CHICAGO, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Mom Project, the leader in helping Enterprises attract and retain female talent, today announced its acquisition of Werk, a first-of-its-kind people analytics platform that puts flexibility insights and data into the hands of companies to help them work smarter. The Mom Project’s existing insights division (MP Labs) will expand its employee experience and workplace productivity analytics offering under the newly formed WerkLabs.
Flexibility in the workplace is in high demand, with 96% of employees citing a need for flexibility, but only 47% saying they have access to the types they need, according to Werk research published in Harvard Business Review. Yet, understanding and improving team and employee experience and identifying which flexibility changes will have the greatest impact on retention and productivity remains a challenge for business leaders.
WerkLabs’ methodology helps employers understand the flexibility their teams need to perform optimally, inclusive of insights across demographic fault-lines including gender, generation, caregiving status, business unit, and level to ensure equitable access.
Through a proprietary Remote Experience Index WerkLabs provides customized recommendations that are grounded, behavioral and data-driven, to improve productivity, performance and ROI around communication, morale, equipment, training, leadership, and more to ensure companies can remain agile and thrive as they adopt and adapt to new and evolving workforce strategies.
“The current environment is accelerating the urgency for companies to learn how to best support remote employees. Our customized Remote Experience Index models are uniquely positioned to help companies create work experiences that will improve employee engagement, loyalty and retention over the near and long-term.” said Dr. Pamela Cohen, President of WerkLabs. “Our research shows that flexibility has a critical impact on workplace satisfaction and employee retention.”
To date, WerkLabs has partnered with top companies including Uber, Banco Santander and Hubspot to develop best-in-class workplace policies that define the modern workforce.
“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with The Mom Project to bring critical flexibility data and strategies to the employee experience of global corporations,” said Anna Auerbach, co-founder of Werk. “The future of work is flexible and supports all people, and WerkLabs will power the construction of better workplaces for everyone.”
About The Mom Project
The Mom Project is the leader in helping Enterprises attract and retain female talent. With a community of over 250,000 talented professionals and more than 2,000 companies, The Mom Project is committed to building a better workplace for mothers and the businesses they support by harnessing the often overlooked intellectual workplace power of moms. The Chicago-based company was founded in 2016 by Allison Robinson, who serves as CEO, and has raised $11M in funding to date, including a Series A of $8M led by Grotech Ventures, Initialized Capital and Aspect Ventures, along with previous backers, Atlanta Seed Company, Engage Ventures, OCA Ventures, BBG Ventures, IrishAngels and Wintrust Financial. Serena Williams joined The Mom Project as a Strategic Advisor in early 2020 to further mobilize the mission.
About Werk Enterprises, Inc.
Launched in 2016, Werk is a people analytics platform for workplace flexibility. Werk uses behavioral science to understand exactly what type of flexibility employees need. Werk measures key aspects of the employee experience like commute time, introversion, caregiving responsibilities, and wellness priorities to determine what type of flexibility is needed by employees to perform at their best. Using its proprietary algorithm and baseline data, Werk provides insights and recommendations to companies to help them deliver on the promise of workplace flexibility. Werk is funded by leading VCs such as Rethink Impact, Halogen Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Better Ventures and others. Werk was founded by Anna Auerbach and Annie Dean, and boasts an all female investor lineup.
About WerkLabs
Founded in 2020 after The Mom Project’s acquisition of Werk.co, WerkLabs serves all companies and employees and is not specifically focused on women or moms, but in building a better workplace for all. In addition to its Employee Experience Index and Remote Experience Index, WerkLabs offers research and support for corporate leaders on other important workplace topics including DE&I, benefits and policy advisory, and M&A transitions. Led by Dr. Pamela Cohen, PhD, WerkLabs goes beyond insights, leveraging behavioral science and predictive analytics to help companies identify which changes will have the greatest impact on employee engagement and offer the best return on investment for the business. As companies look to create more flexible workplaces and productive remote work environments, WerkLabs offers partners actionable, data-driven recommendations that will have a meaningful impact on team and individual effectiveness.
