers 18-49 and 25-54, it might appear that Scripps Networks’ strategy to advance women is effortless. Nevertheless, Scripps has persistently recalibrated its talent management programs to increase the proportion of women and women of color, in nontraditional roles. Their focus on repositioning women to expand operational responsibility has placed Scripps as the Advancement leader in the 2009 WICT PAR Initiative.

In a period of economic turmoil and unclear career paths, Scripps has deployed one of the most effective, yet underused techniques to retain top female talent: one-on-one communication. Engaging top female performers in candid, ongoing discussions about their ambitions and opportunities is a compelling retention tool, one that has also been effectively used by 2009 PAR Best Companies Discovery Communications, Turner Broadcasting Inc. and several other PAR Best Companies from prior years.

“Growing in Place” is a development trend born out of today’s workplace of multigenerational talent pools and interconnecting functional duties. Scripps’ organic approach continually redefines the scope of responsibilities for each high-potential female designee. Developing new skills, enhancing brands and leading oversight of technology projects are the experiences that position Scripps female employees for leadership positions.

Advancing a position through ‘stretch’ assignments allows high potential employees to add diversified tools to their toolbox, even when a more senior position is available. This flexibility also includes location, whether employees are based in Knoxville, or a media hub. “Growing in Place” allows Scripps to retain top performers who might otherwise consider leaving because of title or geographic limitations.

As Scripps expands in the interactive, multiplatform and international arenas, its strategies that support the advancement of women provide a solid foundation for the talent infrastructure required to deliver interlocking content, platforms, divisions and networks.