VCU Health System Recognized at 2010 Employer All Star Awards

By Malorie Burkett

The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System has received the Workforce Development Award for a large employer and is one of four companies being honored with the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.

The awards were presented today by the Richmond Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan award was awarded to the VCU Health System for its creativity in addressing employee needs for work week flexibility, which is critical to work force effectiveness.

"To be recognized on a national level by receiving the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award for Workplace Flexibility is such an exciting affirmation of the life-work integration we strive hard to help all of our VCUHS employees achieve,” said Maria Curran, vice president for Human Resources and Family Care for the VCU Health System.

“The Sloan award is a great testament to how employers who are innovative and visionary can make a significant difference for their work force and community, and hopefully this will inspire others to make flexibility a core strategic value- it is good business,” she said.

Three other companies also recognized with the Sloan award were Bon Secours Richmond Health System, Capital One Financial and BDO Seidman.

The Workforce Development Award recognizes employers whose work force practices generate significant results, benefits and solutions to the professional and/or technical development of its employees, or individuals pursuing job training/retraining for either future employment or transition.

“We are thrilled to also have received the Workforce Development award because we have worked hard during the unprecedented financial crisis to enhance, rather than reduce, crucial support to our employees and their families,” said Curran. “Our culture of caring extends to patients and employees alike.”

According to Curran, the VCU Health System has more than 400 work force programs and benefits. They have helped 15 employees buy their first homes and provided more than $4.2 million in tuition to employees and their dependents. The VCUHS also saved more than 700 days in lost time by offering back up care for employees’ children and adult dependents.

The VCU Health System also was among this year’s finalists for the Employer of Choice Award, which it has received three times before. Other recent recognitions for work force development initiatives include Working Mother Magazine’s “100 Best Companies;” Top 50 Companies and 10 Nonprofits for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives; and the 2008 Companies That Care Honor Roll.