One of the world's largest and best-known financial institutions, JPMorganChase (JPMC) opened for business in New York City in 1799. Today, the bank’s 300,000 employees serve millions of consumers, small businesses, corporations, institutions, and government clients across 60 countries worldwide.
For more than 30 years, JPMC has partnered with Bright Horizons to help fulfill its commitment to create a culture that supports the health and well-being of its employees and their families. Lilly Wyttenbach, Managing Director, Head of Global Wellness at JPMC, describes the company’s commitment to supporting working parents as part of its strategy to attract and retain top talent.
What kind of culture is JPMorganChase trying to cultivate for its employees?
At JPMorganChase, our purpose is to Make Dreams Possible for everyone, everywhere, every day. Doing so allows us to powerfully tell our authentic true story of who we are and the unique business impact we make. Our five values – service, heart, curiosity, courage, and excellence – shape our purpose. Our employees help bring these values to life. We strive to create a workplace where our employees feel comfortable bringing their whole selves – to work. We endeavor to create a culture of well-being throughout JPMorganChase which includes supporting our employees and their families as they navigate their professional and personal trajectories. We’re committed to providing our employees with practical information and access to resources to take ownership of their well-being.
Can you share some of the challenges you face in attracting and retaining employees throughout your organization?
There's a lot of competition for the best talent. Recruits today are looking to work at a company that cares about their well-being and offers not just market competitiveness, but unique benefits and offerings. One of our challenges – and also a strength – is that our population is extremely diverse, so employees have various needs based on their location, socio-economic situation, personal and family situation, and other considerations.
JPMC offered employees back-up child care managed by Bright Horizons in the U.S. for many years. Recently, you shifted to a hybrid model, offering full-time and part-time child care at on-site centers run by Bright Horizons. What was the reason for making that shift?
The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for us to consider a shift in our child care strategy in the U.S. at our large locations where Bright Horizons offers child care. Many of our employees need to perform their roles on-site, which became difficult during the pandemic, especially with child care centers closing in locations where we had large numbers of employees. We partnered with Bright Horizons to pilot a limited offering of full-service child care. Given our size, scale, and philosophy for offering back-up child care as our primary offering, with careful deliberation we strategized a way we could offer full-service care on a trial basis.
We learned that having a flexible model worked; what started as a short-term pandemic-related pilot turned out to be really sticky with our employees.
Now, we’ve established a hybrid model that offers emergency back-up care as a core solution and full-service child care on a limited basis at our centers. It’s been extremely well received. We have a few hundred employees using full-service care and several thousand using back-up care.
We find that the mix of these services is not only a more efficient use of our investment in child care, but at the same time it’s also better at meeting the child care needs for our on-site employees which have been exacerbated post the pandemic given child care shortages around the country.
You’ve deployed your hybrid child care offering in a very unique way. Can you tell us about your strategy?
We’ve been very intentional with our investment in child care benefits. Our 14 centers have been strategically located to support our larger campuses where most employees are expected to work on-site. To make child care more affordable, we’ve always subsidized back-up child care with a low copay that’s based on salary (with more highly paid employees paying more). We took the same approach to highly subsidizing our full-service offering, because the goal was to make child care affordable for employees.
Whether they need back-up care, full or part-time care, or a combination of both, by subsidizing our child care offering we help employees maintain a steady paycheck and also assure their productivity.
One of our core principles is to adapt to the changing needs of our employees. So, we make adjustments as needed. For example, some centers are open 13 hours a day to accommodate extended shifts at those locations. We also monitor and adjust usage, which at some locations has shifted from predominantly back-up care to more care dedicated to full-service.
Additionally, we offer programs that allow employees to extend their benefits to maximize impact for parents in our large U.S. locations where Bright Horizons operates on or near-site centers. Our 8-week Advantage Program offers new parents returning to work after the birth or adoption of a child up to eight weeks of on-site back-up care and our Summer Advantage Program offers 20 extra days of back-up care during the summer months for toddlers through school-age children to ensure support for the entire family. These are very popular programs with high demand, so we need to carefully monitor utilization and help the most employees access these services when they need them.
How does offering child care help you attract and retain employees, in particular customer service team members?
It's a key differentiator, particularly for employees who need child care support and who are in locations where we have on-site offerings. Where we don't, we've expanded access to a wider network of care available through Bright Horizons. Not only are employees getting high-quality child care at an affordable price, but the stability and reliability of the offering means they don't need to spend time looking for outside child care and can focus on doing their jobs. This is a very highly valued benefit for the employees who use it.
You also support parents with older children and other family needs. Can you describe how you’ve extended support to address their challenges?
Many employees work here for decades, and they transition through changing needs as employees and as parents. So, one of the things I love about our holistic child care and caregiving offering is that it extends beyond support for young children. There is center-based care and near-site care for children who are older, up through school age. Parents can take advantage of our center-based summer program for school-age children and have access to virtual camps when children can’t attend school or are not well.
