Case Study: Women Returners - Ernst and Young

Ernst & Young has a full programme of initiatives aimed at retaining talented staff. Most are open to everyone, but are particularly attractive to women. The main elements of the programme are:

• Flexible working policies which are taken up by many senior women in client-facing roles
• Maternity benefits have been updated to include a smoother cash flow for those on leave and childcare vouchers on return to work. Managers have been given more guidance on ensuring an easy transition back to work. Career breaks and unpaid leave are popular with both men and women.
• EY Parents Network to support all parents, but particularly targets those returning from maternity leave. This includes a maternity buddy scheme, pairing those about to go on maternity leave with someone in a similar role who has already returned to work. Seminars are run on relevant topics such as Sleep and Work Life Balance. The company is also experimenting with maternity coaching for senior women with people and client responsibilities.
• Staying in touch with women who have left the workplace to raise a family to ensure that Ernst & Young is first choice employer when they return to work.

Ernst & Young constantly reviews and improves its packages. Flexibility is now one of the company’s three key areas of focus. Pilot tests are under way in eight areas of the firm to explore new ways of working flexibly Another project is reviewing barriers to home working and an intranet site is being developed to promote all forms of flexible work and to provide practical support.

The Birmingham office was recently given an award for work life balance, following a dawn raid on the offices when the judges selected 15 people at random to ask about their work-life balance.

Business units have been conducting research among their staff into several areas, including flexible working. The financial services business ran a number of flexible working discussion groups which raised new ideas and plans and these are currently being put together.

Technology is constantly updated to improve the support offered for flexible working. Other improvements have included a lifestyle management system which includes a 5% discount on emergency childcare.

Measures and benchmarks are now being developed to enable the company to track progress more effectively.