McGladrey Named to 2014 Working Mother 100 Best Companies List

McGladrey is excited to announce that we were recently named by Working Mother magazine as one of the publication’s 2014 Working Mother 100 Best Companies. 

Working Mother recognized companies for outstanding leadership in establishing policies, programs and corporate culture that supports working moms, including child care, flexible work arrangements, paid parental leave and advancement of women. Companies are also measured on access to and use of family-friendly programs. 

“We are honored to receive this recognition for the eighth year,” said Richard Caturano, McGladrey’s national leader of culture, diversity and inclusion. “At McGladrey, we understand not only our clients’ needs, but also the needs of our employees – those who work so hard to help our clients meet and exceed their goals. Work-life balance and employee engagement have always been integral components of McGladrey’s commitment to creating a strong culture. In our most recent McGladrey People Survey, we saw a 16-percent increase from the previous year in our employees’ satisfaction. These statistics, and recognitions such as this one from Working Mother, recognize the commitment we have to our employees, and the fact that we continuously look for ways to enhance the value of the flexibility and benefits we provide.” 

“The Working Mother 100 Best Companies are the leaders in the advancement of women by supporting the need to integrate family and work successfully,” said Carol Evans, president at Working Mother Media. “We are thrilled to honor the U.S. companies that put words into action and build family-friendly cultures on the foundation of thoughtful policies and effective programs. Women make up 50 percent of our workforce. We need to make sure they have the support to be outstanding moms as well as great employees.”

“In its 29th year, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies are a powerful reminder of how great companies can and do create supportive work places for their employees,” said Jennifer Owens, editorial director of Working Mother Media. “All employers would do well to follow their lead if they want to attract and retain top talent.” 

The complete list of the 2014 Working Mother 100 Best Companies can be found here . All 2014 winners will be recognized at the Working Mother 100 Best Companies Gala Dinner on October 15, 2014 at the Marriott Marquis in NYC, as part of the Work Life Congress annual conference. 

About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation, is the publisher of Working Mother magazine (WMM) and its companion website workingmother.com, and is home to the Working Mother Research Institute. The National Association for Female Executives and Diversity Best Practices are also units within WMM. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change. Working Mother magazine is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

ALPFA Exposed

by Nelly Montoya, Assurance Senior Associate, San Francisco
and Michael Gerlach, Assurance Director, Chicago

The 2014 installment of the Annual ALPFA Convention was held August 2-6 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Under the direction of Rich Caturano, McGladrey leadership chose approximately 25 professionals to represent the firm at the convention to learn more about the importance of diversity and inclusion, increase the familiarity of McGladrey in the professional and educational environments, and get to know the professionals and students attending. We were two of the lucky attendees that got to experience what ALPFA is all about and we’d like to share a little of that with you. But first, some background on ALPFA and the convention:

ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting) was established in 1972 and currently has over 23,000 professional and student members. The organization is the successor of the American Association of Hispanic Certified Public Accountants and was one of the first national associations of Latino professionals in the United States. With such rich history, it is no surprise that McGladrey has chosen ALPFA as one of the organizations to partner with in connection with its Culture Diversity and Inclusion initiative.

Every year, ALPFA hosts a national convention that brings together over 3,000 of the top Latino and other minority students and professionals from some of the biggest and best firms and companies (McGladrey, Big 4 firms, Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, BNY Mellon, Walmart, Disney, State Street, Johnson & Johnson, etc.) for a few days in order to focus on professional development, networking and leadership. The sponsors of the convention host both technical and soft-skill workshops for professionals and students, women of ALPFA events, a scholarship luncheon, a career fair and a closing black-tie gala, which all allow convention attendees the opportunity to tailor their convention experience. Additionally, the local chapter of the host city for the convention hosts several after-hours social events that really allow convention attendees to build lasting professional and personal relationships.

Having no idea of what to expect from the convention, we were completely blown away by the energy and excitement every single attendee exhibited throughout the entire five days. For us, it was truly an eye opening experience and by far one of the best professional conventions we have attended. The opportunity to introduce McGladrey to hundreds of students via the Jenga challenge workshop we hosted and the YouTube “Personalities Wanted” challenge were truly inspiring. (Plus, Michael being able to say his team won the Jenga challenge was exciting for him!) The tremendous feedback we received from the students highlighted how McGladrey made one of the biggest impressions of many of the companies in attendance. The excerpts from emails we received from students across the country, which we have included below, exemplify the energy McGladrey professionals put forth in taking a vested interest in each student. As a result of the conference, many students we met have since been through the McGladrey interview process and will be joining McGladrey in the next few months. In addition to meeting professionals and students outside of McGladrey, we also had an opportunity to meet other passionate McGladrey professionals committed to career development and to building a pipeline of talent to better serve McGladrey’s middle market clients. Words cannot express what a wonderful experience we had and we encourage all professionals to become involved.

