Mom Corps partners with hundreds of progressive businesses a year, from SMBs to Fortune 500s, to help them understand the benefits of a contemporary and adaptable workplace. Take a look at how this week’s featured organization made flexibility a part of its culture.
Introducing flexibility to a high-profile investment firm in New York City
A high-profile New York investment firm was faced with the hard realization that it was losing its best talent (both men and women) to life events like the birth of a child, the need to care for elderly parents, and the desire for more flexibility. Senior leadership formed an internal task force to address this critical issue of employee turn-over. At first, the task force tried changing the firm’s internal policies to “offer” flexibility to employees in the form of flexible schedules and the occasional remote workday. However, they found that not one member of the firm took advantage of the new flexible work policies for fear that it would jeopardize their reputation within the company and ability to advance.
They called on Mom Corps to offer other ideas for strategy and implementation. We offered a creative solution initiating a pilot program to bring talent in from the outside to model and lead a cultural shift towards flexible work. We found a seasoned, successful investment banker to join the ranks who wasn’t afraid of the culture and could set a great example of “responsible flexibility.” The new banker led by example—she consistently worked flexible hours and proved to be a very valuable addition to the team. It wasn’t long before others were following suit and taking advantage of the flexible options the organization offered.
The result? The firm reported it would convert the flexibility program into a strategic initiative after seeing significant decreases in turnover within the first year alone. As demonstrated by this organization, implementing a pilot program to test new productivity methodologies can prove to be an efficient and low-risk way to encourage flexibility within a workplace culture.
Also consider the following. According to the most recent Mom Corps survey, 77 to 79 percent of working parents agree that they would stay with a company longer if it offered flexible work options. What’s more—60 percent of adults agree that the state of the economy has no impact on their desire for increased flexibility at work. Offering flexible work options is all it’s cracked up to be. They attract top talent, maximize employee retention and drive productivity, all at little or no additional cost to the organization.