US – TCDI’s Key To Supporting Military Spouses In The Legal Profession.

Last spring, my colleague, Caragh Landry, contributed a post to The Relativity Blog entitled “TCDI’s Military Spouse Managed Review Program: A Bridge for Military Spouses,” which introduced TCDI’s signature Military Spouse Managed Review (MSMR) program to this audience. We are pleased to say that our program remains rock solid, engaging greater numbers than ever before on complex review projects.

This year, we’re excited to share more about the program and highlight some standout people who work for it. We hope it’ll inspire you to find ways to support military families in your own organization.

TTTYN: Take the Time You Need

So, how do we give military spouses what they want and need? It’s all about flexibility, pure and simple. A recent article posted to Military.com entitled “Guilt Free Flexibility: Do Top Employers Understand What Spouses Really Want?” truly epitomizes the type of employer TCDI strives to be to all of our employees, but especially to military spouses who face unique challenges.

The crux of the article is that great workers don’t need extraordinary concessions, but sometimes having the flexibility of just an hour or two to handle personal responsibilities while a spouse is away can be life-changing. So too can be retaining one’s job through state-to-state relocations or Permanent Changes of Station (PCSs). Flexibility creates stability and normalcy, leading to greater job satisfaction, secure and thriving households, and ultimately, a stronger defense because military families are supported.

Our solution for this at TCDI is our TTTYN policy. We invite our team members to “take the time you need” for personal and family responsibilities during the work day, without guilt. It’s a great way to invest trust in our employees, enabling them to balance their responsibilities with less stress.

Flexibility, Infrastructure, and Encouragement

As a technology company in the legal world, we are fortunate to have established business practices which lend themselves perfectly to the spirit of this endeavor.

Our team has invested in building the infrastructure to support a remote workforce. That capability was a foundational driver in the establishment of MSMR and our ability to offer military spouses flexible, remote work from isolated bases and locales long before the rest of the US workforce was forced to work from home. While TTTYN has always been a standing policy at TCDI, the sentiment expanded over the COVID-19 pandemic, with managers actively encouraging employees to take time off, focus on self-care, and support mental and physical wellness.

We’ve learned that taking care of ourselves and our families has translated directly into taking care of clients.

The ability to work from home and the flexibility to work when you can are not just perks, but crucial for our workforce, so we’ve built it into our business model. With consultants working remotely from every state, we have amped up communication channels and offer as much flexibility as projects will allow for evening and weekend work, reduced hours, or even extra hours. Projects are always offered on a “take them as you are able” basis and we routinely re-engage folks after varying periods of down-time taken for personal reasons.

The result is supportive accommodations for our workforce, whatever season of life they’re in—but it also means we have plenty of available, friendly coverage for our clients in need of support all over the country.

First-Hand Perspectives from Military Spouses at TCDI

We’re really pleased with how productive and supportive this program has proven to be for our team and our clients. In the interest of inspiring others to pursue similar efforts, we wanted to share some first-hand perspectives from the military spouses hard at work on our teams.

The following are comments from just a few of our military team members.

“TCDI has been a perfect landing place for me where my years of experience as a practicing attorney are appreciated and valued. I have needed the company’s built-in flexibility in order to maintain the necessary balance of being a working mom. In the time that I have been at TCDI, I have received no pushback from project leaders—as we are all moms, and we all get it. And we aren’t “just” moms; we are also military spouses, which adds a whole different level of nuance to what we do on a daily basis. Working remotely from home and knowing that I am contributing financially to my family and effectively balancing the many hats that I wear daily makes TCDI a great fit for me.”

– Colleen, TCDI employee in Florida, military spouse, veteran, and mother of four

“I have been working remotely with TCDI since June 2019. One of the most important things in my life is work-life balance. I’m not only an attorney, but also a mother of two daughters with busy school and sports schedules. This, coupled with my spouse’s active-duty military commitments, means flexibility in my work is necessary. At TCDI I am provided the flexibility to work the hours that fit into my schedule, allowing me to be present in both my family and professional life.”

– Angela, TCDI Georgia consultant, military spouse and mother of two

“In 2018 I was the first military spouse attorney hired by TCDI and my unique situation provided the spark for TCDI leadership to establish our MSMR program. In the time that I have been at TCDI (married to an active duty Army spouse), I’ve relocated three times, taking me from Texas, to Virginia, and back to Texas. In that time, we’ve added two small, busy, and beautiful children to the mix. As of 2022, I am now a director in our document review division, managing people and projects. I have never had to wonder whether TCDI would support my family or provide us the flexibility we needed, and I’m grateful to be a part of this company.”

– Jennifer, director and Relativity-certified TCDI employee in Texas, military spouse and mother of two

Competing obligations on a normal day create hurdles for all employees—but for military spouses and their families, those hurdles can be exponentially higher. We applaud the commitment of partners, like Relativity, who prioritize career flexibility and strive to ensure a happy, productive, and diverse workplace through benefits like these, as well as support systems like community resource groups (Relativity has one called RelVets.).

We know that these intangibles go a long way in creating job satisfaction, stellar work product, and ultimately, exceptional client service.  We consider it a privilege to provide the unique work opportunities and supportive policies that enhance the lives of our employees and consultants—and honor our military spouse commitments.

Janet Hamilton is director of legal process at TCDI, a RelativityOne Silver Partner.