"Our real power as women comes from having the self-awareness and courage to be ourselves, in every part of our lives. In other words, the source of our power is our ability to be authentic. For a working mother, this means having the freedom to be both a worker and a mother. This can best occur when a company cares for the whole person," said Shannon McFayden, Wachovia's head of Human Resources and Corporate Relations.
Carol Evans, CEO and President of Working Mother Media, said "Every year our winning companies raise the bar for what it means to be an employer of choice for working families. Wachovia not only offers essential benefits like flextime and telecommuting—they go above and beyond with a range of best practices and policies to ease the difficulties for working parents and their families. Their supportive culture makes a huge difference to employees who want to be great moms and great workers."
The magazine selected Wachovia based on its corporate culture for women, programs and policies for childcare, leave for new parents, opportunities for women to advance, flexible work arrangements, work/life benefits such as elder care and other employee programs.
"Winning this award is great recognition for Wachovia's diversity journey," said Julie Jost, head of Wachovia's Women's Employee Resource Network. "We have 72,899 women at Wachovia, which represents more than 62 percent of our workforce, and many of the company's most senior positions are held by working mothers. The Working Mother recognition, and more important Wachovia's commitment to an inclusive environment, goes a long way toward driving engagement levels of women."
Added Suzanne Riss, the editor-in-chief of Working Mother magazine, "As a working mother myself, I understand how absolutely essential it is for companies to find ways to nurture the personal and professional lives of employees. I commend Wachovia for conceiving and effectively implementing programs and benefits that offer an inspiring paradigm for the rest of corporate America: it is possible to be both family-friendly and financially successful."
Wachovia was selected as a Top 10 Company for the 2007 Working Mother 100 Best Companies based on an extensive application of 575 questions. The application included detailed questions about workforce, compensation, child-care and flexibility programs, leave policies and more. It also checked the usage, availability and tracking of programs, as well as the accountability of managers who oversee them. Seven areas were measured and scored: workforce profile, compensation, child care, flexibility, time off and leaves, family-friendly programs, and company culture. For this year's 100 Best, particular weight was given to flexibility and family-friendly policies.
For more information on the 2007 Working Mother 100 Best Companies and for a complete list of winners, visit www.workingmother.com.
About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, with assets of $719.9 billion and market capitalization of $97.5 billion at June 30, 2007. Wachovia provides a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services to 13 million household and business customers. Wachovia has 3,400 retail financial centers in 21 states from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California, and nationwide retail brokerage, mortgage lending and auto finance businesses. Globally, clients are served in selected corporate and institutional sectors and through more than 40 international offices. Our retail brokerage operations under the Wachovia Securities brand name manage more than $795 billion in client assets through approximately 10,800 registered representatives in 774 offices in 48 states and through service affiliate offices in Latin America. Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and services at wachoviasec.com; and investment products and services at evergreeninvestments.com.
