Corporate Leadership Circle News

"We are happy to be able to support the important efforts at Families and Work Institute."

- Deborah Dagit, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Diversity and Work Environment, Merck & Co., Inc.

1. Bold New Ideas Guide Released

The 2009 Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work was released on August 12th, 2009. This informative and easy-to-use reference features the 260 winners of the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility (part of Families and Work Institute’s When Work Works www.whenworkworks.org project funded by the Sloan Foundation)—including several CLC companies.

The Guide highlights many of the most creative workplace programs and practices in the country, serving as a go-to resource for:

• employers looking for promising practices;
• job-seekers looking for great workplaces; and
• journalists looking for information on cutting-edge employer practices.

It details innovative approaches for creating effective and flexible workplaces that benefit employees while also helping employers achieve business results, address organizational opportunities and challenges, and respond to an uncertain economy.

The electronic version of the 2009 Guide is available free-of-charge as a downloadable PDF from Families and Work Institute, and we hope you will refer to it often and inform your colleagues of its availability: http://www.familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/2009boldideas.pdf

2. Ordering 2009 Bold New Ideas Guide

If you would like to order hard copies of the Guide to share with your employees, customers, board members and prospective employees, please contact Tyler Wigton, When Work Works Program Manager, at twigton@familiesandwork.org or 212-465-2044 x224. Volume discounts are available. In addition, for orders of 10 or more, we will also create customized cover stickers.

3. Ellen Galinsky, FWI President, Begins 20 City Radio Tour

Ellen Galinsky, President of Families and Work Institute, began a radio tour on August 12th featuring the 2009 Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work in 20 cities around the country and highlighting local examples of Sloan Award winners.

4. Launch of FWI’s Blog and YouTube Channel

This summer, FWI launched its new blog, located at http://familiesandwork.org/blog. At the June 15th Work Life Legacy Awards dinner, we had the opportunity to ask a number of the leaders in the field of work life, “What is your one wish for the future of work life?” You can listen to highlights from their thought-provoking answers. And we are curious to hear from you. What is your wish? How can we achieve a better fit for life off and on the job? Please comment on our blog (or, if you're feeling even more creative, post a video response on FWI’s YouTube channel and we will link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/FWIChannel.

5. Stay Tuned for Upcoming CLC Calls and Briefings

The Latest Workplace Trends from Families and Work Institute
Families and Work Institute President, Ellen Galinsky, and FWI’s researcher, Kerstin Aumann, will discuss the implication of newly released findings from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce on gender and generational issues in the workplace and the health of the American worker for Corporate Leadership Circle sponsors in an in-depth webinar. (Fall 2009)

Philanthropy in the Workplace
The benefits of taking care of others when times are hard. (Fall 2009)

Global Forecasting and the US: Advice on Global Enterprise in 2010
Moderated by FWI president Ellen Galinsky, pollster John Zogby will discuss his analysis of years’ worth of data explored in his book, The Way We’ll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream. Corporate Leadership Circle companies will discuss how they are changing their global strategies in light of recent trends, what work life and diversity best practice will look like and how it will be communicated in 2010 and beyond. (Winter 2010)

6. Tell Your Colleagues, Teams and Affinity Group Leaders about Recent CLC Calls Available for Replay

Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success
Claire Shipman (Senior National Correspondent, Good Morning America) and Katty Kay (Anchor, BBC World News) discussed their just released book, Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success. (June 11, 2009)
Available for replay here, Part I: http://familiesandwork.org/site/support/090611-CLCCall-Part1.mp3
Part 2: http://familiesandwork.org/site/support/090611-CLCCall-Part2.mp3

Behavioral Economics and Financial Preparedness in the Workplace
Professor Eldar Shafir of Princeton University discussed research on human decision making, including the psychology of financial behavior—both his and that of his colleagues in the field of behavioral economics. This research helps us think about how we are managing our own finances during the recession. It is also highly relevant for those who have or are developing initiatives for employees on financial literacy and preparedness. (March 25, 2009)
Available for replay here
PowerPoint Presentation - http://familiesandwork.org/site/support/CLC_Call-090325-Slides.ppt
Flyer - http://familiesandwork.org/site/support/CLC_Call-090325-Flyer.pdf
Please visit: http://weblamp.princeton.edu/~psych/psychology/research/shafir/index.php to learn more about Professor Shafir’s groundbreaking work.

