Window into Wipfli

When life challenges happen, an alternative work arrangement can be the answer

A healthy work-life balance has become a critical goal for many individuals, but as workloads pile up and deadlines come in fast and furious, boundaries between professional and personal time can be harder to achieve. Remote and hybrid work, while a welcome choice for many, can potentially make things worse if people feel they must always be available.

Wipfli is keenly aware of the pressures that can lead to overload and offers associates at any level the opportunity for alternative work arrangements (AWA). This reflects our trust in our people to uphold the firm’s core values and deliver high-quality service to clients.

Caption: An alternative work arrangement helped Ashley Hong
juggle work with her studies.

When “life happens,” and you don’t want to have to leave your job, Wipfli gets it. Ashley Hong, a senior consultant in risk advisory services, was worried about having enough time to study for her CPA exams while carrying a full-time workload. She talked with her performance coach, Jackie Cooper, a senior manager, about her concerns, and they agreed that an AWA made sense for Hong. Between January and May of 2024, Hong reduced her full-time work schedule to 30 hours, which allowed her ample study time and to keep her firm benefits. “It’s fantastic to have that option and not impact my career. Having Jackie guide me through the approval process helped everything go smoother,” she says.

Associates have used AWAs to spend more time with children, care for elderly relatives or reduce their schedules in preparation for retirement.

Valuable retention tool

For her part, Cooper says she’s a big advocate of the flexible arrangements. “It helps keep people from needing to leave the firm. When life throws something at you, we can accommodate them,” she said.

Caption Jackie Cooper, right, is an enthusiastic advocate for AWAs,
recognizing them as an important differentiator for the firm.

While Cooper has not had an AWA herself, her performance coach at the time, Karen Johnston, did. “The beauty of the AWA is that it forces others to grow, increase communication, and you don’t feel much of a difference when they are not online,” she said. “When they block the time on their calendar, you think of it like they’re at a meeting.”

Caption: Reduced hours at work helped Karen Johnston stay on top
 of parenting duties.

After several years of full-time work, Johnston spent two years on an AWA, starting when her three kids were ages 6, 8 and 10. “I couldn’t work as many hours as I was and do a good job at home,” she said.

The reduction in hours forced an extra layer of discipline in her work. “It kept me very focused and succinct in what I was doing.”

“The kids are only young for so long and I wanted to be around more for them. That was really important to me,” she said. A turning point was when her mother passed away. “I suddenly realized how much she did for our family, and my husband and I just couldn’t keep up.”

Wipfli’s commitment to AWAs has been a boon for the people who need them and the firm, which is more likely to retain top-notch associates because of the flexible options.

Eliminating stigma

The firm is intent on showing there is no stigma to obtaining an AWA. “People who have been on an AWA have made partner,” Cooper said. “It’s nice knowing we have the support when we need it.”

Hong and her performance coach talked about the possibility of her pursuing another AWA down the road. “We also talked about what my future would look like at Wipfli, including what it might be like if I decided to have kids,” Hong added.

The availability of AWAs is a testament to Wipfli culture, a recognition of the varying needs people have outside of work. “They understand we all come to the table with different backgrounds and home lives. If people can’t work the same hours as their colleagues, they can still make a big contribution,” Johnston said. “I bring up this option quite a bit when I hear people are struggling. [The arrangements] are the firm saying, ‘we don’t want to lose you.’”