HR Pulse - Summer 2008 - (Page 30)

>> CREATING A BEST PLACE TO WORK Awards and Accolades Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Mercy was one of only ﬁve recipients to receive the highly prestigious 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Given by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the award is the nation’s highest Presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence. Malcolm Baldrige was Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his death in a rodeo accident in July 1987. He was a proponent of quality management as a key to the nation’s prosperity and longterm strength. The Baldrige Award may be given annually in each of these categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonproﬁt. Award recipients are judged to be outstanding in these seven areas: 1. Leadership 2. Strategic planning 3. Customer and market focus 4. Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management 5. Human resource focus 6. Process management 7. Results. Baldrige health care recipients demonstrate increased market share, greater customer satisfaction, quality of care outcomes, improved employee relations, and enhanced operating performance. Only six other health care organizations have received the award. Mercy is unique in that its entire integrated health system was recognized for its overall performance. “The thing that we love about the Baldrige Award is that it’s all inclusive and reﬂ ects our overall operational excellence,” says Harris. “Everything must work in concert. The criteria are absolutely awesome for driving you to look at your organization, evaluate what you’re doing, and make improvements via best practices.” Mercy celebrated the award with a large reception and by giving all employees lapel pins that identify them as Baldrige winners. Other celebrations are planned throughout the year. “The award conﬁrms to our employees that the effort that they put forth is getting noticed, not only by me and other Mercy leaders, but by the entire nation—the entire world for that matter,” says Bea. “And it has helped us already in attracting new partner employees that want to join an organization that is committed to excellence. I do believe that excellence is a journey, and the award has just further convinced and motivated us to continue on this journey with greater passion and enthusiasm.” AARP 50 Best Employers for Workers Over 50 The American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) ranked Mercy No. 2 in its 2007 list of the 50 Best Employers for Workers Over 50; the health care system was ranked No. 1 in 2006. Now in its seventh year, this prestigious award was established to honor employers who demonstrate a strong commitment to a maturing workforce. Thirty percent of Mercy’s employees are age 50 or older. In determining its list of top employers, AARP looks at recruiting practices; opportunities for training; education and career development; workplace accommodations; alternative work options; employee health, pension and retiree beneﬁts; and age diversity of the workforce. In addition to naming it a best employer, AARP also recognized Mercy with its Bernard E. Nash Award for Innovation based on the organization’s commitment to developing ﬂexible work options. Here are just some of the beneﬁts Mercy’s age 50+ workforce enjoys: • Work-to-Retire Program: This creative program allows Mercy employees age 50 and older with ﬁve years of service the opportunity to work reduced, pool, or work-at-home schedules. Employees age 55 and older with 15 years of service can work seasonally for 1,000 hours in a year at their discretion, all while maintaining beneﬁt eligibility for the full year. The program also offers ﬂexible scheduling, compressed schedules, workat-home arrangements, and job sharing. Employees may take advantage of these programs on a regular basis or choose to participate when the need arises. • Retirement Health Beneﬁts: Employees who retire at age 55 or older with 10 or more years of service can continue participating in health plan beneﬁts to age 65. • Low Lift Program: Assistive lifting devices help nurses move patients, making work easier and safer, especially for more mature employees. Dawn Olson ﬁrst joined the work-to-retire program three years ago. At age 50, the customer relations manager was not ready to leave the workforce, but she did want to cut back on her hours and spend more time at her Florida home with her husband who had been retired for some time. She worked with her vice president to create a ﬂexible plan that allows her to work three full days a week when she’s at her home in Wisconsin for 10 months out of the year and about 16 to 20 hours a week for two months from her Florida home. “The work-to-retire program has afforded me the opportunity to stay active in my work life with 30 HR Pulse Summer 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Pulse - Summer 2008

HR Pulse - Summer 2008 Contents Pulse Points Executive Director's Letter President's Message HR Leader Profile: Carol Bank, SPHR Special Report: Building a Thriving Workforce Creating A Best Place to Work Employee Morale Don't Set Up Your Managers to Fail From Tedious Task to Strategic Process Employer-Assisted Housing Changing the Paradigm of Nurse Recruitment Workforce Recognition: Simple Gestures Go a Long way Advertisers' Index

HR Pulse - Summer 2008

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