To celebrate its longest-serving employees, every year the hospital operator OhioHealth treats them to a day off, a company-paid shopping spree and an awards luncheon, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
“We want engaged, happy, well-compensated workers,” Dave Blom, OhioHealth’s president and CEO, told the paper. “This reward and recognition stirs the emotions and passions of people.”
Employees earn the trips after 20 years of service, and at every five-year interval after that, the paper reports. After spending the day at the mall, the workers are driven in a limousine for an awards luncheon, which features a 40-yard red carpet lined with cheering executives and managers.
“I’ve been overly impressed; it’s more than what I expected,” production manager Eric Robinson told the paper. “It’s a wonderful way to say, ‘We appreciate your long-term efforts.’”
The Dispatch adds that the program is one of the company’s efforts that lead to a turnover rate one-third lower than the national average for healthcare companies. More than one-tenth of the company’s workforce has been there more than 20 years.
The productive and happy workforce has made a positive impact on the healthcare provider’s results. The company was recently ranked by Thomson Reuters as one of the top 10 health systems in the country.
