Talking talent retention and supporting working parents: Q&A with Ann Nadeau, Chief People Officer at Great Place to Work

As the trusted global authority on workplace culture, and the company behind the Best Workplaces™ lists and some of the largest employee surveys, Great Place to Work holds itself to an extremely high standard for employee engagement, health and well-being, retention, and so much more. When they started to experience a baby boom, Chief People Officer Ann Nadeau listened to the issues and questions parents-to-be were grappling with, and knew that Maven was the best choice to support all employees on any path to parenthood. 

By the numbers

Maven is improving how Great Place to Work’s employees and their families get care 

Here’s how Great Place to Work employees are engaging with Maven: 

• 1,020+ Touchpoints with Maven’s app, virtual live classes, Care team, articles, and action plans
• 270+ Member-Provider Interactions, including video and messaging appointments
• 54% of virtual appointments on Maven occur during business hours, creating convenience and reducing absenteeism
• 5 out of 5 stars: Average Maven Provider rating
  

‍

Q&A with Ann Nadeau, Chief People Officer at Great Place to Work

How do you think about family benefits fitting into your larger corporate and talent strategy? 

At Great Place to Work we want to create a consistently great experience that supports our diverse community of employees to lead full lives. Care is one of our most important values and our benefits are an opportunity for us to lean in on that value to ensure care is felt at all stages of an employee’s life. 

We also know from our own research that when we create a great environment for our parents, all of their co-workers excel. And no doubt the business enjoys more innovation and greater productivity. Ultimately, we want our people to be with us for a long time and if we care for our employees and their families, more will choose to stay. 

What priorities or challenges did you have that led you to explore Maven? 

We have employees in the U.S. working in various locations across the country. And about 18 months ago, we started to experience the start of our own baby boom. Month after month, new first-time parents were calling to tell me about their exciting news; they were about to have their first child and were wondering what the company does to support them on this journey. I knew we were not ready to truly support these new parents, but we had to find a way (and quickly!) to deliver on our value of care for those about to be new parents—and provide support for their growing families. 

Why did you choose Maven for Great Place to Work’s employees? 

The decision to go with Maven was an easy one. We knew the suite of services we could extend to our employees is as diverse as our employees who are parents-to-be, and it was key that Maven is available in all of the locations where our employees are based. 

As I listened to the questions and issues our parents-to-be were grappling with, the support Maven could provide for mental health and holistic wellness became top of my list—and has held that top spot even more so today during the pandemic. 

"It became clear to me that by choosing Maven as a partner, we were going to invest in the holistic physical and mental wellness of our team."

What have you heard from employees since launching Maven? 

Our new parents have raved about Maven. To have different expert resources to call upon has been invaluable. New parents have told us about feeling more emotionally supported with what was happening during their pregnancy and after the birth of their child. The return-to-work coaching and support has helped our new parents let us know what they need. And we listen. We are flexible. We embrace this beautiful life change the employee is experiencing and are better able to support them because of it. 

We also know our parents need help with their young children and they have been asking for more benefits, so we are growing our partnership with Maven into Parenting & Pediatrics to ensure our employees continue to get the support they need for their growing families.

Mental Health Providers are among the top providers booked by Great Place to Work employees on Maven. Can you talk a bit about why mental health and emotional support is so important for your employees—especially during pregnancy or postpartum? 

We know from our research that burnout is real. It is real even before we start talking about the responsibilities of parenting on top of the responsibilities of the job. If we create a psychologically and emotionally safe place for our people, especially our new parents, then we reduce the likelihood of burnout and that is absolutely what we want to do. We have always been a place where people appreciate our flexibility—and combining that with tangible care for mental health during pregnancy or postpartum provided by Maven increased the likelihood that our people would continue to have a consistently supported and balanced life.

As the trusted global authority on workplace culture, we know Great Place to Work sets an incredibly high standard through your own internal culture. In what ways has COVID-19 challenged that? Can you talk about some of the top things you’ve implemented for working parents and those who are interested in becoming parents? 

We’ve expanded our partnership with Maven to include Parenting & Pediatrics for starters! We’ve created new opportunities for listening and being flexible to what people need more than ever. These listening sessions build community and a way to understand the challenges that parents are facing during this time. 

We also launched a program in January to help ease financial stress by providing each employee with a $5k annual stipend to use for emergencies or important life and family needs (however the employee defines important to them). Our parents have started their own parents’ group on our internal portal to provide more community and parent-to-parent coaching. At the advice of this group, we are also currently reviewing our leave policy to make sure we have a world class offering with time off and pay for our parents.

“As a new mom, it was 5 o’clock in the morning on a Thursday and I’m sitting on the couch in the dark with my head in my hands. My son Jasper is crying in the other room and I’m exhausted. Suddenly a lightbulb goes off and I go to my phone, I navigate to my Maven app, and there are notes from a Maven Lactation Consultant I had met with earlier in the day about feeding in the middle of the night… In that moment, it felt like Maven was there for me, and Great Place to Work [my employer] was there with me. And I love that I’ve received judgement-free, expert advice from Maven, which—believe me—is very hard to find.” 
- Maggie, mom and Great Place to Work executive