Access Sciences has been selected as a winner of the 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. This prestigious award recognizes employers in select communities nationwide that are successfully using flexibility to meet both business and employee goals. This is the second Alfred P. Sloan Award for Access Sciences.
The award is given annually by the City of Houston’s Flexible Workplace Initiative Program and is 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. This year's awards ceremony will take place September 17, 2009 at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston.
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.
“Access Sciences strives to put our employees first. We promote a healthy work-life balance, and we take extra steps to maintain involvement in helping our employees succeed and grow. We feel this is vital to the prosperity of the company. It’s an honor to receive the Alfred P. Sloan Award again,” says Sondra Ludwick, Vice President of Corporate Services at Access Sciences.
The Sloan Awards honor organizations of all sizes and all types in Houston and across the country that are using workplace flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness and yield positive business results.
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.
Applications for the Alfred P. Sloan Awards were open to all businesses in the greater Houston, Texas area with more than 10 employees that had been in business for at least one year. 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 validating what employers report against employee responses.
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 or ksakai@familiesandwork.org.
For more information about Access Sciences, please contact Amanda Stringer at (713) 554-7553 or astringer@accesssciences.com.
ABOUT CITY OF HOUSTON’S FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE INITIATIVE PROGRAM
Mayor White's Flexible Workplace Initiative Program was created to promote flexible, productive workplaces. This initiative is focused on improving Houston's mobility and enabling Houston to lead the way in workplace flexibility. For more information, visit http://www.houstontx.gov/flexworks/
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