THUNDER BAY – BUSINESS – During the week of January 12 to 16, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is celebrating the people – medical staff, employees, teams, volunteers, Patient Family Advisors, and donors – who are making a difference for patients and families in Northwestern Ontario.
This year sees the celebration of the first ever Employee Recognition Week, including a number of activities such as the Walk the Talk Awards and Long Service ceremonies.
“At TBRHSC we place considerable focus on rewarding and recognizing our staff and volunteers for their service and performance,” says Amy Carr, Manager of Human Resources and Organizational Development. “We all know that individuals have a deep-rooted desire to feel valued and to receive positive reinforcement for a job well done.”
TBRHSC recently conducted a complete review and revision of its employee recognition program to ensure efforts were in-line with industry best practices and employee wants. The new program is a result of best practice research, and more importantly, employee engagement.
The newly revised Reward and Recognition Program includes:
Attendance Recognition Program: This program recognizes staff who demonstrate exemplary attendance throughout the year.
Long-Service Awards: Each year we recognize all staff who have service in increments of 5 years. Staff with 5, 10, 15, etc. years of service with the organization are invited to a reception where they are personally thanked and presented with a pin of recognition by the President and CEO and the Senior Management Team.
Employee Recognition Week: This annual week of recognition features many different strategies, including our Walk the Talk and Long-Service ceremonies, refreshment breaks, discounted lunches, and many prize draws.
Retirement Celebration: Each year we honour the retirees from the year prior. The retirees are invited to a formal dinner reception held off-site and presented with a gift of thanks. Each retiree chooses their gift from a variety of options.
Thumbs Up Blog: This blog is available to all staff through our corporate intranet and is intended for staff to recognize each other’s exemplary efforts and performance on a day-to-day basis. (i.e. “Thumbs Up to Jane in Emergency for taking time to help a new staff with their patient”)
Walk the Talk Awards: These awards are intended for staff to nominate fellow employees for an award to recognize their exemplary performance. There are several award categories such as: Respect, Occupational Health and Safety Award, PFCC, Aboriginal Health, French Language, Team, Leadership, Research and Academics, and Individual Awards. A staff-based committee reviews the nominations and selects winners. Award-winning staff are publicly recognized with an award presentation from the President and CEO and the Senior Management Team.
Thank You Cards: Leaders are encouraged to use corporate Thank You cards as a means of recognition with their staff.
All of our Reward and Recognition strategies support our global culture and strategic directions whether it is through formal awards or simply recognizing exemplary behaviour and accomplishments. Operating within the public sector framework, TBRHSC has developed its robust employee recognition framework within limited funds through creative, employee-driven, low-cost strategies.
In addition to recently being designated as a top 10 Corporate Culture in 2014, TBRHSC‘s reward and recognition efforts were also recognized as a finalist in the 2014 Canadian Human Resources Awards for Best Reward and Recognition Strategy.
