Editor's Note: Read a profile of Intelligent InSites, No. 1 in last year's overall ranking and No. 1 again in this year's overall ranking as well as with companies with fewer than 100 employees. This year Michigan Health & Hospital Association is No. 2 among companies with fewer than 100 employees and No. 5 in the overall ranking.Out of the 89 full-time employees at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, seven have been there for more than 30 years. When the Lansing-based association seeks to fill its rare openings—two people left in the past fiscal year, and none was laid off—a couple of online postings bring dozens of e-mails.
And when job candidates are asked why they want to leave their current job, many say they don't, necessarily, but they see the Michigan Health & Hospital Association as a great opportunity, says Kevin Downey, director of public affairs.
“A lot of times, the talent finds us,” he says. “Having a reputation among other associations or other companies in this area where people seek out employment, we've had fewer and fewer dollars allocated to advertising staff positions.”
View the ranked list of the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2010
View the ranked list of the Small Employers category“If I had to describe the entire culture in one sentence, what I would say is that we hire the very best people we can, we give them the tools they need, and then we get out of the way,” says Nancy McKeague, senior vice president and chief human resources officer. “We have very few rules and restrictions. That's a philosophy that has never done us wrong.”
The judges with Best Companies Group who evaluated Modern Healthcare's third annual Best Places to Work in Healthcare competition evidently agreed. Michigan Health & Hospital Association finished fifth in the overall rankings and second in the small employers category, those with 25 to 99 employees, behind two-time overall competition winner Intelligent InSites (because Intelligent InSites was profiled in last year's edition of this special issue, Michigan Health & Hospital Association is being featured this time around as the category runner-up.)
To the extent that candidates need to be sold on the association as a best place to work, McKeague says she touts flexible work hours, telecommuting, benefits for part-time employees and continuing-education opportunities, in particular the two-year Emerging Leaders Program for high-potential employees early in their career.
That program “exposes them to all aspects of the business of the association, all the professional skills that they'll need as they move to midmanagement and beyond,” McKeague says. “It gives employees the skills that they'll need to interact with professional colleagues and board members, and reporters, and other association executives.
It also lets them know that we recognize their value early on.”
The continuing-education opportunities are based on a professional growth ladder that employees identify for themselves and work out with their supervisors. Each department has a standard ladder, such as information technology employees who attend Microsoft certification classes. But “we don't even require that people's continuing education be strictly related to their work,” McKeague says.
Employees at small organizations on the Modern Healthcare top 100 list were more likely to be pleased with their training and advancement opportunities than respondents overall, according to survey data analyzed by the Best Companies Group, which conducted the Best Places to Work program. Those who found ongoing training to be adequate accounted for 82% of respondents overall, but 90% in the top 100. The spread for experiences to explore other opportunities was 72% vs. 82%, and for the possibility of promotions, 74% vs. 85%.
Exempt employees at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association earn an average of about $81,000 a year, while nonexempt workers receive an average of just over $34,000. The association pays more than 75% of medical and prescription drug coverage and the whole premium for dental, life, and short- and long-term disability coverage. Among respondents to the Modern Healthcare survey at small employers, 31% of the overall list said the employer covered 75% to 99% of medical premiums, while 41% of respondents at top 100 employers said they provide that level of benefits.
Communication was another key differentiator for the top 100, according to the Best Companies Group's analysis of the survey data. Of the total respondents at small employers, 81% said changes were well communicated, compared with 90% of those from the top 100. The spread on whether expectations for advancement were clear was 73% vs. 82%.
The Michigan Health & Hospital Association has an open culture that enables employees to air gripes, work out differences and put forth new ideas, Downey says. “There's a strong sense of family culture here,” he says. “Because of that, there is this openness among employees, and between them and their supervisors. The barriers that might be associated with other organizations aren't there. You see a lot of things resolved and addressed and improved that might not be elsewhere.”
For example, the association has not increased its dues to members the past two years, and departmental budgets have remained flat as a result—and the association has kept everyone apprised and up-to-the-minute about the implications, McKeague says. “We have continued to be as honest with our employees,” she says, adding that the lack of turnover is partly “because we've had that history of being transparent.”
When one employee came up with the idea of boosting the agency's use of sustainable materials, the association paid to send her to a college-certificate class on sustainability. That person leads a volunteer green committee that has prompted management to switch to biodegradable disposable eating utensils in break rooms. They're getting rid of Styrofoam cups next.
“I had received some inquiries, particularly from our younger staff members,” McKeague says. “They don't think that's very good stewardship,” referring to the use of nonbiodegradable products. “She stepped out from these discussions and said, ‘Let's do this.' ”
