JPMorgan Chase: Tapping an Overlooked Talent Pool

By the spring of 2014, the pilot had come to an end for JPMorgan Chase's ReEntry Program, a program designed for women coming back to the workforce after a period of time away. Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of Asset Management, and her team had to evaluate whether or not the program had been successful. Participants and managers both had provided some anecdotal positive feedback on the program, but Erdoes wanted to know how they could truly calculate the return on investment (ROI). Wall Street was a data-driven place to work, and if they wanted to create something that would survive beyond the tenure of the firm's existing leadership, they had to prove that the time, money and energy invested by the firm was worth it. Calculating ROI would also help them to prepare for subsequent runs of the program and determine in what ways, if any, they should differ from the pilot. What factors should Erdoes and her team consider when calculating ROI? How can they position the program to ensure its survival?