Empower. Invest. Accelerate.
The Retention and Advancement of Women in the New Global Economy
In honor of International Women's Day Families and Work Institute’s President, Ellen Galinsky, moderated a Webcast hosted by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. With numerous studies showing that companies with greater gender diversity often achieve higher returns, the continued investment in women’s advancement and retention programs is important to long-term sustainability in today’s challenged global marketplace. (March 6, 2009)
To view the recording of the Deloitte Webcast, please click here.

7. Refer to these Best Practice Ideas from Previous CLC Calls on the CLC Section of Families and Work Institute’s Web Site

Managing Through the Economic Crisis: What Companies Are Doing to Help Their Employees (http://familiesandwork.org/site/events/econindex.html). (December 3, 2008)
Best practices from our telephonic Round Robin held exclusively for Corporate Leadership Circle company representatives:

• handling the current financial crisis;
• gauging employee outlook;
• helping each generation of employees address the economic crisis;
• offering 401(k) guidance and other financial assistance; and
• adding value while moving work life and other “people practices” forward within your company in economic hard times.

Fuel Relief and Flex and the City: The Business Response to Rising Fuel Prices (http://familiesandwork.org/site/work/gasprices-feedbackread.html). (July 15, 2008)
Corporations, organizations, and city and state governments discussed ways to deal with the rising cost of fuel in the summer of 2008 and its effects on their workforce with Shirley Crews Taylor [City of Houston], Betty Purkey [Texas Instruments], and Dawn Malone [Bon Secours Richmond Health System], hosted by Ellen Galinsky. These best practices continue to be germane is assisting companies and employees in conserving energy.

8. CLC Company Workplaces Can Apply for the 2010 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility Beginning December 2009

We encourage individual Corporate Leadership Circle workplaces to apply for the next round of awards, either within the 30 communities nation-wide which are a part of the When Work Works program or as part of the “At-Large” category, through which any employer in the U.S. can apply. Employers that apply for the Sloan Awards receive a customized benchmarking report comparing their organization to what employers are doing nationally and to Sloan Award winners and applicants. (Application information for the 2010 Awards will be available on the When Work Works Web site www.whenworkworks.org in December.)

9. Read About the Democratic and Republican Election Season (Fall 2008) Work Life Platforms

Top Leadership from the Obama (September 16, 2008) and McCain (September 24, 2008) teams presented their approach to work life and answered employee and employer questions submitted to FWI on work place and force issues. To read about the two candidates’ platforms, please visit our Web site at http://familiesandwork.org/site/events/presidentialplatform.html. This is the first election where both parties put forward a work life platform.

10. Read About Families and Work Institute’s Supporting Work Project

Our Supporting Work Project http://familiesandwork.org/site/work/projects/supportingwork/about.html on providing publicly funded and community benefits to low- and mid-wage employees couldn’t be more timely.

11. Families and Work Institute’s Latest Reports

• 2009 Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work
http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/2009boldideas.pdf

• The Impact of the Recession on Employers
http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/Recession2009.pdf

• Times are Changing: Gender and Generation at Work and at Home
http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/Times_Are_Changing.pdf

• 2008 National Study of Employers
http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/2008nse.pdf

• Leaders in a Global Economy: Finding the Fit for Top Talent
http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/globaltalentmgmt.pdf

• Leaders in a Global Economy: Talent Management in European Cultures
http://www.catalyst.org/file/240/gtm2_web.pdf

We welcome your suggestions and encourage you to share with us how the Circle can best serve you and your peers. For more information about the Corporate Leadership Circle or to offer suggestions, please contact Carol J. Bryce-Buchanan, Director of Development, at cbryce-buchanan@familiesandwork.org or by telephone at 212-465-2083.

Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to provide data to inform decision making on the changing workforce, changing family and changing community. Contributions are tax-deductible.