Barnes Dennig Wins Alfred E. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility

(Cincinnati, Ohio - June 1, 2007) - Barnes Dennig, the area’s fifth largest CPA firm, was named a winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility on May 23, distinguishing the firm as one of the top practitioners of workplace flexibility in the nation.

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 (ICW), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Twiga Foundation to recognize businesses that are dedicated to making work “work” for the employer and the employees. Through When Work Works, these partner organizations provide research, resources and recognition to businesses nationwide, and share the results of the research on creating effective and flexible workplaces that meet the needs of the 21st century.

Barnes Dennig works with its people individually to craft work schedules and plans that helps them achieve the optimal work/life balance they are seeking.  The owners of the firm want to accommodate valued employees who seek to devote time to their family yet remain in the workforce, too.  This is engrained in the firm’s culture. 

To mitigate the longer hours worked by the firm’s professionals during “tax season,” most accounting and tax professionals work 32 hours per week for many weeks during May, June, July, August and October.  In addition, every member of the firm can start early and leave early or vice-versa or work some of their hours at home, if that’s what they need to do on any given day.   A high percentage of Barnes Dennig people utilize flexibility in their schedules and it empowers them to worker harder because they know they are valued for their contributions as individuals.  Ultimately, the firm’s clients are better served by empowered employees who are treated with respect and who are happy in their work. 

The culture of flexibility that the firm has nurtured has led to a 94% employee retention rate average over the last three years.  This rate is 14 percentage points higher than the national average for the accounting profession of 80%.  

“Our people have made our flexible workplace programs successful and are the real winners of this award,” commented Barnes Dennig’s Managing Director, William J. Cloppert, CPA.   “Winning awards is great, but helping our people achieve the optimal work/life balance is the real reward because, in the end, our clients are served better by highly motivated and happy professionals,” noted Cloppert. 

Representing a diverse range of employer size and industry, winners of this prestigious award not only offer excellent workplace flexibility policies and practices, but they also use flexibility as a strategic business tool to benefit business and employees. Each of the winners will be recognized in a national advertisement, just as 2005 and 2006 winners were recognized in USA Today earlier this year.

“Two of the biggest issues for employers in today’s economy are recruitment of top talent and retention of valued employees,” said Greg Roth, senior manager of programs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce. “The business community sees workplace flexibility as a vital piece in a broader plan to develop the strongest possible workforce. As a strategy to stay competitive, workplace flexibility can be a sound business decision for employers no matter the size or industry sector.”

Applications for the Alfred P. Sloan Awards were open to all businesses in the greater Cincinnati area with more than 10 employees that had been in business for at least one year. 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 validating what employers report against employee responses.

“This award is one of the most rigorous in the country,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute. “When comparing the winners to national data, they score in the top 20 percent of all employers in the U.S. – which is phenomenal,” she said. “To have employers’ data corroborated by their employees is what is most exciting. These businesses understand that workplace effectiveness and flexibility are part of being an employer of choice today. They are truly models for other companies.”

Families and Work Institute research finds that effective and flexible workplaces have benefits for employers and employees alike. In fact, employees in effective and flexible workplaces are more likely to be:

• engaged in their jobs and committed to helping their companies succeed;
• satisfied with their jobs; and
• to plan on staying with their employer.

“Ten years of intensive data collection tells us that adopting workplace flexibility practices may be one the most strategic businesses decisions a company can make regarding its work culture,” says Patricia Kempthorne, founder and executive director of the Twiga Foundation.

Greater Cincinnati is one of 24 select communities nationwide chosen to host and participate in the When Work Works initiative. Other communities participating are: Aurora, CO; Boise, ID; Brockton, MA; Chandler, AZ; Chattanooga, TN; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; Durham, NC; Houston, TX; Long Beach, CA; Long Island, NY; Melbourne-Palm Bay, FL; Morris County, NJ; Providence, RI; Richmond, VA; Salt Lake City, UT; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; Tampa, FL; Washington, DC; and Winona, MN. 

For more information about When Work Works or the Alfred P. Sloan Awards, please contact Elizabeth Miller at (212) 465-8421 or at emiller@familiesandwork.org.


ABOUT BARNES DENNIG
Barnes Dennig is the fifth largest accounting firm in the Greater Cincinnati area, according to the Business Courier. The firm provides financial statement reporting, tax advice and business insight to hundreds of companies and organizations in this region.  The company has special expertise in the manufacturing, construction, real estate and distribution industries as well as the not-for-profit sector.  Additionally, the firm offers tax, estate and financial planning to high net worth individuals.  Other services include retirement plan auditing, business valuations and costing/pricing consulting. 

ABOUT WHEN WORK WORKS
When Work Works is a nationwide initiative to highlight the importance of workforce effectiveness and workplace flexibility as strategies to enhance businesses’ competitive advantage in the global economy and yield positive business results. When Work Works is a project of Families and Work Institute sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in partnership with The Center for Workforce Preparation, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Twiga Foundation. For more information, visit www.whenworkworks.org.

ABOUT FAMILIES AND WORK INSTITUTE
Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit center for research that conducts extensive research on the changing workforce, changing family and changing community. Founded in 1989, FWI’s research typically takes on emerging issues before they crest. The Institute offers some of the most comprehensive research on the U.S. workforce available.  For more information, visit www.familiesandwork.org.

About The Institute for a Competitive Workforce
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) is a 501(c)3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ICW promotes high educational standards and effective workforce training systems, so that they are aligned with each other and with today’s rigorous business demands. Through policy initiatives, business outreach, and a strong grassroots network, ICW is finding solutions that will preserve the American workforce as this country’s greatest business asset and its strongest future resource. For more information, visit www.uschamber.com/icw.

About The Twiga Foundation
The Twiga Foundation is dedicated to inspiring, promoting and maintaining a family consciousness at home, in the workplace and in the community. The Twiga Foundation acts as a liaison to key stakeholders in the When Work Works communities to address the issue of flexibility in the workplace. The Foundation helps build a broader leadership constituency for workplace flexibility within each community. For more information, visit www.twigafoundation.org.