We also launched some innovative initiatives in partnership with Bright Horizons. During the pandemic, we saw the need for academic support for school-age children spike and began offering access to virtual tutoring. Consider another pilot, we experimented with allowing employees to swap their back-up care allocation for virtual tutoring for students up to 18 years of age. That need has continued post-pandemic. So, we expanded it to include options for in-person tutoring. Expanding the back-up care benefit in this way really democratizes it and makes it accessible for employees who have children of any age.
Additionally, we offer college advising via College Coach which helps students, and their parents identify appropriate higher learning and financial aid opportunities, assists with the admissions process, and alleviates some of the stress of applying for college. This is also one of our most valued benefits for parents during a very stressful time – we often refer to it as a ‘hidden gem.’
We also have Business Resource Groups, including a very strong Working Family Network in most of our regions. It's a great way for people to collaborate and get support through shared life changes as well as amplify our programs and offerings and get the word out to those who may need the support the most.
What advice do you have for other organizations considering adding child care support as a benefit?
It’s critically important to understand the demographic needs of your population in the location where you need a solution. One size does not fit all. To assess demand and the right solution, you can conduct a needs assessment, interviews, focus groups or surveys, and testing of price points. Whether or not you plan to subsidize can really change the economics of the offering for employees. Also, explore employee shift hours as they may not be your typical 9 to 5. Work with an expert partner who can support your needs, bring best practices, and support innovative solutions that are fiscally responsible. One of our key concerns continues to be the scalability of popular offerings, including full-service child care which is still new for us. We’re still learning and adapting. If we need to pivot to better meet demand or changing economics, we will consider employee impact and modeling to best meet the needs of our employees and the organization. Don’t overpromise – if you are offering a pilot – say it's a pilot but communicate in a transparent way. We learned this during COVID as well that parents needed forward planning about our intentions to extend our full-service pilot so they could appropriately plan for their child’s school year which doesn’t run on a fiscal or calendar year when we typically make budget and strategy decisions vs. a school year.
Bright Horizons has been a decades-long partner to JPMC. Our cultures are very similar. Across the Bright Horizons and JPMorganChase families, we’ve formed very strong connections. Having Bright Horizons’ strategic consultative support, having them help us think through which investment will be the most efficient, effective, and impactful for our population, has definitely been a highly valued benefit. Having a partner who will listen to your needs, concerns, considerations, and goals is critical and one who will flex with you and bring new solutions. We are looking forward to the next decade and continued chapter of supporting JPMC families.
For more than 30 years, JPMC has partnered with Bright Horizons to help fulfill its commitment to create a culture that supports the health and well-being of its employees and their families. Lilly Wyttenbach, Managing Director, Head of Global Wellness at JPMC, describes the company’s commitment to supporting working parents as part of its strategy to attract and retain top talent.
What kind of culture is JPMorganChase trying to cultivate for its employees?
At JPMorganChase, our purpose is to Make Dreams Possible for everyone, everywhere, every day. Doing so allows us to powerfully tell our authentic true story of who we are and the unique business impact we make. Our five values – service, heart, curiosity, courage, and excellence – shape our purpose. Our employees help bring these values to life. We strive to create a workplace where our employees feel comfortable bringing their whole selves – to work. We endeavor to create a culture of well-being throughout JPMorganChase which includes supporting our employees and their families as they navigate their professional and personal trajectories. We’re committed to providing our employees with practical information and access to resources to take ownership of their well-being.
Can you share some of the challenges you face in attracting and retaining employees throughout your organization?
There's a lot of competition for the best talent. Recruits today are looking to work at a company that cares about their well-being and offers not just market competitiveness, but unique benefits and offerings. One of our challenges – and also a strength – is that our population is extremely diverse, so employees have various needs based on their location, socio-economic situation, personal and family situation, and other considerations.
JPMC offered employees back-up child care managed by Bright Horizons in the U.S. for many years. Recently, you shifted to a hybrid model, offering full-time and part-time child care at on-site centers run by Bright Horizons. What was the reason for making that shift?
The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for us to consider a shift in our child care strategy in the U.S. at our large locations where Bright Horizons offers child care. Many of our employees need to perform their roles on-site, which became difficult during the pandemic, especially with child care centers closing in locations where we had large numbers of employees. We partnered with Bright Horizons to pilot a limited offering of full-service child care. Given our size, scale, and philosophy for offering back-up child care as our primary offering, with careful deliberation we strategized a way we could offer full-service care on a trial basis.
We learned that having a flexible model worked; what started as a short-term pandemic-related pilot turned out to be really sticky with our employees.
Now, we’ve established a hybrid model that offers emergency back-up care as a core solution and full-service child care on a limited basis at our centers. It’s been extremely well received. We have a few hundred employees using full-service care and several thousand using back-up care.
