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Spotlight on Flex – Chelsea Witte-Garcia, PhD

Our 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.

February 2021 Spotlight on Flex

For our February Spotlight on Flex, we’re pleased to highlight Chelsea Witte-Garcia, PhD, Associate, Wolf Greenfield. 

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How has the firm and/or clients contributed to this?

Chelsea Witte-Garcia: I joined Wolf Greenfield seven and a half years ago in the firm’s Technology Specialist Training Program. As part of this program, I went to evening law school and was working an 80% schedule. I had done a full PhD program prior to joining the firm and had my first child during law school, so I had been extremely busy and was dealing with being a new parent. Once I took the bar exam and became an Associate, I knew I needed some flexibility. Instead of transitioning to a full-time Associate schedule, I moved to a 90% reduced hour schedule. While a 10% reduction in billable hours may not seem like a lot, to me it alleviated a lot of billing pressure and allowed time for other non-billable activities. Having that slight reduction in my annual billable hours frees up time for a personal break as well as other work-related activities such as business development, writing, or presenting at firm training sessions.

Wolf Greenfield, and in particular the Biotechnology Practice Group, has been at the forefront of appreciating flexibility. We had the opportunity to set up a home office long before COVID 19. The leadership really understood that not everyone wants the traditional career path. I’ve really appreciated that they’ve put a lot of time and investment in training individuals and they see your value, even if the day-to-day looks a bit different.

In a client-driven industry, there are always times when our jobs are unpredictable. I’m committed to being accessible and adaptable, particularly when there’s an urgent client need. I think clients appreciate that. We also leverage a very talented team of people that can pull together to meet clients’ needs. This can also be a valuable training opportunity for junior group members.

Manar Morales Shares “What Needs to Come Next” in Flexible Work on Breadwinners Podcast

On February 11, Alliance President & CEO, Manar Morales shared her expert insights on the future of flexible working and lessons learned from the pandemic on the Breadwinners Podcast.  This interview is truly worth your time. You’ll be amazed how much you’ll learn about the future of work in just 26 minutes!

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about Flexible Work: What Needs to Come Next.

Manar Morales Quoted in Law 360 Article On Parental Leave For Fathers

Alliance President & CEO, Manar Morales, was asked to share her perspective on parental leave trends and best practices in law firms in a February 10 Law 360 article. The article, Big Law Fall Short on Parental Leave for Fathers, provides insights into the importance of gender neutral parental leave policies.

“With a primary and secondary designation, that really becomes very gendered and women tend to take the primary leave and men tend to take secondary…When you have a primary and secondary caregiver you create the idea that one person [in a relationship] is devoted to their career and one to the family. It creates a hierarchy where no hierarchy exists.”

— Manar Morales

President & CEO

The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance

 

If you need help developing your firm or company’s gender neutral parental leave policy, please schedule a call with Manar Morales or reach out to manar@dfalliance.com today.

Where Do We Go From Here? Optimizing Lessons Learned by Recommitting to & Reimagining Flexibility in 2021  

2021 Signature Seminar

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 1:00 pm ET

Featuring Manar Morales, President & CEO of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.

A global pandemic, unprecedented shifts in how we work, and a national reckoning on race have made 2020 a year of accelerating and amplifying conversations around the future of work. As you look to 2021 and the new challenges and opportunities it will bring, join Manar Morales as she shares insights gleaned from the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance’s recent conversations with the heads of law firms, corporations, and associations around the country. Now is the time to spearhead discussions about what worked and didn’t work during COVID-19, how the pandemic has impacted your teams – particularly women and diverse employees – and how flexible work arrangements can lead to an even more successful and collaborative culture.

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Highlights from our Recent Pulse Poll: Future of Work

As a think tank dedicated to creating work environments centered on inclusion and innovative thought leadership, the Alliance is committed to providing our members with original research on trends and data focused on workplace flexibility, diversity and inclusion.

To this end, we launched two pulse polls during the pandemic to understand trends, successes and challenges related to workplace flexibility during the crisis. Our first poll, Pulse Poll: COVID-19 & Reentry, was released in July 2020 and remains available to our members. Our second poll, Pulse Poll: Future of Work, will be released soon and will provide our members with valuable trends regarding policies, practices and infrastructure organizations plan to offer to support workplace flexibility post-pandemic.

As a sneak peak to the soon-to-be released Pulse Poll: Future of Work, we found that organizations remain committed to making remote work available after the pandemic. Specifically, over 70% plan on creating/updating their remote work policies post-pandemic. Notably, every participant without a remote work policy currently in place plans to create one. Further, we also found that nearly two-thirds of participants plan to make their remote work policies more inclusive by including all employees.

These trends demonstrate the need for all organizations to revisit their flexible work policies post-pandemic and include all employees in these policies. Organizations who do create/update their flexible work policies will fall behind the curve in terms of workplace flexibility which will affect their talent recruitment and retention. Additionally, organizations who just choose to include certain employees in their flexible work policies will face retention/satisfaction issues with employees not offered flexible work, especially considering that many other organizations will be making their flexible work policies more inclusive. In order to include all employees and serve as many employee needs as possible, we strongly suggest adopting holistic flexible work policies (i.e. reduced hours/part-time; telecommuting; flexible start-end times; compressed work week; job sharing; sabbatical offerings) as opposed to just remote work policies. This way, organizations can offer flexibility to all employees, even those who need to be in the office due to their function.

