A Conversation with Tom McInerney, President and CEO, Genworth Financial and CED Trustee

Many businesses have expanded supports that enable employees with child care responsibilities to work in recent years. Employee child care supports grew exponentially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented pressures placed on working parents.

“I think we’re more focused on understanding the stresses involved with being an employee that also is a parent of young [children]… It’s harder to do a great job at work and treat our customers well, which is the most important part of what we do every day, when you have really big challenges outside of the home,” explained Tom McInerney, President and CEO of Genworth Financial and CED Trustee. “We are really trying to foster a culture within Genworth where we want to make sure we are helping our employees – certainly when they are in the office or working remote but also outside of work. How can we help them ease some of the other pressures that they have?” McInerney shared Genworth’s experience in a recent CED podcast on employer child care supports for working families. Genworth Financial is a leading insurance holding company that serves the lifestyle protection, retirement income, investment and mortgage insurance needs of more than 15 million customers around the world.

For several years, Genworth has offered employee child care subsidies and flexible spending accounts to assist with child care expenses. In addition, the company offers assistance with finding care providers through an employee assistance program as well as 24/7 access to tools and resources to support parenting, with a specialized focus on caring for children with special needs. Genworth has also increased paid leave benefits from four to eight weeks over the years and will expand to twelve weeks in January 2023.

“We had programs in place… but the sensitivity to how important helping our employees with their child care needs [grew]... as we got into the pandemic,” McInerney said. In response to the pandemic, Genworth expanded employee flexibility by introducing Crisis Management Time Off, unlimited time off at the discretion of employees, and enhanced the Choice Time Off policy for both exempt and non-exempt associates. Genworth also increased access to wellness resources to help employees, especially parents, balance mental wellness during such an unpredictable time.

Overall, for Genworth the pandemic demonstrated the power of flexibility and trust in employees. This approach yielded a workforce that remained engaged while also producing strong results for the company.

“We now focus more on the whole employee… not just when they are here on the job but understanding a big part of their life is not here and so we did a better job of allowing our employees the flexibility to do what they needed and I think that significantly increased the morale of our employees,” McInerney shared. He urged businesses to recognize that their employees have a full life beyond work and to consider the whole employee to create a more rewarding work experience.

Listen to the full podcast episode here.