A View from the White House Summit and a Look at the Business Case for Employee-Friendly Policies

I couldn’t entirely relate to Valerie Jarrett’s story detailing the discomforts of being nearly nine months pregnant and stuck working at an uncomfortable conference table until 2 a.m. But, like her, I do clearly remember the stress of trying to make it home in time for activities with my children when they were little. Valerie, a senior advisor to President Obama, told a great story at Monday’s White House Summit on Working Families about having trouble focusing in a meeting with her then-boss Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, because she was worried about making it to a Halloween parade at school. That’s something to which every working parent can relate. The mayor noticed and asked her what was up, and she candidly explained. So, what did he do? He asked her why she was still at work and urged her to go quickly, before she missed the cute photo-ops.

We don’t all have bosses like that, but we should. Valerie said after that, she worked twice as hard for the mayor and his causes.

The White House summit brought together labor, business, policy and economic leaders to talk about how to make the American workplace more flexible, diverse, inclusive, and productive than it is today.

Bringing about this kind of change will require a serious commitment from the top, and I’m so grateful to President Obama for his leadership on the issue. As he pointed out, 21-century families deserve 21-century workplaces, and changing the way we do things in the workplace will truly help us compete globally.

I had the privilege of meeting with the President for a short time Monday in a small group to talk about what business leaders can do to drive change and about the need to share best practices. In the end, I believe that’s how we’ll bring about innovative and positive changes in this country. I don’t believe government can solve these problems. It’s essential that America’s corporate leaders take this on and do so voluntarily. CEOs and boards need to talk about these issues passionately and publicly, set goals around them, and then hold management accountable for meeting those goals.

There are clearly moral and ethical reasons for making our workplaces more family friendly and inclusive, but, as President Obama said, there also are sound business reasons for doing so– the topic of the panel discussion I participated in at the summit.

As the head of a client services firm, I spend a lot of time with senior executives from other top companies, and the number one concern most of them have is attracting and retaining top talent. Well, one sure way to address the talent gap is for corporate leaders to make diversity and flexibility top priorities at their companies – and to create the kind of culture that attracts and keeps great employees.

No company or CEO has all the solutions. I enjoyed hearing fellow panelists -- New Belgium Brewing CEO Kim Jordan and Care.com CEO Sheila Marcelo -- talk about the employee-friendly policies their companies have adopted. At PwC, we’ve been on this journey for a long time. While we’re not yet satisfied, I do think we’re doing many things right, and I tried to share some of those stories Monday.

I think I surprised many in the audience, and even the experts on my panel, when I explained that when we moved to unlimited sick days a few years ago at PwC, the average amount of sick days people took actually decreased. We generated more productivity, not less. Lesson learned? Doing the right thing doesn’t have to come at the expense of doing the fiscally prudent thing. They can go hand in hand.

And changing the sick leave policy wasn’t done in isolation, but was one of a series of changes we made to drive long-term results. Over the years, we have adopted flexibility programs that have helped our employees and also created great benefits for our company. For example, when parents want to step away from full-time work to focus on their families, we let them. But we don’t say goodbye. We offer them the chance to stay in touch with a PwC mentor, participate in professional development programs, and keep up with certification requirements, and then we invite them to return to work when they’re ready.

One of our talented tax specialists in California participated in this program and then came back under a flexible arrangement that allowed her to work a somewhat reduced schedule. That has been great for her and for PwC, allowing her to be there for her two small children and us to benefit from her expertise. Last year, that tax specialist became a partner at the firm.

Flexibility is essential, but it will not, on its own, create the kind of workforce we need in the 21century. We also need diversity. We’re all different. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York and was the first in my family to go to college. I bring a different perspective to the boardroom from many of my colleagues. We all do. Diversity yields innovation.

In order to truly build diverse companies, you have to have programs in place that emphasize its importance. At PwC, we require our leaders to sponsor three diverse employees a year. Sponsors serve as advocates for the more junior employees, helping them move into new roles and progress in their careers. We’re always on the lookout for innovative ideas like this, and I hope to have a longer conversation on the topic with New Belgium’s Kim Jordan about what’s worked for her team. It was inspiring to hear how she and her colleagues have built an inclusive corporate culture that encourages people to be themselves at work and not try to fit into some corporate mold, or as she put it, put their personality and personal stories in the glove compartment of their car before walking into work each day.

At PwC, we are in the business of serving clients globally. I need employees who have the ability to understand, manage, coach, work and communicate effectively with people from different walks of life. But I’m not alone. Don’t all employers need this in the 21st century?

It’s probably not surprising that I think the answer is yes, but there are companies and corporate leaders that somehow still aren’t seeing the trends. I can’t imagine, though, that they will be able to keep their eyes closed for much longer.

We recently conducted a large study of workplace attitudes of the Millennial Generation. Workplace culture, work-life balance, and flexibility around schedules and career progression are vital to them, so much so that they’re more likely than employees from other generations to walk away from a job that doesn’t provide those things.

Companies that have been reluctant to create these kinds of policies and programs might want to rethink that strategy – if not because it’s the right thing to do, then perhaps because it may soon become the only thing to do.

Photo: Miljian Mladenovic / Shutterstock