Novartis pioneers family-friendly working conditions
What are the positive effects a company can expect from providing family-friendly working conditions? A Swiss study, in which Novartis was involved, too, provides answers to this question.
November 18, 2005 - A family-friendly corporate culture that enables employees to combine successfully their family and professional lives is an important prerequisite not only for economic wealth and growth, but also for the satisfaction of employees and their families. Many Swiss companies, like Novartis, have already identified the opportunities presented by a family-conscious corporate culture, and are successfully implementing measures aimed at achieving exactly this. It has now been proven for the first time with solid, business-based facts that models like this pay off equally well for both companies and their employees.
This is the result of a study of work and family life by the Basel firm Prognos AG commissioned by Novartis together with the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, the Raiffeisen Group, the Swiss Post Office and the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs. ETH Zurich, Nestlé Switzerland and Victorinox also took part in the study. The results were presented recently in Berne by Federal Councilor Joseph Deiss, Novartis Corporate Executive Ingrid Duplain and representatives of the companies mentioned above. This is the first cost/benefit analysis of family-friendly company policy to be carried out in Switzerland. While Scandinavian countries identified the benefits of family-friendly working conditions long ago and have been implementing them increasingly, Switzerland is a little behind in this regard. In its attempts to drive this process forward, Novartis has taken on a pioneering role.
Return of 8%
The study has revealed three beneficial effects of family-friendly company policy, effects which can already be observed at Novartis:
- New mothers more likely to return: When companies support their female employees with childcare, these employees are more likely to return to the workplace after maternity leave. Novartis saves on recruitment costs because it does not have to find and integrate new employees.
- Returnees work longer hours: If, like Novartis, a company offers crèche places or enables its female employees to work part time, telework or take on other flexible working models, employees will work longer hours and less temporary staff will be required.
- Returnees want career development: Mothers want to continue developing their career after their maternity leave, and expect to make progress. These women are therefore ready to step in when better openings arise. Recruiting internally is cheaper and more effective than recruiting outside.
Last but by no means least, the study provided a range of impressive hard facts, revealing for example that the investment involved in adopting a family-friendly policy can generate a return of 8%. In general, this approach has also been shown to cause considerable reductions in stress, absence and illness.
Potential identified
Ingrid Duplain has worked for Novartis for 32 years, and is herself mother of three grown-up sons. Duplain, who coordinated the study for Novartis together with Katharina Amacker, Head of Diversity Switzerland, is convinced that the results will reinforce the importance of family-friendly measures in companies: "Over the next few years, the motivation for implementing a family-friendly approach will come increasingly from the companies themselves, who have now identified the potential of these measures. Such companies are also attractive employers, and thus possess a clear advantage in the competition for highly qualified staff."
Duplain herself says that she has always encountered family-friendly bosses throughout her working life. Although there was previously no concrete form of support on offer, her male colleagues and supervisors were fully understanding when the qualified lawyer temporarily reduced her working hours because of her three children and subsequently continued to successfully develop her career. Duplain underlines the necessary long-term aspect of the approach, however: "It's not a one-off project, it's a part of our corporate culture and takes the form of an ongoing process that will ensure continuous improvement in the interests of both Novartis and its employees."