We find that the mix of these services is not only a more efficient use of our investment in child care, but at the same time it’s also better at meeting the child care needs for our on-site employees which have been exacerbated post the pandemic given child care shortages around the country.
You’ve deployed your hybrid child care offering in a very unique way. Can you tell us about your strategy?
We’ve been very intentional with our investment in child care benefits. Our 14 centers have been strategically located to support our larger campuses where most employees are expected to work on-site. To make child care more affordable, we’ve always subsidized back-up child care with a low copay that’s based on salary (with more highly paid employees paying more). We took the same approach to highly subsidizing our full-service offering, because the goal was to make child care affordable for employees.
Whether they need back-up care, full or part-time care, or a combination of both, by subsidizing our child care offering we help employees maintain a steady paycheck and also assure their productivity.
One of our core principles is to adapt to the changing needs of our employees. So, we make adjustments as needed. For example, some centers are open 13 hours a day to accommodate extended shifts at those locations. We also monitor and adjust usage, which at some locations has shifted from predominantly back-up care to more care dedicated to full-service.
Additionally, we offer programs that allow employees to extend their benefits to maximize impact for parents in our large U.S. locations where Bright Horizons operates on or near-site centers. Our 8-week Advantage Program offers new parents returning to work after the birth or adoption of a child up to eight weeks of on-site back-up care and our Summer Advantage Program offers 20 extra days of back-up care during the summer months for toddlers through school-age children to ensure support for the entire family. These are very popular programs with high demand, so we need to carefully monitor utilization and help the most employees access these services when they need them.
How does offering child care help you attract and retain employees, in particular customer service team members?
It's a key differentiator, particularly for employees who need child care support and who are in locations where we have on-site offerings. Where we don't, we've expanded access to a wider network of care available through Bright Horizons. Not only are employees getting high-quality child care at an affordable price, but the stability and reliability of the offering means they don't need to spend time looking for outside child care and can focus on doing their jobs. This is a very highly valued benefit for the employees who use it.
You also support parents with older children and other family needs. Can you describe how you’ve extended support to address their challenges?
Many employees work here for decades, and they transition through changing needs as employees and as parents. So, one of the things I love about our holistic child care and caregiving offering is that it extends beyond support for young children. There is center-based care and near-site care for children who are older, up through school age. Parents can take advantage of our center-based summer program for school-age children and have access to virtual camps when children can’t attend school or are not well.
We also launched some innovative initiatives in partnership with Bright Horizons. During the pandemic, we saw the need for academic support for school-age children spike and began offering access to virtual tutoring. Consider another pilot, we experimented with allowing employees to swap their back-up care allocation for virtual tutoring for students up to 18 years of age. That need has continued post-pandemic. So, we expanded it to include options for in-person tutoring. Expanding the back-up care benefit in this way really democratizes it and makes it accessible for employees who have children of any age.
Additionally, we offer college advising via College Coach which helps students, and their parents identify appropriate higher learning and financial aid opportunities, assists with the admissions process, and alleviates some of the stress of applying for college. This is also one of our most valued benefits for parents during a very stressful time – we often refer to it as a ‘hidden gem.’
We also have Business Resource Groups, including a very strong Working Family Network in most of our regions. It's a great way for people to collaborate and get support through shared life changes as well as amplify our programs and offerings and get the word out to those who may need the support the most.
What advice do you have for other organizations considering adding child care support as a benefit?
It’s critically important to understand the demographic needs of your population in the location where you need a solution. One size does not fit all. To assess demand and the right solution, you can conduct a needs assessment, interviews, focus groups or surveys, and testing of price points. Whether or not you plan to subsidize can really change the economics of the offering for employees. Also, explore employee shift hours as they may not be your typical 9 to 5. Work with an expert partner who can support your needs, bring best practices, and support innovative solutions that are fiscally responsible. One of our key concerns continues to be the scalability of popular offerings, including full-service child care which is still new for us. We’re still learning and adapting. If we need to pivot to better meet demand or changing economics, we will consider employee impact and modeling to best meet the needs of our employees and the organization. Don’t overpromise – if you are offering a pilot – say it's a pilot but communicate in a transparent way. We learned this during COVID as well that parents needed forward planning about our intentions to extend our full-service pilot so they could appropriately plan for their child’s school year which doesn’t run on a fiscal or calendar year when we typically make budget and strategy decisions vs. a school year.
Bright Horizons has been a decades-long partner to JPMC. Our cultures are very similar. Across the Bright Horizons and JPMorganChase families, we’ve formed very strong connections. Having Bright Horizons’ strategic consultative support, having them help us think through which investment will be the most efficient, effective, and impactful for our population, has definitely been a highly valued benefit. Having a partner who will listen to your needs, concerns, considerations, and goals is critical and one who will flex with you and bring new solutions. We are looking forward to the next decade and continued chapter of supporting JPMC families.
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