Getting to Know Our Conference Speakers -Lori Mihalich-Levin

We are so excited to have an amazing line-up of prominent leaders and trailblazers speaking at our 2018 Annual Conference Diversity + Flexibility = Embracing Change on Thursday, September 27.  We’ll be introducing these dynamic and engaging speakers throughout the summer and sharing their diversity and flexibility insights here on our blog. We’ve asked our speakers to answer a few questions about themselves, their approach to their career, and their lives. Our first “Getting To Know Our Conference Speakers” post highlights Lori Mihalich-Levin, Partner at Dentons.

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: What’s the most important message you hope attendees will learn from your presentation?

Lori Mihalich-Levin: That there are law firms that are committed to creativity when it comes to flexible arrangements, and that these arrangements can play a huge role in retaining talent.  There are also clients that are extremely supportive of flexibility, and it’s quite possible to have stellar client relationships and a flexible schedule.

DFA: What was the most meaningful piece of leadership advice you received?

LM-L: Recognize your worth, value, and what you bring to the table.  For example, you know all those skills you’re gaining in parenthood?  They are, in fact, useful in the workplace, too!

DFA: How do you recharge? Where and when are you most content?

LM-L: I recharge every day in two key ways.  In the morning, before breakfast, I do 15 minutes of yoga and meditation on the dining room floor.  Yes, I’m sometimes interrupted (and climbed on!) by my kids, but I keep at it.  And after work, I recharge by turning off all electronics between 5 and 8pm to really be present with my husband and two boys.  I am most content when my day includes both meaningful connections with people I care deeply about and some alone time.

DFA: What do you know now that you wish you knew then?

LM-L: That my career would turn out just fine, without my knowing every detail in advance.  I want to tell the 5th grade me who checked a huge book out of the library on various careers, read it cover to cover, and insisted she decide on one, that she should go outside and play!

DFA: How do you pay it forward?

LM-L: I pay it forward by committing to helping new parents navigate the rocky terrain of those early years of working parenthood.  I do this not only through the Mindful Return program I founded, but by intentionally connecting with and mentoring new parent colleagues at my office.

DFA: What can we be doing to create more inclusive organizations?

LM-L: We can relax our grip on the belief that there is one, and only one, “way it’s done.”  Being open to creative approaches makes an organization more appealing to those who may not “fit the mold.”

Join us on September 27th as Lori accepts our 2018 Flex Success Award with her client, Dr. Cindy Kelley of Summa Health, and shares her insights and advice on achieving flex success while providing excellent client services and achieving partnership. 

Action Step -The Building Blocks for a Successful D&I Initiative

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility.  Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center.

A successful diversity and inclusion program requires clear focus, strong implementation of activities to meet delineated goals, and responsibility assigned to key players to effectively lead and engage in these activities. Whether your organization is looking to start a new D & I program or reenergize/resolve an existing one, the Alliance’s building blocks provide guidance for a successful initiative. By following each step in this path – ASSESS, ARTICULATE, ALIGN, and ACTIVATE – your organization can achieve a strong D & I program with specific objectives, focused activities, and measurable outcomes.

ASSESS State: The first critical step is to assess the current state of your organization’s D & I needs with respect to attracting, retaining, and advancing top talent. Organizations often look to see new programs and policies their peers are implementing, but you want to make sure those programs and policies meet the specific needs of your organization. To truly understand your organization’s unique D & I needs, start by analyzing various data points. For example, assess the demographic breakdown at each level of the organization to gain insights into any glass ceiling effects, review exit interviews to see if there is a disproportionate turnover rate with women and/or underrepresented demographic groups, analyze employee opinion surveys to see if there are any D & I issues raised, and review your organization’s check-in meetings with new hires to recognize challenges with recruiting top diverse talent. In addition, you should further investigate any red flags through focus groups and one-on-one interviews in order to gain essential first-person perspectives…

 

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Spotlight on Flex – Lisa Hansen

The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

For May 2018, we are pleased to share insights from Lisa Hansen, Partner, Lathrop & Gage (Kansas City, MO).  

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success through your schedule?

Lisa Hansen: I was previously at another firm and then came to Lathrop & Gage as a lateral associate in 1998. I was working a full time schedule at the time, but once I came back from my first maternity leave, I switched to a 75% reduced hours schedule in 2002. I wanted to continue practicing, but I knew a full time schedule was not going to work for my needs with a newborn at home. I also knew I didn’t want to limit myself to certain days in or out of the office. I wanted the flexibility to leave the office when I needed to – without any questions asked. The firm was very supportive of my “ask” even though there weren’t many other flex attorneys at the firm at the time.

My schedule has shifted slightly over the years as my kids have gotten older. But I’ve always come into the office every day, and I’ve left when I needed to in order to be present for other obligations. I made partner while working reduced hours in 2015, and I’ve remained on this flex schedule ever since.

