The progressive thinkers at the helm of the ten top-ranking firms of our 100 Best are used to sailing against the wind. After all, they implemented family-friendly programs long before it was the thing to do. And today, tough economic times aren’t enough to put them off course. “We view these benefits as strategic business practices designed to retain high-performing staff,” explains PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Dennis Nally.
Abbott • Baptist Health South Florida • Bristol-Myers Squibb • Ernst & Young • IBM • KPMG • The McGraw-Hill Companies • Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman • PricewaterhouseCoopers • S.C. Johnson & Son
The progressive thinkers at the helm of the ten top-ranking firms of our 100 Best are used to sailing against the wind. After all, they implemented family-friendly programs long before it was the thing to do. And today, tough economic times aren’t enough to put them off course. “We view these benefits as strategic business practices designed to retain high-performing staff,” explains PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Dennis Nally.
Abbott
Stephen Fussell
Senior VP, Human Resources
“Providing flexible, family-friendly options is even more important in tough times. These programs will continue to be a critical part of Abbott’s business strategy to attract and retain exceptional employees, regardless of economic conditions. Having the flexibility to manage their personal lives helps scientists, managers and everyone at Abbott to focus on our important work.”
Baptist Health South Florida
Brian E. Keeley
CEO & President
“Eliminating one day of commuting a week with telecommuting or a compressed workweek reduces commuting costs by 20%. In this highly competitive market, which has been hard- hit by the worldwide shortage of nurses, it is imperative that we offer not only competitive salaries but a great work environment that respects and supports employees’ needs
for services that make their lives easier.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb
James Cornelius
Chairman & CEO
“Even during times when the external business environment is less stable, we have seen the benefit of our commitment to work/life programs. These programs help us attract and retain the talent we need to drive our business. Flexibility and balance in the workplace allow our employees, and our company, to do what we do best: discover and develop medicines to help patients prevail over serious disease.”
Ernst & Young
Steve Howe
Americas Area Managing Partner
“Whether we’re in a strong or weak economy, our commitment to providing a flexible work environment and family-friendly programs and benefits does not change. As a leader in professional services, the value we provide to our clients is our people. We’ve learned that if we can help our people succeed professionally and personally, they will be able to achieve their potential and deliver superior service to our clients.”
IBM
Samuel Palmisano
Chairman, President & CEO
“Guided by our core values, we have consistently pioneered progressive workforce policies— and today, this kind of innovation is more essential than ever.
It includes continually looking to expand flexible work options for working mothers in the 170 countries where IBM helps
our clients succeed. A family-friendly workplace is essential, in our minds, to becoming the world’s premier globally integrated enterprise.”
KPMG
Timothy P. Flynn
Chairman & CEO
“Providing employees with flexibility and family-friendly programs is more than a ‘nice to have’ fringe benefit; it’s critical to our success. Research shows that a flexible workplace leads to more productive and engaged employees, and we have seen this time and again.
A motivated, satisfied and proud workforce will outperform the competition and deliver higher-quality service to our clients. Whether it’s through our backup-care programs, alternative work arrangements or time off, KPMG is committed to maintaining a strong culture of flexibility—one that supports our people as individuals with real needs and responsibilities at home and at work. It’s not just good for our people; it’s good for our business.”
The McGraw-Hill Companies
Harold “Terry” McGraw III
Chairman, President & CEO
“Creating an environment that enables all of our employees to develop to their full potential, both professionally and personally, is essential to the continued growth and success of our company. That is why we offer a wide range of programs and policies to help our employees effectively manage their work and home lives. Our senior management team has embraced our work/life culture and the programs we offer because they help us recruit and retain top talent, they improve employee engagement and, most important, because employees value these programs and find them enormously helpful.”
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
James Rishwain
Chair
“It is particularly important to continue benefits precisely when families are getting squeezed the hardest. I’m proud that we are expanding our benefits—including our Health Improvement and College Coach programs—to meet the needs of our attorneys and staff. Recently, we began offering paid membership throughout the firm in Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing service, in support of many employees’ desire to act in a more sustainable manner.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Dennis Nally
U.S. Chairman & Senior Partner
“At PwC we continuously innovate around our people programs, whether it’s flexible work arrangements or our new Mentor Moms program. We don’t stop investing in our people even in a down economy because we don’t view our programs as disposable perks.
We view them as strategic business practices designed to retain high-performing staff. If we want to continue to attract and retain the top talent, we need a culture where our high-performing professionals trust that we value them and will support them, in good times and in bad.”
S.C. Johnson & Son
H. Fisk Johnson
Chairman & CEO
“A company will only do well if it has the best and brightest talent. And work/life programs help us attract and retain great talent because these programs are valued. Particularly in soft economic times, these programs are even more valuable.
As a matter of fact, due to increasing gas prices and major freeway road construction, we’ve just enhanced three of our programs: increasing commuter train subsidies, increasing van-pool opportunities and doubling the nights employees can stay at hotels near our campus if they commute twenty-five miles or more.”
