“We operate in a people business – so being family inclusive is absolutely critical to what we do. We want to support our colleagues to prioritise what is most important to them in life – helping them enjoy work, and to fit it alongside their family life. Consulting can be an extremely flexible career, and we’d like to support our colleagues in achieving that. This makes sense for us – it helps our colleagues, helps our business, and helps us better understand and support our clients.”
At Oliver Wyman, our ambition is to create a sense of belonging for each of our people through our words and actions. We recognise that our people are at different phases of their lives and focus on supporting all stages through the context of family.
Here at Oliver Wyman, we pride ourselves on being focused on impact for our clients, whilst providing incredible flexibility for individuals to craft their own individual career path.
Our program “FlexOW” provides a wide selection of flexible options that suit each individual and their family’s needs, from a 9-day fortnight to 10/11-month year. The 10/11 Month Year program allows for periodic breaks planned in advance (e.g. an unpaid leave for up to two months a year). We offer “Reintegr8 Days” for parents which enables colleagues to work 4 days a week whilst being paid for 5, as they return from parental leave.
Colleagues tell us that they love how FlexOW enables them to find a solution that works for their own needs, whether that be taking a period off for something specific or ongoing flexibility alongside their role.
Our employees recognise that their choice to start and support their families is supported and welcomed at Oliver Wyman. Further, Oliver Wyman makes every effort to support our employees’ diverse interest and personal needs by providing a variety of options to help every situation.
We have seen primary carers returning to work on reduced hours to allow for a slow and steady reintroduction and we have seen secondary carers being able to work flexibly to allow for appointments, book fairs and other family commitments.
We have observed benefits in two areas:
• Our approach to family inclusivity has enabled us to hire and retain key colleagues as they transition through different stages of life. In a competitive industry, we find that colleagues appreciate the flexibility provided by our family policies and the support that they provide to enable them to be their best selves at work.
• Our clients also value the empathy in the work that we perform for them, based on a strong foundation of looking after our own colleagues.
“We operate in a people business – so being family inclusive is absolutely critical to what we do. We want to support our colleagues to prioritise what is most important to them in life – helping them enjoy work, and to fit it alongside their family life. Consulting can be an extremely flexible career, and we’d like to support our colleagues in achieving that. This makes sense for us – it helps our colleagues, helps our business, and helps us better understand and support our clients.”
