The largest employer on the list with 8,479 employees, Mercy Hospital Springfield pays a portion of all employee and dependent health care premiums, offers bonuses and 20 paid days off to all employees. With a nearly 80 percent female workforce, Mercy offers six weeks maternity and paternity leave with full pay, adoption assistance, free and subsidized on-site child care, college savings plans, tuition reimbursement and scholarship assistance for children of employees.
What do you find makes your business a desirable place to work? “There are many factors that contribute to Mercy being a desirable place to work. During the years Mercy has received many honors and accolades that speak to the quality of care and excellent service. While these are important and play an integral part in creating a great reputation, our co-workers and culture are truly what makes Mercy the place to work. Mercy co-workers continue to believe in and represent our mission. We honor our heritage and keep that in the forefront of our minds as we move forward in our ministry. This creates a culture in which people want to be a part of and experience what it means to make a difference in health care.”
What is the most celebrated benefit/perk among your staff?“Mercy’s benefit plans are designed to meet our co-workers diverse needs and flexible enough to adapt as co-workers move through different phases of life. In practical terms, the most celebrated and utilized benefit is the Mercy medical plan. The Mercy medical plan is designed to assist co-workers in maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle and to help protect co-workers financially. Preventative care is 100 percent covered with no out of pocket or deductible required.
“A celebrated perk among Mercy co-workers is the annual Mercy co-worker appreciation day. During the past couple of years Mercy has celebrated this day at Silver Dollar City. More than 12,000 co-workers and their family members were not only able to enter the park with free admission, but also receive several discounts while enjoying the park. The event is so popular that in past years Mercy co-workers attending have been close to setting overall park attendance records.”
What methods does the company have in place to solicit employee input?“Co-worker input is vital to the Mercy mission. Input is always welcome, and one formal program for soliciting that input is known as The Voice of Mercy. The program invites co-workers from a variety of work areas to come and listen to a Mercy subject expert give a short presentation on a specific topic. Once the presentation is complete, co-workers break into small groups to discuss the topic. Following the small group discussion, the large group is reassembled to share the ideas of each group. Co-workers are encouraged to take the information back to their respective departments. In addition, the co-worker inputs, and questions from The Voice of Mercy, are posted on an intranet website for all co-workers to view. Town hall meetings are held on an annual basis in locations throughout Mercy, led by the president and CEO of Mercy Springfield. All co-workers are invited to come and participate by listening to updates, but also bringing forward questions, concerns and comments in the open forum.”
Click here for full coverage of the 2012 Choice Employers.[[In-content Ad]]