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Action Step -Truly Inclusive Flexible Work and Leave Policies Must Include Staff

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility.  Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center.

Many organizations offer vastly different flex and leave benefits to employees at different levels of seniority and with different responsibilities. For example, at a number of law firms, attorneys have access to better flexibility and leave policies than professional staff. Given the integral role that staff plays at companies and firms, we recommend that organizations make their formal flex and leave policies more widely available to staff in order to promote higher satisfaction and retention rates. While the flex work types offered should reflect the diverse needs of staff and may differ from those offered to other professionals, providing flexibility to all employees is important to realizing your organization’s inclusion objectives.

The results of our 2017 Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Survey, which tracks workplace flexibility in law firms, show there has been little progress on closing the gap between the level of formal flex and leave policies offered to staff as compared to attorneys. While nearly all participating firms (94% of this year’s respondents) have a flex policy for attorneys, only 16.7% of participating firms report having a flex policy for staff. It’s worth noting the difference between firms offering paid gender-neutral leave to attorneys (89% of firms surveyed), as compared to firms offering paid gender-neutral leave to all staff (61% of firms surveyed). Of the firms surveyed, 22% do not offer any paid parental leave for staff.

These results serve as a good reminder to make sure your flex and leave policies are inclusive of all employees. Here are some ways to reduce the disparity in flex and leave benefits among employees…

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Spotlight on Flex – Anita Agajanian

The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

For April 2018, we are pleased to share insights from Anita Agajanian, Partner, DLA Piper (Boston, MA).  

Anita AgajanianDiversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success through your schedule?

Anita Agajanian: I came to the Boston office of DLA Piper as a new lateral partner. I had been at the main office of another Boston firm for years prior to my move. It was a leap of faith to come to DLA Piper because it was such a different type of law firm than what I was used to. The Boston office had only been established two years at that point and was, at the time, one of the firm’s smaller locations. I decided to make that leap though, because I believed in DLA Piper’s commitment to its real estate practice and the firm’s national and global reach. As a young partner, I knew I could have a broader practice at a firm like DLA Piper.

When I first started here, I was working full time. But after I had my first child 11 years ago, I knew I wanted to switch to a reduced hours schedule. The firm is, and always has been, very supportive of attorneys to work flexibly – they are quite transparent about it. DLA Piper has policies in place and encourages attorneys to utilize them. I had a lot of confidence when I approached the idea to work a reduced hours schedule because I knew the firm was committed to it. It was really more of a personal question about what would work for me, rather than what would work for the firm. I wasn’t concerned about the reaction to my change in schedule because I knew everyone would be supportive.

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How to Navigate Conflict and Build Stronger Relationships at Work

April 17, 2018 

Featuring – Amy Gallo, Contributing Editor, Harvard Business Review, and author of the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict

Every day at work we navigate competing interests, clashing personalities, and fragile egos. We want strong relationships with clients, coworkers, and employees but that’s not always easy, especially when time is tight and resources are limited. So how can you deal with disagreements in a professional and productive way, that improves both your work and your relationships? In this webinar, Amy Gallo, contributing editor at Harvard Business Review and author of HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, combines management research and practical insights to provide a straightforward process for navigating uncomfortable situations. You’ll learn how to identify the most common sources of conflict, assess your relationships, prepare for and engage in difficult conversations, advocate for yourself and your team, manage your emotions, and develop a collaborative resolution.

Spotlight on Flex – Lori Mihalich-Levin and Dr. Cindy Kelley

The Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.

This month’s Spotlight on Flex features our 2018 Flex Success® Award Honorees, Lori Mihalich-Levin and her client, Dr. Cindy Kelley. The Flex Success® Award recognizes partners at Alliance member organizations who have achieved a high level of success while working a reduced hours schedule as well as a client who has been integral to making workplace flexibility so successful. We wanted our members to have the chance to get to know this year’s Honorees a little earlier, and we are looking forward to formally presenting their awards at our rescheduled Annual Conference on September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Lori focuses her practice on Medicare reimbursement counseling, with a special focus on Medicare graduate medical education (GME) payments to teaching hospitals. She represents academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, community hospitals, and health systems, as well as a broad array of other health care organizations.

Lori has worked a 60% reduced hours schedule while representing hospitals, academic medical centers, medical schools and health systems as a Partner in Dentons Healthcare Practice since August 2015 in Washington, DC. In just two years, she was able to bring in 20 new clients to the firm and build a premier practice around legal issues related to graduate medical education. Her reduced hours schedule has allowed her to care for her two small children, while also building Mindful Return, LLC, a personal business that assists new parents in their transition back to work from parental leave, and writing a book Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave. She is also the Chair of the firm’s Flexibility and Parental Leave Task Force, part of its Women LEAD initiative, where she champions the success of diverse attorneys and has been instrumental in updating the firm’s parental leave policies.

