KC Counts speaks with Family Friendly New Mexico Founder Giovanna Rossi about how businesses can create family friendly work environments. Here's a transcript of their conversation:
KC Counts:
Tell me about Family Friendly New Mexico. What is its goal?
Giovanna Rossi:
Well, thank you for asking. It's great to talk to you. Family Friendly New Mexico is a statewide nonprofit organization that has a mission of supporting businesses and employers to adopt and implement family friendly workplace policies and culture so that employees and their families thrive.
KC Counts:
What do family-friendly policies in a workplace look like?
Giovanna Rossi:
Yeah, great question. So it's a range of things, and it includes everything from paid leave to health benefits, wellness programs, flexible scheduling, predictable scheduling, because people need to know what their schedule is so they can plan for transportation and childcare, a whole range of things. But also, good wages. And so one of the questions we ask is, do you offer wages higher than your competitors in your industry? And that's a question we ask. So we're looking at a range of things and not every company or employer will have everything that we ask about, but it gives us a good sense of the range and depth of their commitment and capacity to provide family-friendly workplaces,
KC Counts:
And so you offer some recognition to those businesses that are meeting or exceeding those goals. Tell us about some of the awards and who's winning them.
Giovanna Rossi:
Yes, absolutely. We do recognize the businesses because we find that when we're working with companies, it's really nice to recognize what they are doing well, right? Like there's a lot we could say about what needs to happen, and there's more work, always, to do. But when a company is making an effort to implement paid leave or have a flexible schedule, have a hybrid, option, support their employees with childcare, we really want to recognize that. So we do have an awards program. Companies can go onto our website and apply. There's a very straightforward application where we ask you some questions and based on how you answer, you might get a bronze, silver, gold, or platinum level award, depending on what kinds of policies and how that mix is.
KC Counts:
Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the categories of awards that there are that'll give us a picture of what you're looking for.
Giovanna Rossi:
Yeah, so we're looking at the very highest level, we're looking for companies who have multiple policies in all the different categories. So they are, you know, at a minimum, they are offering some of the basics, like some kind of flexible scheduling, some kind of health supports. We also added in a sustainability category this year because we're interested in companies that have a commitment to the environment. And so we're asking things like, are you recycling? Are you composting? Do you have priority parking for employees, you know, driving electric vehicles and those kinds of things. Other categories at the very top level, arepay equity, like how are you transparent about wages among your different employees? Do you have a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Are you committed to employees being engaged in their communities? So volunteer hours that are paid. So all kinds of things like that at the very top level. And those companies can be large and small and all across the state, frankly. Some people, I think, you know, they think, well, only the large companies are getting that top level award. It's not true. There are ways, and that's part of our program, is that we help companies understand how they can actually meet those requirements. And what we hear from our employers really is, “wow, going through the process of this application has educated me so that now I know what I could be doing, and it's not as hard as I thought”.
KC Counts:
Is there an example of, say, a winner, current or past winner, that is on the smaller business side? Many people are looking for opportunities to support their local businesses, maybe you can tell us about one.
Giovanna Rossi:
Yeah, absolutely. A lot of businesses in New Mexico are considered small by the federal, business definitions because a lot of businesses are well under 500 or even 50 employees. But we have a local company, M’tucci's Restaurant. They have several locations across Albuquerque, at least. And they have received a high level of award because they are implementing really interesting and innovative...and this is the other thing we're looking for, is like creative, innovative types of policies. And they have just announced recently their composting program in their restaurant system. So that's really exciting. So I think we can point to some of the companies and in industries that are traditionally really hard, it's really hard for them to offer family-friendly policies. Other award winners are some of the smaller credit unions. We think of these large banks and hospitals and institutions, some of which definitely are at that high level. But we do have some of the smaller credit unions across New Mexico, including in the southern part of New Mexico. Definitely some of those smaller businesses. We have a cheese company all the way out in Clovis. We have a healthcare company all the way up in Farmington, you know, and everywhere in between.
KC Counts:
Tell us briefly about the Family Friendly Business Awards Luncheon coming up April 30th.
Giovanna Rossi:
Yes, so April 30th, we are gathering at the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, welcoming all of the award recipients from across the state. And people are driving in from Taos, from Farmington, from Las Cruces to receive their award on stage. We'll have over 300 business leaders and community leaders and employees celebrating together. This is really the big event of the year, and we encourage everybody to attend and just support the employers who are really making a difference for the families in New Mexico.
KC Counts:
And where would one go to learn more about Family Friendly New Mexico?
Giovanna Rossi:
Yeah, you can go to nmfamilyfriendlybusiness.org, nmfamilyfriendlybusiness.org, and you can learn more, you can get involved, you can attend our events. We also do workshops throughout the year, and we would love to see you.
KC Counts:
Giovanna, anything that's important, you think, for people to know that I haven't asked you about yet?
Giovanna Rossi:
I just really want to underscore the importance of this for not just businesses, but for the community in general and how much this supports economic development for New Mexico. Family-friendly policies really are the backbone of a resilient economy. And I think the more that we can educate people about that and learn about that and support companies locally that have family-friendly workplace policies, the better.
KC Counts:
Maybe you could tell me a little bit about your own personal passion for this and how you became involved in this line of work yourself.
Giovanna Rossi:
Absolutely. I love sharing this because it was very personal to me. I was a new mom juggling, you know, a baby, trying to breastfeed for the amount of time that the doctors and the midwives tell you that it's important to, and while also juggling a very high-pressure career. And it was impossible. And I think anyone in that situation where you literally have to choose between your career and your baby, it's just, it's the worst feeling in the world. And from that moment, I knew that this was bigger than just - this was bigger than just me. I knew that all kinds of women and men and families across New Mexico were experiencing this. And so I was engaged in this work in my actual job, working on women's health policy and increasing economic security for women across the state. And as I was juggling that with having my own new baby, it just became really clear, okay, this really needs work. And so we came up with a whole lot of programs and options for how we could address that. And one of those was this idea that we could really engage employers in being part of the solution.
KC Counts:
Family Friendly New Mexico founder, Giovanna Rossi, thank you so much for spending this time to talk about it with us. We appreciate it.
Giovanna Rossi:
Thank you so much.
Here is a link to the Family Friendly New Mexico website for more information. Local winners include:
Las Cruces:
Aprendamos Intervention Team
Community Action Agency of New Mexico
Tularosa:
Tularosa Basin Telephone Company