For more information on our research initiatives, please contact Sejal Shah at sejal@dfalliance.com.

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Bright Spot: Katten’s Sabbatical

In an effort to inform and inspire our members and friends, we often share diversity and flexibility Bright Spots – those small or large successes that impact an organization in a positive way. We believe that important diversity and flexibility initiatives can truly impact your organization’s bottom line, recruitment and retention capabilities and employee satisfaction. 

BRIGHT SPOT: Katten’s Sabbatical Program

Law firm Katten, Muchin Rosenman’s Associate Sabbatical Program is a unique Bright Spot because it offers the firm’s Associates a four-week, paid sabbatical once they have completed their fifth year at the firm. Associates must also meet their hours’ requirement two out of the three previous years to be eligible. The Sabbatical program has been in place since 2001 and allows Associates to take four weeks off for any activity or reason of their choosing. Associates are not required to submit any kind of formal plan for the sabbatical – Associates may take trips, dive into personal projects, extend family leaves, or use the Sabbatical for anything else that they choose.

The most remarkable aspect of Kattan’s Sabbatical program is that virtually ALL (95%) Associates take advantage of this benefit and many plan for the time off long in advance. Katten reports that equal numbers of men and women participate and it is quite unusual not to take advantage of the Sabbatical. This high level of participation demonstrates Katten’s supportive firm culture and a leadership that truly values flexibility and employee wellness. Associates are not afraid of any negative stigma that could be associated with taking time away from the office, and, in fact, participation in this program is encouraged by Partners and other leadership.

The Sabbatical is also available to lateral Associates after they have been with Katten the required five years. If multiple Associates are eligible at the same time, Practice Group Leaders are responsible for coordinating the schedules to ensure client coverage. The Associates’ billable hours are protected during the sabbatical so that targets and bonuses are not impacted.

Katten Chief Executive Officer Noah S. Heller views the Sabbatical program as a “way to reward Associates for their dedication, and a means of enhancing their work-life balance. By offering them the opportunity to temporarily step away from their daily work responsibilities, we give them a chance to recharge and come back to work re-energized.”

IMPACT

The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance recognized Kattan’s Sabbatical Program as one of our 2020 Flex Impact Awards during our annual conference, Moments of Impact: Transforming Organizational Culture. It is our hope that the ripple affect will be that other firms and corporations are encouraged to consider offering their employees sabbaticals as well.

Kattan reports that its Sabbatical program is instrumental in its recruiting efforts and has helped them to recruit and retain top talent. Additionally, leadership states that the Sabbatical provides Associates with a “boost in morale, productivity and creativity.”

 

 

Please share your Diversity & Flexibility Bright Spots with us by downloading and completing THIS SHORT FORM and emailing it to Jane Caldeira at jane@dfalliance.com

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Spotlight on Flex – Gracie Mills

Our 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.

January 2021 Spotlight on Flex

For our January Spotlight on Flex, we’re pleased to highlight Gracie Mills, Associate at Finnegan.

Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How has the firm and/or clients contributed to this?

Gracie Mills: I officially began working an 80% reduced hours schedule after the birth of my second son in December of 2019. When he was born I tried to maintain 100% billable hours but I found that I kept coming up short. Something was always cropping up and I felt like I was slipping further behind from my billable goal and getting stressed about it. It’s been wonderful since I officially went to 80% because now I am able to bill slightly fewer hours each day and it gives me a little more breathing room.

Finnegan has an excellent free-market system that allows me to select projects where I feel I can be successful on an 80% schedule. Each time a new project comes before me I can realistically look at it through a new lens and decide if it’s a good match for me. The firm has a very supportive culture and provides two types of reduced hour opportunities – 60% and 80% – to meet everyone’s needs. By not requiring fixed hours, Finnegan allows me to be more flexible and work when it fits my schedule. Flexibility is encouraged at Finnegan and there is no stigma associated with working a reduced hours schedule. There are also a great variety of projects to choose from which allows me to develop a diverse practice even within the confines of part time.

DFA: How has working flexibly made your career more sustainable and contributed to business development opportunities?

GM: When I was full-time, I felt like I was a B- attorney and a B- mom. I didn’t have enough time to do everything I wanted to do at the office or at home. Now that I am at 80% I can meet my billable hours and be an A+ Attorney, while also being the mom I want to be. When I was 100% I didn’t have an extra minute in my day beyond meeting my billable hours. Now I have the breathing room in my day and can devote much more time to new business development.

DFA: Looking back, would you do anything differently, or what would you tell your first year associate self?

GM: I would tell first year associates to focus on making a good first impression with everyone you meet while you have the bandwidth to do so. Build relationships during your first year and you will be known as someone who is responsive and reliable. Your reputation will continue to pay dividends throughout your career. Use your earlier years, when you may not yet have a family, to get all the opportunities and experiences you can under your belt, especially those that might require travel and longer hours.

