How Core Values Inspired Our Maternity Leave Policy

Pregnant woman sitting at desk in home office showing core values Among Goodway Group’s core values, at the center of who we are and what we do are “Family Values.” For us, this means being there for each other when life happens. For every big deadline, we know there’s also a big championship game. For every client presentation deck, we’ve seen pictures from a child’s graduation. From birthdays to births, new houses to new names and sadly, lost loved ones to unforeseeable disaster, we’re there for each other in all of life’s moments. It’s with these core values in mind that Goodway has tried to anticipate the major life events of its employees and provide the best benefits available from day one, like work-from-home jobs. As for maternity leave, however, Goodway’s benefits have historically been run-of-the-mill. While our maternity benefit was on par with many organizations of our size across the country, our employee population is 75% female, average age of 34 — making employees prime candidates to take advantage of a world-class maternity program. Many organizations ask for feedback from their employees — through annual surveys or focus groups — but Goodway is different. Not only do we have an anonymous suggestion forum to tap into the needs of employees, but responses are crafted personally by our department heads, COO and President and distributed company-wide every Friday. They keep it real, simply because they care. The maternity leave discussion first came up because of a received inquiry from the suggestion forum. One of our leadership team members responded with honesty and authenticity, sharing that they would look into it. This wasn’t a cop out; our leadership team takes every one of these suggestions to heart. In true Goodway fashion, our leadership team discussed the possibilities at length, researched and benchmarked against similar companies, weighed the financial and legal implications and launched an all-employee survey to get a pulse on if this request was an emerging trend or the whim of a few. The results were clear: Our employees were ready for a change in this benefit area to better match our core values. I’m happy to share that starting in 2017, our maternity benefits are at the head of the pack: New moms can take 12 weeks after the birth of a child at 100% pay after two years of service (60%-100% pay for those with less than two years’ tenure). Additionally, we added paid time off for new dads and new parents of adopted children. Goodway knows, of course, there is a link between exceptional benefit programs like ours and employee retention and engagement, but that’s not why they did it. When it comes down to it, our leadership believes it’s the right thing to do. And while the upgraded maternity leave program received an overwhelmingly positive response, it was the transparency in which feedback was requested and decisions were made that truly set Goodway’s approach apart from other organizations. When our employees go through joyous milestones or hard times outside of work, we show respect, flexibility and support to help them get through whatever happens. So the question is, do you want to work for a company that cares about you beyond the 9-to-5 clock, or one that doesn’t? To join the Goodway family, search our current job listings and apply today.