Novo Recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Workplace Flexibility
Posted on Wed, Aug 05, 2009
The Novo Group to be awarded the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award in an event hosted by Fuel Milwaukee in September.
Milwaukee, WI – 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.
Cindy Lu is being honored by local award sponsor FUEL Milwaukee on September 10, 2009 at the “Flex Your City” awards event.
The Sloan Awards honor organizations of all sizes and all types in Milwaukee and across the country that are using workplace flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness and yield positive business results.
Cindy Lu, Novo’s Co-Founder and President sentiments were simple and to the point, “It is exciting to receive this award illustrating how Novo continues to put its employees as top priority. It’s really quite simple - flexibility in the workplace translates to happy, healthy and more productive employees.”
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.
ABOUT THE NOVO GROUP
The Novo Group is a professional services firm providing a range of custom recruitment solutions in a value-based hourly model. Key offerings include Strategic Search, Corporate Recruiting and NextPlace Career Transition Services. Novo was founded in Milwaukee in 2003 by Mike Harris and Cindy Lu – two proven entrepreneurs determined to bring the Recruiting market a new approach to doing business.
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.