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Honoring the Flex Trailblazers

Note: This post was first published on March 14, 2018 on 1 Million For Work Flexibility’s blog. 1MFWF is the first national initiative bringing people together to create a collective voice in support of work flexibility, and the Alliance is a supporting organization. Thank you to 1MFWF for allowing us to share our news about our 2018 Flex Impact Awards!

As an organization that collaborates with corporations and professional services firms on the development, implementation and management of their flexible work initiatives, we are thrilled when a company goes above what is required by law and beyond what is the norm in their industry. Each year at our annual conference we honor the corporations and firms that we believe are setting the trends in flexibility and truly impacting the workforce.

This year, we have selected tech giant Dell and international law firms Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and White & Case LLP as our 2018 Flex Impact Award honorees for their initiatives that we believe are poised to have a significant impact on the culture of workplace flexibility. All three of these organizations have demonstrated their willingness to invest in their employees and lead their industries with more progressive approaches to flexible work and leave policies. Each of these initiatives is aimed at better meeting the needs of a new generation of employees, while also positively impacting inclusion, recruitment and retention of top talent.

We will be honoring Dell for its worldwide flexible work initiative, Connected Workplace, which has enabled the corporation to increase employee engagement and retention, conserve natural resources and energy, cut back on real estate expenses and reduce transportation pollution. This initiative encourages all eligible employees to choose where and when they work and provides the technology needed for team collaboration and flexibility training. Additionally employees have access to a resource group, called Conexus, that helps remote team members connect to share best practices, network and develop camaraderie. Dell’s Executive Leadership team has led the initiative by working remotely themselves and emphasizing flexibility as a key component of the company’s culture and integral part of its business strategy.

Fried Frank will be honored for its full-pay, “on-ramping” policy, which allows employees returning from parental leave to gradually return to full-time over a six-month period. Caregivers are thereby allowed to slowly ease their way back into work after leave by working a 75 percent schedule while receiving full compensation. By committing to a relatively small financial investment in its employees who are new parents, Fried Frank has been able to retain employees who might otherwise have been overwhelmed with the stress of full-time work and parenthood.

White & Case will be honored for its new gender-neutral parental leave policy that eliminates the primary and secondary caregiver designation and is also offered to both attorneys and staff. The firm’s policy allows all parents to take 12 weeks of leave any time within 12 months following the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. By extending the same benefits to attorneys and staff members, no matter the level or position, White & Case has been able to foster a more inclusive environment and demonstrate its commitment to supporting all of its employees.

The 2018 Flex Impact Awards will be presented at the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance’s annual conference Diversity + Flexibility = Embracing Change on March 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. The conference is an interactive, one-day event delivering the latest trends, cutting-edge research and best practices in diversity and flexibility and attracts professionals from all industries. Our conference is designed to provide attendees with the opportunity to hear expert insights and first-hand perspectives from top-level executives and acquire concrete strategies to implement real change in their organizations.

More information and registration for the conference are available here.

Manar Morales is the President & CEO of The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance, and a national thought leader on women’s leadership, diversity, and workplace flexibility. The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance, a 1MFWF supporter, is a think tank dedicated to providing practical solutions that increase organizational effectiveness and create high performance cultures through diversity and flexibility.

Join More than 50 Law Firms & Fortune 500 Companies As We Tackle the Issues of Diversity and Flexibility

This week, in an intriguing post, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg reflected on how far (and not so far) we have come in gender equality in the five years since her book, Lean In, was released. While she cautioned that we should be both “outraged and optimistic” about the battle for gender parity, she also wisely stated:

“There are reasons to be hopeful. The facts are on our side. We know that diverse teams are more productive. We know that when organizations have more women, especially in leadership, employee benefits are more generous and sexual harassment is less prevalent…We know that when fathers invest more in their families, their children are happier, healthier, and do better in school and professionally.”

We couldn’t agree more.

On Wednesday, March 21, executives, chairs, leaders and general counsel from more than 50 top law firms and Fortune 500 companies will gather here in Washington, DC to tackle the important issues of diversity and flexibility in our workplaces. Our 2018 annual conference Diversity + Flexibility = Embracing Change, will empower attendees to make the changes needed to build a more inclusive environment, develop flexibility and leave initiatives that support all employees, advance diverse individuals and improve the recruitment and retention of top talent.

With limited time and resources, busy professionals often find it hard to justify spending a day at a conference. However, our conference might just be worth the investment. In just one day, our conference attendees walk away with the most effective strategies for real results. In just that one day, attendees can build a network of dozens of senior level peers dedicated to advancing diversity and flexibility from across top ranking law firms and Fortune 500 companies.

