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Financial Firms Adapting to Women

In Tough Times, Companies Still Flexing Career Tracks

by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

In the US, which is one of four countries in the world that still does not offer any paid maternity leave, many women who can afford it take career breaks when they have children. Sylvia Ann Hewlett has written extensively on the need to develop what she refers to as “On-Ramps and Off-Ramps” to facilitate this.

Where the more advanced countries in Europe have pushed much harder for parental leave policies that are government mandated, with the result that parents take shorter breaks, the Anglo-Saxon world prefers to leave the policy-making to the private sector.

As women become an ever-greater proportion of the educated talent pool, companies are starting to craft policies that cater to women’s slightly different career cycles, most notably around the child-bearing years. The financial sector is in the forefront of some of these initiatives (see below).

MERRILLE LYNCH
Merrill Lynch debuts Greater Returns

  • In partnership with the Columbia Business School that offers re-tooling and networking opportunities for women who have taken a career break and are seeking to reenter the workforce.
  • The program also offers leadership development opportunities for women who did not pause in their careers but seek better promotional prospects and to accelerate their careers.

GOLDMAN SACHS

  • Goldman Sachs’ Returnship Initiative focuses on women seeking to restart their careers, offering an eight-week preparatory program if intense training and work experience for women returning to work after a break.

BANK OF AMERICA

  • Bank of America’s Career Connections aids in reintegration for Bank of America who have taken time off, but is being expanded to people from other companies. These people will discuss their sabbaticals before leaving work, arriving at a contract and schedule for the pause while also being included in corporate-related training and activities.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett in Harvard Business Publishing

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Shannon Burns

Sr VP Global Staffing, Bank of America

Career Connections will “enable us to stay connected to strong leaders who opt out of the workforce. The program is an integral part of our long-term strategy to retain key talent”