AstraZeneca's Work/Life Balance and Diversity
March 28, 2008
By Leo Jakobson
Penny Stoker, AstraZeneca's vice president of global human resources services, points out that Working Mother magazine didn't name the company to its list of the 100 best companies just because 54 percent of its employees are women. It's that nearly half of the managers and senior managers are women. It's onsite childcare and 26 weeks of maternity leave, seven paid. It's policies like the two-year-old Women's Leadership Initiative, which arranges mentors for talented females employees looking to become company leaders. And it's a flexible working policy that goes far beyond scheduling hours other than 9 to 5.
Many companies now offer telecommuting and flexible scheduling arrangements, but AstraZeneca takes the idea one step further with its job-share program. This is not simply going part-time, Stoker notes. Employees interested in working shorter weeks have to discuss it with their manager and, if approved, can turn to a company-run program that helps match them with another employee who wants to share a job.
Penny Price has been doing that for 10 years, ever since the birth of her first child. A manager in business communications whose job involves data analysis, Price is half of a 60-60 job split, one of the two options AstraZeneca offers, in which two employees each work three days a week at one shared position. She works Monday, Thursday and Friday, and her job-share partner works Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday—that being the day they work together.
"It works really well having an overlapping day with my partner," Price says. "We have different projects, but we can cover each other, sending files or tracking the other person down if necessary."
She says flexibility is important, for example having child care available on "off" days if there is an important meeting. Beyond that, the arrangement does require real manager buy-in, she notes. "“[My manager] had to learn what projects are right for us and which projects don't make sense—like team- and meeting-intensive [projects]."
The job allows Price to spend time with her two young children, which is very important to her, she says. "I can still volunteer with my son's first grade class," she says. "I read to them once a week. But my job is interesting and challenging, and I don't want to lose that part of me."
It is an arrangement that keeps Price loyal to her employer. "AstraZeneca has been very supportive," she says. "I am privileged to work for AstraZeneca in this capacity, so I give it my all."
Employee engagement data shows Stoker that Price is not the only job sharer with that sentiment. Job-share employees "are much more positive about the organization," Stoker says, noting that while AstraZeneca employees have a high level of engagement across the board, "these folks are over the top."
With women making up 54 percent of its workforce, AstraZeneca has a strong impetus to make flextime, childcare, networking and other policies that support diversity a priority, Stoker says, adding, "They are great for the men in the organization as well."
The children of nearly 350 employees go to the AstraZeneca Child Development Center in Wilmington each day, Stoker says. The company subsidizes tuition, based on family income, at the outsourced facility for children aged six weeks through kindergarten. Other programs are available for elementary school students before and after school, and during school vacations, she adds. The company also has the Just in Time Program, which pays 90 percent of the cost of up to 10 days of backup care for children and elder family members.
Other company offerings include more than 900 online and classroom-based development courses, as well as tuition reimbursement for training and education in the fields of business and science.
|
RSS
