We launched new efforts immediately after the combination of Zurn and Elkay in July 2022, including new communication strategies, a new return-to-office policy following the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a program to engage our associates directly in social impact opportunities.
Following the combination, we restructured our organization to remove duplication and position our teams for future success, providing long notice periods of any position elimination when possible. We leveraged our existing severance and restructuring programs to assist associates with severance, benefit coverage, outplacement and transition support, including a dedicated career consultant, training and reemployment support.
We created a podcast series called The Drop to guide our associates during our transition as a combined company. Individual episodes covered topics such as Total Associate Engagement, Zurn Elkay reps and employee safety, and provided additional information to complement resources such as FAQs and other communications that we shared on our new company intranet, ZE-net.
For the fourth episode of our 2022 Podcast, The Drop, we took a deep dive into Zurn Elkay’s EHS policies, practices and expectations. EHS Directors Tom Frost (Environmental) and Steve Ryczek (Health & Safety) outlined how the newly combined company would build on existing Elkay and Zurn EHS programs to enhance further our EHS efforts moving forward. Tom and Steve also described how individuals’ day-to-day actions contribute to the company’s short- and long-term ESG goals. And they reminded them about the new WAVES Social Impact Fund as an avenue for associates to suggest projects that can affect more farreaching organizational improvement.
Recognizing that face-to-face time is essential to building relationships and fostering a shared culture, we developed a new hybrid work schedule that balances the need for collaboration with our commitment to providing flexibility. This new policy combines in-office workdays with options for at least one remote workday.
We invited all associates to participate in our new WAVES Social Impact Fund, an engaging program that funds innovative initiatives from our associates that will provide a meaningful impact in our communities and advance Zurn Elkay’s sustainability goals.