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 Alliance’s 2024 Annual Conference, Harnessing the Power of Your Organizational Culture, brought together industry leaders and innovators to explore transformative approaches to workplace culture. Through dynamic keynotes, collaborative networking opportunities, and innovative panels, participants gained actionable insights for elevating their organizational and talent strategies. Here are the key themes that emerged:
- Culture involves so much more than being in the office.
Manar Morales, the founder and CEO of the Alliance, discussed in her opening remarks how culture is the heartbeat of the organization and so much more than four walls. the critical difference between stated culture and lived experience. The key message resonated clearly: organizational culture isn’t merely a buzzword or website content—it’s the heartbeat of your organization, defined not by physical walls but by clear answers to fundamental questions. These essential questions include who we serve (Stakeholders), what we do (Mission), what we stand for (Values), what we expect of our people (Accountability), why we do what we do (Purpose), and where we’re headed (Vision).
When organizations maintain clarity on these cultural foundations, they can operate from a position of strength rather than reactivity, make decisions based on cultural alignment, move beyond finding common ground to reaching higher ground, and enable their people to be effective culture carriers. The bottom line remains clear: your culture is your organization’s heartbeat, defined not just by what you say, but by your actions, values, and treatment of people.
Later, when discussing the upcoming release of her new book, The Flexibility Paradigm: Humanizing the Workplace for Productivity, Profitability, and Possibility, Manar deepened the conversation about culture by exploring its intersection with flexible work. She emphasized that successful flexibility requires shared responsibility—both leaders and employees must actively contribute to maintain growth, productivity, engagement, and culture.
This perspective resonated throughout the conference, as speakers challenged the notion that culture solely develops through office presence. Instead, they demonstrated how employee engagement, connectivity, culture, and business growth can flourish in hybrid and virtual environments when supported by thoughtful infrastructure and intentional design.
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 learn more contact Manar Morales.
“Creating flexible work environments, models, and systems allows employees to perform at their best without feeling like work is a sacrifice,” said Wendy Davidson, President & CEO of Hain Celestial Group. “Hain Celestial’s purpose of Inspiring Healthier Living goes beyond what you put in and on your body. It’s also how you live and work. We have an opportunity to demonstrate that we can attract, retain, and engage top talent…AND…deliver high performance by leveraging the lessons learned with flexible work during the pandemic. At Hain, we focus on performance outcomes rather than activities to deliver on our business goals.”
The 
Jessamine Lee: Flexibility has been a key to my success at Wolf Greenfield. After coming back to work from having my first child 11 years ago, I went on an 80% schedule. I was a junior associate at the time. I stayed on an 80-90% schedule through having my second child three years later and then becoming Counsel and a Shareholder at the firm. During that same time, I also had a flexible arrangement in which I worked remotely twice a week. The firm was supportive of my requests and made it possible for me to have this alternative work arrangement during a time when it was not common to do so. I had a lot of help from my colleagues. For example, at times when my workload was too high, I was able to transfer work to other colleagues who had more bandwidth at the time. This is a testament to Wolf Greenfield’s collegiality and culture – we work as a team. I also set boundaries, made expectations clear to both my colleagues and clients as to when I was available, and inquired about firm and client expectations as well. Of course, there were times when urgent projects needed to get done, but for the most part everyone was respectful of these boundaries and I was able to meet the expectations of those I worked with.
Katelyn Miller: Upon returning from maternity leave after the birth of my first child in 2015, I transitioned to an alternative schedule. I had wonderful role models at my prior firm who guided me through the process of requesting and moving to a flexible schedule. When my daughter was one, I moved to Seyfarth. After receiving an offer, I very nervously called the head of our Litigation Department and asked whether I could join the firm on an 80% schedule. Within hours, I received a response that Seyfarth would be happy to accommodate my schedule. It was clear from the beginning that in addition to providing exceptional client service, Seyfarth truly valued its team members and provided different opportunities and avenues for its professionals to succeed.
Liz Dillon, Partner, Lathrop GPM LLP