Open enrollment season is rapidly approaching, and for many employers late summer and early fall is the time of year when benefit packages are reviewed for competitiveness.  Fifth Third Bank has recently rolled out a new benefit specifically aimed at retaining employees that are new moms - a maternity concierge service.

The maternity concierge service was implemented in January 2017 in all of their locations across 10 states.  The intent of the benefit is to help expecting and new moms focus on their work by eliminating distractions, and delegating baby-related tasks to the concierge making it easier to return to work in a full-time capacity.  The cost of using the concierge is free to employees, and the benefit can be utilized from conception until the baby’s first birthday.

The concierge performs almost any kind of service that is not work-related.  Some of the more common activities include vetting child care, cleaning, meal-delivery services, and picking up items at the grocery store.  They have helped prep birth announcements and compile birth registries.  They have found photographers and planned baby showers, first birthday parties, and gender-reveal parties.  Employees pay for goods and services arranged for them, but the work of the concierge is free of charge

According to Bob Shaffer, Chief Human Resource Officer and Executive Vice President of Fifth Third, “As we went through the process of getting feedback from our employees, one of the areas that we kept coming back to related to the unique challenges faced by women as they get pregnant, go through the maternity-leave process and, particularly, come back [to work].  There was a little higher turnover rate than we’d like to see [within a woman’s first year after giving birth].  We felt a need to take a look at the situation.”

Prior to the maternity concierge program being implemented, Fifth Third already had an on-site employee concierge benefit in place through a vendor called Best Upon Request.  They provide services such as picking up dry cleaning, grocery shopping, and other delivery type errands.  It was a logical next step to work with Best Upon Request to custom create Fifth Thirds maternity concierge program.  The program is currently exclusive with the bank, but the vendor intends to start marketing the program in 2018.

Currently Fifth Third has two full-time concierges working on-site at Fifth Third’s headquarters and part-time concierges in their other locations.  As of mid-June, the bank has approximately 200 women across 10 states enrolled in the program.  Of these women, more than half are pregnant, 41% have a child one year old or younger, and 6% are pregnant and have a child under the age of one. 

While Fifth Third Bank has not publicized the cost of the maternity concierge benefit, Teresa Tanner, Chief Administrative Officer has indicated it is “over six figures.”  “It is a relatively small percentage of our [benefits] budget” but it has a significant impact.   In order to determine whether they are getting their return on investment, she has organized a monthly scrum to determine what is going well and when they should consider making changes including adding new services.  One service that will be added is the ability to ship breast milk home for employees of Fifth Third that have to travel.  By the time they hit the one year mark of offering this service, there should be enough usage to determine whether it has had an effect on retention.

Within the first 90 days of the program’s implementation 22 employees had filled out a survey regarding their experience with the service.  All 22 indicated they are satisfied with their experience, they feel valued by their employer, and that they are more likely to stay with Fifth Third.

In addition to the maternity concierge program, Fifth Third Bank also offers a generous family leave benefit.  Female employees who have been with the bank for three years and have a vaginal delivery are provided with six weeks full paid maternity leave.  A c-section provides 8 weeks of paid leave.  As of August 1, 2017, all new moms and dads will receive 4 weeks of paid leave to bond with their new child or adopt or foster a child.

As employers are looking for new and different ways to become more family friendly, a maternity concierge service may be something to consider.

Sources: Employee Benefit News 7/19/2017; Fast Company 7/13/2017