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Case Study Summaries (companies A-E)

Accenture, a global consulting and business services company, uses flexibility as a competitive edge in the war for talent. Accenture has introduced a number programs and resources to facilitate employees' use of flexibility, including a global flexibility tool to educate, measure and evaluate managers regarding flexibility and an employee flexibility portal, a web-based tool to educate employees about Accenture's flexible work options.

Valerie Benjamin
Director, Global Leadership, Culture and Values
Ph: 412-809-5810
valerie.c.benjamin@accenture.com

Laura Ryan
Ph: 212-614-4951
Laura_Ryan@nyc.bm.com

Applied Creative Technologies is a small consulting company (less than 20 employees) that has implemented a number of formal and informal workplace flexibility programs with compelling business results. Turnover is way below the industry average, and profit margins exceed the industry average. ACT's founding principle of respect is credited in part with the company's success. Because ACT recognizes and appreciates employees as individuals, moms, dads, sons, and daughters, they are in turn willing to do what it takes to make the company successful.

Bobbi Yusko
Controller/HR Manager
240-686-0636 x311
byusko@appliedcreativetech.com

AstraZeneca used flexibility as an effective business strategy following a merger. The merger was stressful for employees, bringing together two very different company cultures and resulting in the selection of one corporate headquarters site in Wilmington, DE. Surveys around the merger asked employees what the company could do to ease these transitions. Their answer: flexibility. In particular, AstraZeneca's effective use of workplace flexibility was used to relieve tensions around heavy traffic commuting-caused by relocation of Pennsylvania-based offices 45 minutes away to the new, expanded headquarters campus.

Andrea Moselle
302-886-7119
andrea.moselle@astrazeneca.com

Media Contact
Lorraine Ryan, Public Affairs
Ph: 302-886-4891
Lorraine.Ryan@astrazeneca.com

Through employee surveys, Deloitte has found that informal day-to-day flexibility can make sense for employees and for the company. To facilitate the use of informal flexibility, Deloitte has developed educational tip sheets for managers and employees, called Working and Managing in a Virtual Environment. The tip sheets focus on three elements critical to the success of informal day-to-day flexibility: responsibility, trust, and, above all, communication.

Deloitte's Personal Pursuits program allows high-performing employees to take unpaid leaves of up to five years. The program is designed to provide employees with effective "onramps" for re-entering the workforce after extended leaves. From the company's perspective, it is a valuable tool to help Deloitte hold onto high-performing employees.

Business Contact

Stan Smith
National Director, Employer of Choice
Next Generation Initiatives
Ph: 203-761-3064
wstantonsmith@deloitte.com
Media Contact

Mai Browne
212-492-4141
maibrowne@deloitte.com

As part of Ernst & Young's People First strategy, E&Y empowers their people to use flexibility to meet their personal and professional goals. Chairman and CEO Jim Turley says, "Everyone at E&Y should expect flexibility in their work to meet their personal and professional goals. It is the kind of supportive culture that we want." Work teams figure out how to work flexibly on a project-by-project basis, taking into account each member's needs and the overall work demands. A Flexibility website, an on-line hub of information, tools and resources for working flexibly and managing virtual teams flexibly, equips their people to find flexibility options that work.

Maryella Gockel
Flexibility Strategy Leader
Americas People Team
Ph: 732-516-4237
maryella.gockel@ey.com

Ciara O'Sullivan
National Public Relations
Ph: 212-773-6153
ciara.o'sullivan@ey.com



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