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Member Best Practice: O?Melveny & Myers Supports the Back-to-Work Transition

Firms are finding that offering on-ramping programs to help smooth the transition back to work from leave are being met with positive feedback and are having strong retention benefits as well. PAR has collected best practices in the area of on-ramping.

Firms are getting creative with their on-ramping offerings. (See our blog on On-Ramping Options). PAR Member O?Melveny & Myers launched its unique Momentum One program last year. Momentum One offers new parents one-on-one videoconference coaching sessions with licensed clinical social workers who are ?transition specialists.?

Rochelle Karr, the firm?s Director of Attorney Professional Development & Alumni Relations, piloted the program along with an attorney in the firm. Both found the program valuable because of its focus on the challenges of parenting and practical advice.

Karr noted that the Momentum One program has been a great fit with the firm culture and their maternity leave and on-ramping offerings already in place. Karr noted that ?We give [our attorneys] 18 weeks of paid leave; it would not make any business sense whatsoever to then say, ?Come on back, and hope it all goes well. And here?s a bunch of work assignments, and good luck.? Why not just ease that for them a little bit and nurture our investment?? Proactively giving their attorneys tools to solve their parenting dilemmas with a trained professional helps the attorneys find solutions that may seem insurmountable while trying to meet professional obligations. The firm has received positive feedback on the program and is pleased with its success thus far.

Full post as published by Up to PAR on January 09, 2012 (boomark / email).