Minneapolis, Minn. - September 25, 2006 - RSM McGladrey was named to the "100 Best Companies" list by Working Mother magazine today. This is the first time the professional services firm has been named to the prestigious list.
"It´s our people who make the difference in how we serve our clients every day," said Steve Tait, president of RSM McGladrey Business Services. "Providing our employees with the flexibility and advancement opportunities to make their jobs challenging and fulfilling makes sense for them personally and for us as a company. Our comprehensive and innovative WorkLife strategy helps to differentiate us from our peers and demonstrates the firm´s commitment to respect for the individual."
For the past three years, the company has made a concerted effort to integrate WorkLife initiatives into its culture. RSM McGladrey is one of the first companies to make the measurement of WorkLife goals an important component of the employee performance review process. The company also has leveraged its comprehensive Flexible Work Environment programs - offered to employees at all levels of the organization - in its recruitment of college graduates, women and experienced personnel.
RSM McGladrey´s Flexible Work Environment provides all employees flexibility through options like compressed work weeks, telecommuting, job sharing, flextime, reduced work schedules, and Flexyear, which is similar to a teacher´s contract. Another recent flexibility addition Flexcareer, enables employees to take up to five years off for personal reasons and provides resources to keep participants connected with the organization and industry to help them return to employment at RSM McGladrey.
The company also boasts an active Women´s Initiative, which has enabled both working mothers and other career-minded women to experience a supportive, flexible career environment for development and leadership growth.
"Our commitment to WorkLife for our entire workforce starts at the top with our senior-level executives who encourage all employees to take advantage of these benefits and create the culture of flexibility we are striving for," said Teresa Hopke, RSM McGladrey´s director of WorkLife strategy. "Being named to the Working Mother list is an honor, which further underscores the tremendous progress we have made as a company in executing our WorkLife strategy."
RSM McGladrey´s Growing WorkLife Momentum
Making the Working Mother list caps off a year in which RSM McGladrey created tremendous momentum around its WorkLife strategy. The Families and Work Institute recognized RSM McGladrey´s "WorkLife Goals in Performance Management" program with a "Moving Into the Future Award" at The Conference Board´s WorkLife conference earlier this year. The awards committee unanimously selected RSM McGladrey for successfully integrating an innovative program that addresses the issues of the workforce, workplace, personal life and community.
100 Best List Methodology
To be named to the "100 Best Companies" for Working Mother´s list, public or private firms of any size and in any industry (except those in the business of providing work/life or child-care services) complete a comprehensive application, including questions about a company´s culture, employee population, family-friendly policies and policies on work/life and women´s advancement. With the help of an industrial research firm, applications are validated and scored on more than 500 points of information, including the number of work/life programs offered, the employee usage of such programs and the representation of women throughout the company.
About Working Mother Magazine: Founded in 1979, Working Mother magazine reaches nearly 3 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. Its 20-year signature initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, is the most important benchmark for work/life practices in corporate America. The publication also releases the annual list of the Best Companies for Women of Color in the June issue. Working Mother is published by Working Mother Media (WMM), which also owns the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), NAFE Magazine, the annual 100 Best Companies WorkLife Congress, as well as the Best Companies for Women of Color Multicultural Conference and regional Town Halls. This year, WMM launched its Best Small Companies for Working Mothers initiative.
About RSM McGladrey: RSM McGladrey, Inc. is a leading professional services firm providing accounting, tax and business consulting. RSM McGladrey serves clients´ global business needs through its membership in RSM International (an affiliation of separate and independent legal entities). RSM McGladrey is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB).
About McGladrey & Pullen: McGladrey & Pullen LLP (a partner-owned CPA firm) delivers audit and attest services. McGladrey & Pullen and RSM McGladrey have an alternative practice structure. Though separate and independent legal entities they work together to serve clients´ business needs.
When considered together, RSM McGladrey and McGladrey & Pullen LLP rank as the fifth largest accounting, tax and business consulting firm in the United States (Source: Public Accounting Report, Aug. 31, 2006) with nearly 8,000 professionals and associates in more than 120 offices nationwide. RSM McGladrey, Inc. and McGladrey & Pullen LLP are member firms of RSM International - an affiliation of independent accounting and consulting firms.