I intend to spend my whole career at Finnegan and this is just a small chunk of my life, and I know I will go back to 100% at some point.

DFA: How do you recharge, and how do you pay it forward?

GM: I recharge by relaxing with my kids. I am now on maternity leave after recently having my third baby boy! I love to spend time with my family and enjoy just hanging out with my kids. A perfect Saturday for me is walking to the park and getting a sandwich as a family.

I feel very blessed to be working at a firm that allows me so much flexibility. I am also grateful to have the world’s most wonderful nanny. Our nanny makes it possible for me to have the career I love without feeling like I’m short-changing my children. My nanny also recently went on maternity leave and now she brings her daughter to work with her. Sometimes I am able to watch her daughter now that I’m home on maternity leave. We have a wonderful symbiotic relationship where we’re all working together to make it work. We call it “tandem families” – but we get a lot more back from her!

DFA: Has the pandemic impacted your flexible working schedule? 

GM: The pandemic has actually been really good for my flexible working schedule and family life. With everyone working remotely, there is now no stigma associated with being at home. Not having to commute has also been incredible for me as now I’m able to have breakfast with my kids and drop them off at pre-school. The pandemic has also made many more opportunities more feasible for me. Whereas a deposition would have required three days away from my family, now there is no travel and I can take a deposition from home.

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If you are a professional working a flexible schedule and would like to share your story in an upcoming Spotlight on Flex, contact Jane Caldeira.

 

 

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Action Step – Gaining Gender and Racial Parity at the Top

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. 

The concerning results of our recently released 2020 New Partner Report, combined with the recent studies showing that women will be forced to leave the workforce due to the pandemic, could signal a step backwards for gender parity at top leadership levels. Our report shows that the share of women among new partners dropped slightly this year (40.9% in 2020 vs. 41.3% in 2019) and is only the second time over the last nine years when there was a year over year drop. Furthermore, according to NALP, the share of women minority partners at 3.45% is significantly lower than the share of total women partners (24.17%), indicating that cautionary trends uncovered from our 2020 New Partner Report would impact this group even more drastically. Organizations need to double down efforts now to increase the gender and ethnic parity at the top.

  1. Hiring with Intentionality. In our 2020 New Partner Report, we discussed the need to focus on strategically recruiting mid-level and senior level women attorneys through lateral hiring efforts, and we recommend organizations do the same for women of color. The representation of these groups at the associate level (46.77% women and 14.48% women of color)[1] is similar to the shares of these groups in terms of law school enrollment (54% women and 18.6% minority women),[2] but the representation of these groups greatly decrease at the partnership level (24.17% women and 3.45% women of color).[3] Organizations need to intentionally focus on increasing their women of color lateral recruiting pool by tapping into internal networks (i.e. women/diversity affinity group contacts; community contacts; client contacts), utilizing recruiters focused on diversity hiring, and setting diversity/gender goals regarding lateral recruiting based upon pipeline. Simultaneously, organizations need to make sure to attract top women of color through these hiring efforts. Conduct focus groups, check-in meetings and surveys to understand why women of color at the mid-level/senior level ranks chose your organization so you can publicize these policies/practices during interviews. Educate interviewers on diversity programs so they can raise them during interviews. Include a diverse interview panel, tapping into your women’s affinity group and diversity affinity group to secure interviewers.

[1] See “2019 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms” NALP, December 2019. https://www.nalp.org/uploads/2019_DiversityReport.pdf

[2] See “Enrollment Data 2017-2019,” American Bar Association, 2019. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/statistics/

[3] See “2019 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms” NALP, December 2019. https://www.nalp.org/uploads/2019_DiversityReport.pdf

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To further discuss your flexible working initiative during and after the pandemic, contact Manar Morales.

Strengthening Community in Virtual Teams 

2021 Signature Seminar

Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 1:00 pm ET

Featuring Cara Alter, author of The Credibility Code and Founder of Speechskills.

Work From Home is the new reality.  And while we may relish the benefits, many of us are missing some aspects of the work experience that brought us the most satisfaction—a sense of community, authentic human connections, and the opportunity to collaborate toward a shared purpose. So how do we promote community and team cohesion even in a virtual workspace? Designed specifically for people who lead virtual meetings or manage remote teams, this seminar provides practical strategies for bringing more humanity to the virtual experience.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

  • Creating engagement while discouraging multitasking
  • Integrating moments of human connection—even when time is short
  • Understanding virtual meeting fatigue and how to minimize it
  • Leveraging platform features to increase interaction
  • Encouraging more equity in participation among team members
  • Onboarding new team members into previously established team

Presentation on New Research from Gallup: The Link Between Wellness and Resilience

2021 Signature Seminar

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 – 1:00pm ET

Featuring Vipula Gandhi, Head of US Enterprise & Managing Partner, Gallup

Vipula will share Gallup’s latest research on employee wellbeing and highlights from their latest book, Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient & Thriving Teams.