Contact: Judy Walton, Membership & Outreach Director
P: (859) 940-2909
Email: Judy@aashe.org
AASHE Recognized for Exemplary Workplace Practices
AASHE awarded the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award
Lexington, KY (August 20, 2009) – The current recession – considered one of the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s – is proving to be a “game changer” for organizations in all sectors of the economy. A study conducted by the Families and Work Institute in May 2009 found that most companies (81%) are maintaining the workplace flexibility they offer during the recession and another 13% are increasing it. The question remains: to what extent are employers able to continue be good places for employees to work while dealing with these very difficult business survival issues?
The winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility offer a unique picture of organizations that are finding this middle ground. “From new forms of flexible work arrangements that minimize lay-offs, to creative cost-cutting that retains core medical benefits, to providing financial information and support to employees, these employers are braving the economic storm through innovative policies that prevent undue shock to their workplaces and their employees,” said Ellen Galinsky, President, Families and Work Institute.
The Sloan Awards honor organizations of all sizes and all types across the country that are using workplace flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness and yield positive business results. Among the winners was the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, a membership association of colleges and universities founded in 2006. In three years AASHE has grown from two staff to fifteen, and while a core group works out of an office in Lexington, KY, other staff are spread out across eight states.
“We are thrilled to receive this recognition for our workplace practices,” said AASHE's Membership & Outreach Director Judy Walton. “One of the benefits of having a distributed office arrangement and hiring employees who are rooted elsewhere is that our talent pool is enormously increased. We can hire the best and brightest wherever they are located, and they are often delighted not to have to move." Walton added that the Lexington office is dog-friendly, which brings elements of joy and fun to the workplace.
The Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility are part of the When Work Works project, an ongoing initiative of Families and Work Institute, the Institute for a Competitive Workforce (an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), and the Twiga Foundation. Through When Work Works, these partner organizations provide research, resources, and recognition to employers nationwide. The project shares the results of research on creating effective and flexible workplaces that meet the needs of the 21st century.
Each of the 2009 Sloan Award winners will also be recognized nationally and will be featured in next year’s edition of the Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work, published by Families and Work Institute.
Now in its fifth year, the prestigious awards program expanded its application base to organizations nation-wide for the first time in 2009. With the introduction of an “at-large” category and 30 participating communities across the country, any organization in the U.S. was eligible for the award. Applicants were evaluated in a rigorous two-step process, first comparing the employer’s application to nationally representative data from Families and Work Institute’s National Study of Employers, and then corroborating the employer responses through a survey of employees.
For more information about When Work Works or the Alfred P. Sloan Awards, please contact Shanny Peer at (212) 465-2044 x 217 or at speer@familiesandwork.org or Kelly Sakai at (212) 465-2044 x 211 and at ksakai@familiesandwork.org.
.
ABOUT AASHE
AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. Our mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation. We do this by providing resources, professional development, and a network of support to enable institutions of higher education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research.
AASHE defines sustainability in an inclusive way, encompassing human and ecological health, social justice, secure livelihoods, and a better world for all generations.
ABOUT FAMILIES AND WORK INSTITUTE
Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that studies the changing workforce, family and community. As a preeminent think tank, FWI is known for being ahead of the curve, identifying emerging issues, and then conducting rigorous research that often challenges common wisdom and provides insight and knowledge. As an action tank, FWI conducts numerous studies that put its research into action and then evaluates the results. Its purpose is to create research to live by. For more information, see www.familiesandwork.org.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR A COMPETITIVE WORKFORCE
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) is a 501(c)3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is working to ensure that businesses have access—today and tomorrow—to an educated and skilled workforce. ICW’s primary responsibilities for the When Work Works project are to provide support to the communities and connect local initiatives to national Chamber efforts. For more information, visit www.uschamber.com/icw
ABOUT THE TWIGA FOUNDATION
The Twiga Foundation is dedicated to inspiring, promoting and maintaining a family consciousness at home, in the workplace and in the community. Twiga’s primary responsibilities for the When Work Works project are to provide support to the communities, acting as a liaison to key stakeholders in the When Work Works communities to build a broad local leadership constituency for creating better workplaces that meet the needs of employees, employers and communities. For more information, visit www.twigafoundation.org
