First Horizon National’s new career development committee helps its female employees to clarify their professional goals, then go on to achieve them.

Women earned 45% of all recent promotions to manager and senior manager at this financial services company, and some did so with a boost from its Emerging Leaders program, a ten-month initiative that utilizes lectures, mentoring and coaching to take potential executives to the next level. After the program, participants continue to be sponsored by senior executives. But all employees work with their supervisors to set goals and create development plans, and educational opportunities include virtual classes, career workshops, coverage for licensing and certificate programs and up to $3,000 in annual tuition aid. “I’ve always seen women in leadership roles, so I never thought there were barriers for me based on my gender,” says Susan Springfield, who was recently named EVP, Commercial Line of Business.

President & CEO: Bryan Jordan

Chief HR Officer: John Daniel

% of senior managers who are women: 21%

% of corporate executives who are women: 13%

% of promotions to manager, senior manager and corporate executive positions that went to women: 44%

% of the top 10% of the company’s earners who are women: 0%

% of corporate executives with profit-and-loss responsibility who are women: 13%

% of the executives running divisions with revenues of more than a billion dollars who are women: N/A

% of executives who report directly to the CEO who are women: 11%

% of the members of the board of directors who are women: 18%

% of female workforce participating in mentoring: 8%

 

Alice is from Horn Lake, MS, and mom to Michael (16) and Mya (6).

Account reconcilement program manager Alice Fletcher does not do anything halfway. With grit, determination and hard work, she has overcome obstacles that would have caused most people to give up. She is an inspiration to her family and coworkers.

When she came to work at First Horizon almost 15 years ago, she was a single mom with a young son. Even though this was a challenging time for Alice, she worked hard and was promoted to a lead clerk, a supervisor, and now manages the department where she first began her career. Alice has been honored as Employee of the Year and as a Supervisor of the Year, and was a part of a team that received the company’s highest honor, the Firstpower Award.

She is just as accomplished in her family life. While climbing the career ladder, Alice married, had another child, and took on the responsibilities of a new family while she was caring for an aging parent and younger siblings.

Now in addition to juggling these roles, Alice is taking advantage of the company’s workplace flexibility and tuition reimbursement program to obtain a Bachelor's degree in accounting.

Alice consistently gives back to her community by participating in various volunteer efforts. She organized a team for a Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser, served as a feature speaker for a program that helps underprivileged single moms, and recently volunteered to teach financial literacy to youth at a local community center.

Alice also serves on the company's Wellness Committee. Her commitment to the company’s wellness initiatives extends to her involvement in the Virgin Healthmiles Walking Challenge, a health program sponsored by the company to encourage employees to become more active. She was even recognized as one of the winners in the challenge!

In 2010, First Horizon National increased its adoption assistance to $7,500 from $5000, in recognition of the growing cost associated with this option.

When Nancy DePriest’s husband found a job in Missouri four years ago, the business analyst prepared to bid goodbye to her Memphis-based position at this financial services company, where she’d spent nearly a decade. “I spoke to my manager and expressed how much I enjoyed my work and hated to leave,” she recalls. “Much to my surprise, she asked me what I thought about working remotely.” Flash forward a few years: DePriest is now loving life in St. Louis, where she maintains her old job but lives closer to family. “Being able to keep my position has been a blessing,” she says. DePriest is not alone in enjoying an alternative work arrangement: About 54% of the company’s employees flex their hours, while 17% formally telecommute. Nearly every female worker surveyed says management supports family time.

President & CEO Bryan Jordan

Chief HR Officer John Daniel

Women managers/execs 55% 

Women among top earners 26% 

Women hires in 2010 58% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 2 

Allows new moms to “phase back” into work with reduced hours? Yes

Offers affinity group for new mothers? No

Offers backup childcare? No  

Employees working flexibly 54%

In 2009, First Horizon National gave employees more than $13 million in Flexible Dollars to spend on child care, health care or retirement accounts.

What We Love
Making impressive strides last year, this Memphis-based financial services company introduced both a diversity council and an executive advisory council that support the advancement of women, as well as a development program that prepares female talent for key executive roles. While flexible schedules are used by an estimated 56% of employees, women who give birth also get 16 job guaranteed weeks off, with six partially paid; new adoptive parents receive one fully paid week, with a $5,000 benefit. College scholarships of up to $20,000 help when it's time for employees' children to leave the nest. To promote worker wellness, management has launched HealthMiles, a program that gives participants up to $500 for joining in fitness activities. Already, 43% of the workforce has enrolled.

President & CEO Bryan Jordan

Chief HR Officer John Daniel

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 56%

Women among top earners 6%

Women on board of directors 9%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 10%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 3%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement Not tracked  

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? No

 

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.

First Horizon National’s new Diversity Task Force monitors internal promotions to ensure that women achieve parity with men.

Working moms have a real voice at this Memphis-based financial services firm, which courts employee feedback. Anyone with a question for the CEO can leave messages at a dedicated voice mailbox and expect either a call or a written response. Meanwhile, the executive team holds frequent brown bag luncheons at which they solicit and respond to employee concerns. Staff surveys gauge internal sentiment, with a recent one showing that 90% of workers feel their bosses support work/life balance and that 96% have the flexibility they need to work effectively. In an impressive move, the firm last year loaded employees’ flexible spending accounts with $14 million and freed them to use it toward child care, health care or retirement. Parents adjusting to a new birth or adoption or coping with an ill child may take 26 job-guaranteed weeks off. 

National President & CEO: Bryan Jordan

Executive VP, HR: John Daniel

Women managers/execs: 55%

Women among top earners: 14%

Women on board of directors: 9%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 3

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 40%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 3%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 40%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 1%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: No