FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
Q&A with Vice President of Governmental Relations and regional co-site leader Leean Kravitz
The following is an excerpt from an interview with Fidelity Investments’ Vice President of Governmental Relations and regional co-site leader Leean Kravitz, whose comments have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
How has your organization’s culture helped you succeed during the past year?
“There has been a real focus last year, and really since the start of the pandemic, on making sure that our employees have a work-life balance. In the past year, that means being really thoughtful about how we reenter the workplace, so we’re still in a hybrid environment right now. Then, once people are in the building, we’ve been really focused on making sure the work environment is not only safe, but also comfortable and inviting, and, frankly, enticing. There’s a lot of flexibility in when people come back to the office and, as of right now, it’s still all voluntary. But, once they do decide to come back, there are lots of incentives, such as free meals when they’re there on site. We’ve also introduced a hospitality service where (employees) can pick up whatever they need that they might have forgotten for the day. We’ve also enhanced some of our caretaker benefits. So there are some additional benefits and services available to fill in those gaps as we start heading back.”
As an employer, how has your concept of supporting the work-life balance of your staff changed since the beginning of the pandemic?
“We’ve realized that there are ways for people to be really productive from wherever they are. I don’t think that our productivity has been really impacted based on the location of where the work is happening. It’s been an interesting realization that the jobs don’t have to be where they were historically. So, the jobs are going where the talent is, rather than the talent following the jobs. For Albuquerque, it has been a huge benefit, we’ve been able to bring all these different types of jobs here that didn’t exist before the pandemic.”
What is the top thing your organization has done to retain its talent?
“A lot of it goes back to the culture of the firm. We always put our customers first, of course, but our associates are also a huge priority for us, and people really feel that. I try my best to connect with every new hire class that we have and I always ask them what their first impressions of joining the firm have been. And it is overwhelming the number of new associates who talk about how supported they feel and how accommodating the firm has been to them learning their jobs. I think that that creates this huge connection between the associates and the company, as far as feeling supported.”