A few weeks ago, we shared with you some of the new foundations and practices The Wing is implementing to further our mission.
We are enormously proud of what we’ve achieved together over the past three years. Across 11 locations in two countries, our members have been able to form connections, build friendships, launch businesses and create a community to advance all women.
But our success together means we have a special responsibility to get our culture right. We expected that as a female-led company, things would automatically be different, and in some cases, they have been — but we also perpetuated some of the behaviors and systems we set out to break. However, when there are inconsistencies between our mission and our practices, or when we don’t fully live up to our values, we know it’s incumbent upon us to address it. We are committed to showing up everyday to get it right.
We are taking significant steps to improve our culture and how we operate as a business to get there. I want to share some of the efforts that have been introduced or are in process:
- A new, forthcoming Culture Code that outlines clear expectations for the culture and environment we seek to create in our space and make clear behaviors that would result in termination of membership.
- A new operating model for our spaces that includes a new framework for advancement, creating clear pathways for our team members and streamlining roles. As we’ve done every year, we are increasing our hourly wage across every market and continuously expanding our benefits.
- Total compensation package for employees with benefits including:
- All full-time employees, from the CEO to our space teams, have access to the same medical, dental, & vision plans
- 14-week paid maternity leave for hourly and full-time employees
- All full-time and full-time hourly employees health benefits include transgender-inclusive medical benefits for employees and dependents, and pregnancy termination coverage
- All full-time hourly employees have access to free professional coaching through a partnership with Bravely
- Investments/Efforts to maintain op-to-bottom diversity throughout the company, from our spaces to our executive team
- We hire and give employment to women who have experienced domestic abuse or gender violence as part of a partnership with Sanctuary For Families and other local organizations
- Requirement of all full-time employees to participate in shadow shifts in our spaces
It’s unusual that we are talking about this publicly as we are making these changes with our team and community, and wouldn’t consider them newsworthy. But we believe in transparently sharing these efforts because we have a special responsibility to get the culture of this company right.
We are grateful for everything our members and employees have each done to move us forward. To me, employees and members working to improve and reform this community is proof that the grand experiment of The Wing is working.
Audrey
