Page 282 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Employee Well-Being C269

weeks later at an all-employee meeting. We even added another week
for employees who hit the five-year mark.

Q: Do most employees take the full four weeks vacation each
year?
Noel: Yes, most do because the vacation days do not carry over into
the next year, except for California. We also remind employees that
in order to deliver the high level of productivity expected, we need
everyone to be refreshed, energized, and productive. Still, many don’t
take the time they have coming to them because they are so committed
to our mission.

Q: I would think the generous vacation time would be a great
attraction for new recruits.
Noel: It definitely is. That was part of the reason for doing it; it helps
us stand out as an employer of choice. Many of our new hires come
from larger pharmaceutical companies and yet are very impressed
with our benefit offerings. Our HR generalists conduct “90-day
check-ins” with new hires to get their evaluation of the on-boarding
process and employee benefits always gets the highest rating.

Q: Do you try to provide benefits to appeal to all age groups and
life stages?
Noel: Yes, we do, in fact. It’s important to offer meaningful benefits to all
employees. When we communicate our benefits to employees, we show
examples of benefits that tend to be used by people in their age group.
For example, employees in their 20s tend to be concerned about career
development, therefore they may take advantage of the tuition reim-
bursement program and our on-site training and mentoring programs.
Employees in their 30s may be thinking about starting a family or
concerned about child care, saving to buy a home, or paying off credit
card debts, therefore they may take advantage of the child-care sub-
sidy, backup child-care services, investment education seminars, and
the banking and discount mortgage programs. Employees in their
40s may be facing elder-care issues and/or concerned about paying