LeMaster Daniels' Boise office honored for business excellence in workplace flexibility
Prestigious Sloan Award given for adaptive work environment
[Boise, Idaho] – Like many new mothers, Priya Mahalingam’s heart broke when she dropped her three-month-old baby girl off at daycare the morning she returned to work from maternity leave – and the stress and anxiety of leaving her child in the care of another didn’t wane in the weeks that followed. But unlike so many other women in the workforce, Mahalingam, an audit supervisor with LeMaster Daniels, was able to negotiate an alternative schedule with the firm that allowed her work from home and strike a satisfactory balance between career and family.
“I was ready to quit a job that I loved doing so I could be with my two young daughters,” says Mahalingam. “But LeMaster Daniels let me take the time I needed to ease my baby and myself into our new schedule until we were comfortable.” Years later, Mahalingam retains a part-time schedule and works from home in the summer months. She’s even been promoted along the way.
Which is one of the reasons LeMaster Daniels was named a winner of the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, distinguishing the employer as a leading practitioner of workplace flexibility in Boise and across the nation.
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 and share the results of research on creating effective and flexible workplaces that meet the needs of people in the 21st century.
The Sloan Awards recognize organizations that are dedicated to making work “work” for both the employer and the employees. Representing employers of all sizes and all types, winners of this prestigious award not only offer excellent workplace flexibility practices, but they also use flexibility as a strategic business tool to enhance organizational effectiveness while also benefiting employees.
LeMaster Daniels received the Sloan Award for its philosophy that employees shouldn’t have to choose between career and family and its policies and practices in support of work-life balance.
For Mahalingam, this has meant the chance to maintain her career without sacrificing precious time with her daughters, Puja, 5, and Swetha, 3. “It’s not just about the reduced hours and the home office,” she says. “The fact that I have been promoted and the support I get from all the staff prove to me that LeMaster Daniels isn’t just giving lip service to flexibility on the job.”