Finding Real
Work ⁄Life
Balance
Cyndee Ward’s day starts at 6 a.m., getting the kids off to school and camp with help from her husband. The workday starts at 8 a.m. and consists mainly of conference calls and
teleconference meetings. She generally works until 4 or 5 p.m. but
will finish later if necessary. Living in Pennsylvania, she’s 26 miles
from one Aetna campus and 30 from another, and she makes a
point of visiting the campuses periodically to keep professional
relationships fresh.
“Many working parents hit that crossroads—do I keep working
and try to make this work or do I stay home and sacrifice the career
until the kids are older?” she recalls. “If I had not been presented
with this opportunity, I probably would not have stayed with the
company.”
Aetna’s telecommuter employee group, known as TCN, helps
Ward and thousands of other Aetna employees stay connected
through an internal web site as well as web and telephone
conferences.
“Folks get excited to share with each other,” Ward says. “The ERGs
at Aetna create a sense of community and help to connect people.
You’re not just a lone ranger. It’s motivating. It engages.”
from within. And it’s far better
if that person is not from this
traditionally underrepresented
group so the message is clear
that support transcends race/
ethnicity/orientation/gender/
disability. So if you have one
Latino executive in your
upper management, that
person should not be the
sponsor of the Latino group
but could be the sponsor
of a different group.
Make sure the
groups are inclusive
No group should exclude
anyone. White people can
join the Black group, hetero-
sexual people can join the LGBT
group, etc. These groups are
educational and are aimed at
developing talent and recognizing market opportunities. That
includes everyone.
Have the groups
meet regularly with
top management
Eighty-four percent of
DiversityInc Top 50 companies
have the CEOs meet regularly
with their employee-resource
groups, up from 44 percent five
years ago.
This is a huge opportunity
to give the CEO exposure to
different ideas, unfiltered by
his/her direct reports, and
to allow talented people who
The ERGs
at Aetna
create a sense
of community
and help
to connect
people. You’re
not just a lone
ranger. It’s
motivating.
It engages.
“
”
CYNDEE WARD, AETNA
might otherwise go unnoticed
to shine.
Use the groups
to recruit, promote
and market
Once your groups are in place,
make sure you maximize
employee involvement in them
by publicizing them internally.
Then use them to recruit talent,
identify those with leadership
potential and reach customers
and clients through innovative
ideas and specific community
knowledge.
