Intermountain Financial Group/MassMutual awarded the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award at the Work-Life Harmony Conference hosted by the Salt Lake Chamber.
Salt Lake City, Provo and St. George, UT (October 15, 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.
Intermountain Financial Group, LLC, the Utah General Agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), was honored yesterday by local award sponsor Salt Lake Chamber at a Work-Life Harmony Conference on Wednesday, October 14, 2009. Intermountain Financial Group’s innovative workplace practices include providing its employees a flexible work schedule, full benefits including disability income and life insurance, a strong community service presence, and the overall knowledge that an employees family is the most important factor of their success.
The Sloan Awards Awards honor organizations of all sizes and all types in the state of Utah and across the country that are using workplace flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness and yield positive business results.
“We are honored to receive this national award and hope to continue strengthening the bond between the company and our employees. Having a strong and healthy work/life balance is the key to anyone’s success and we as a company do what we can to help with this goal.” Amber Dixon, Marketing and Recruiting Manager said. “It our internal customers that help make us great and we work hard to keep up the positive work environment and develop strong relationships with our employees, their families and the community”.
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 Tyler Wigton at (212) 465-2044 or twigton@familiesandwork.org or Kelly Sakai at (212) 465-2044 x 211 and at ksakai@familiesandwork.org.
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ABOUT INTERMOUNTAIN FINANCIAL GROUP/MASSMUTUAL
For more than a century, the Intermountain Financial Group/MassMutual (IFG) www.intermountainfinancialgroup.com has provided a comprehensive offering of a diverse array of products, including life insurance, annuities, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement planning products, mutual funds, and access to money management to individuals and businesses in Utah and most of United States. IFG currently has offices in Salt Lake City, Provo, and St. George, Utah. IFG has also been recognized as one of the best places to work in Utah by the Work/Life Awards Committee for 2007 and 2008.
*Securities and investment advisory services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, Inc. member SIPC. (Salt Lake City Agency – 6340 S. 3000 E., Suite 500, SLC, UT 84121 – (801) 943-6277)
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
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