Student excerpts:

I wanted to thank you for your time and effort that you took out of your busy schedule to come to the convention. It was a pleasure talking to you about what McGladrey has to offer and especially the social responsibility initiatives that have been initiated. I am glad to have shared my campus experiences and especially the non-profit MADE microfinance. I was interested and amazed about the community service initiatives that you and your team have taken.
-Student at Robert H. Smith School of Business, University Of Maryland College Park

It was a pleasure to be able to meet you at the ALPFA convention. Thanks again for inviting Marcela, Melissa, and me to sit with you and the other McGladrey professionals at the gala. It certainly shows how much McGladrey values students and wanted to get to know us on a more personal level. It was truly an honor and that definitely set McGladrey apart.
-Student at Florida International University

I would like to thank you for taking the time to speak with me about the Audit Summer 2015 Internship at McGladrey. It was a great pleasure meeting with you, I learned a lot about the culture, leadership philosophy, core values at McGladrey. Most importantly, I had the opportunity of getting to know you personally and professionally. I am very enthusiastic about the possibility of a career with McGladrey and working under your guidance.
​-Student at University of California, Riverside

It was a pleasure meeting you at the ALPFA National Convention and having you as an adviser for our team in the Jenga Structure Challenge! I really enjoyed this interactive workshop as it provided insight on my leadership style and the dynamics of a team in the public accounting profession. It was also interesting to hear about your experience and how you transitioned into your current role in Financial Services at McGladrey. Your story helped emphasize the fact that there is no set path that one needs to take to end up in public accounting. This is refreshing to hear, especially for me, as I prepare to decide where I will begin my career and how I can achieve my career goals.
-Student at Robert H. Smith School of Business

McGladrey Presence at the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)

McGladrey helped NABA celebrate bright young stars and future personalities of the profession during it’s annual Conference. Rich Caturano, McGladrey partner and leader of the National Culture Diversity and Inclusion initiative spoke at the NABA Leadership Breakfast. Rich gave compelling remarks on what leadership means using real world examples which delighted the accomplished and emerging leaders in attendance. McGladrey principal, Tyrone Beasley led a the Opening Forum Discussion to an audience of hundreds of attendees on Discovering and Nurturing Top Talent. And McGladrey employees of all staff levels came from across the nation to support the effort and to be ambassadors for McGladrey among the interested young candidates and experienced professionals.

All felt that the highlight of the Career Fair at events such as NABA has been the McGladrey “Personalities Wanted” Contest. The group of NABA attendees which fall in the Millennial’s category are promising young students who love their smart phones, YouTube and video chatting and happen also to be talented accounting and finance majors and/or recent graduates. These in demand attendees were drawn to the McGladrey booth in droves and the opportunity to record their own personal, unscripted, 1-minute commercial in which they convey 1) their “Passion” for the profession, 2) their “Purpose” in choosing accounting and finance as a career and 3) their unique “Personality” traits as to why they bring special value to both the NABA organization and to potential employers. The participants got to take their video away on a thumb drive, so they had their own keepsake from the experience. The winning video, selected from the hundreds recorded, received a $1000 award at the event dinner , presented by Rich Caturano and Tracey Walker, McGladrey Director of Government Relations. They also played the winning video for the entire dinner audience to see, to cheers and laughter in support of great young talent.

The link below is of the 2014 NABA video winner. The video has not been edited but is provided in edited form for the event presentation. At the gala, this video and presentation of the $1000 was the highlight of the gala evening as the young person references what truly inspires them and how they intend to make a difference in their careers. This is aligned with the mission of the organization and serves as an inspirational highlight to all who support NABA.

2014 McGladrey NABA Personalities Wanted Video – Sample "Winner Teonna Lonon"

McGladrey is a proud triple platinum sponsor of NABA as this and other Diverse Trade organizations enrich the lives of McGladrey professionals through CPE, industry insights and professional development. It also provides a national platform to promote the firm and recruit top diverse talent.