Top five reasons anyone responsible for diversity and flexibility in an organization should not miss this conference:

  1. You’ll hear about diversity and flexibility best practices from top law firms like White & Case, Fried Frank, Akin Gump, Dentons, as well as corporations like Dell, Politico, Deloitte, Intel, Lockheed Martin, TV One and more;
  2. You’ll be the first to hear what is trending in law firm flexibility and leave initiatives as we release our 2017 Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Study results;
  3. You’ll learn about new cutting-edge data from Gallup about employee engagement and its role in the recruitment and retention of your future workforce;
  4. You’ll obtain first-hand advice and concrete tips from our KPMG women’s initiative case study;
  5. You’ll gain insights from General Counsel on how they are embracing change and the diversity commitment they expect from their outside counsel.

As we prepare for our conference we are reminded of the eloquent words of last year’s keynote speaker, John Veihmeyer, Retired Chairman of KPMG International. In his Linked In article about the day, John stated “Unless people in your organization think you see building an inclusive culture, that stimulates diversity, as fundamental to both the organization’s, and their success, it simply won’t be a priority.”

Why not make it a priority today?

Please register here.

 

 

 

Groundbreaking Flexibility Initiatives To Be Recognized for Their Impact on Industries

Awards to be Presented at Conference on March 21

Washington, DC – March 2, 2018 – The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance announced today that its 2018 Flex Impact Awards will be presented to tech industry giant Dell, and international law firms, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and White & Case LLP. The awards, which recognize initiatives that are poised to have a significant impact on the culture of workplace flexibility, will be presented at the Alliance’s annual conference Diversity + Flexibility = Embracing Change on March 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Registration information is available here.

“Dell, Fried Frank and White & Case stood out to us this year because of their willingness to take risks, invest in their employees and lead their industries by embracing more progressive approaches to flexible work and leave policies,” stated Manar Morales, President & CEO of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. “Each of these organizations took their commitment to flexibility to new heights by expanding their initiatives to better meet the needs of a new generation of employees, while also positively impacting inclusion, recruitment and retention of top talent,” she explained.

Dell will be honored for its worldwide flexible work initiative, Connected Workplace, that encourages all eligible employees to choose where and when they work. Dell’s Executive Leadership team has led the initiative by working remotely themselves and emphasizing flexibility as a key component of the company’s culture and integral part of its business strategy. The company provides employees with the technology needed for team collaboration, flexibility training and an employee resource group, called Conexus, that helps remote team members connect to share best practices, network and develop camaraderie. Through Connected Workplace, Dell has been able to increase employee engagement and retention, conserve natural resources and energy, cut back on real estate expenses and reduce transportation pollution.

“Embracing and promoting a work flexibility culture just makes sense,” said Mohammed Chahdi, director of Global Human Resources at Dell, who leads Dell’s flexible work program (Connected Workplace). “At its core, this kind of culture is about enabling team members with the right environment and tools to collaborate and deliver their best work, regardless of where, when and how that work occurs.”

Fried Frank will be honored for its full-pay, “on-ramping” policy, which allows employees returning from parental leave to gradually return to full-time over a six-month period. Caregivers are thereby allowed to slowly ease their way back into work after leave by working a 75 percent schedule while receiving full compensation. By committing to a relatively small financial investment in its employees who are new parents, Fried Frank has been able to retain employees who might otherwise have been overwhelmed with the stress of full-time work and parenthood.

“The happiness and success of our attorneys is a top priority at Fried Frank and we recognize that parenthood is a big change,” said David Greenwald, Chairman of Fried Frank. “Our policy aims to alleviate the challenges faced by new parents as they transition back to work, striking the balance between professional success and personal fulfillment. For us, this was a common sense policy change consistent with our commitment to inclusion and retention. We are honored to receive this recognition by the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance,” he added.

White & Case will be honored for its new gender-neutral parental leave policy that eliminates the primary and secondary caregiver designation and is also offered to both attorneys and staff. The firm’s policy allows all parents to take 12 weeks of leave any time within 12 months following the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child. By extending the same benefits to attorneys and staff members, no matter the level or position, White & Case has been able to foster a more inclusive environment and demonstrate its commitment to supporting all of its employees.

“We try to foster an environment of inclusion and support at the firm, and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to spend significant time with their new child is one way that we can do that,” said David Koschik, member of the firm’s Executive Committee. “Everyone at the firm works very hard and deserves time with their families and loved ones. While it’s a departure from how many professional services firms do business, we are committed to the idea that every person at every level at White & Case be able to participate in a program like this one.”

The Diversity and Flexibility Alliance is a think tank that collaborates with organizations to develop non-stigmatized flexible work policies that promote inclusive work cultures and help to advance more women into leadership positions. The Alliance provides practical research-based solutions, training workshops, and strategic advisory services that increase organizational effectiveness through diversity and flexibility.

For more information contact:

Manar Morales

manar@dfalliance.com

202-957-9650