Getting Personal
By By Myke Folger June 18, 2010
 |
|
Dr. Thomas O. Tiffany (front), CEO of PAML, has led by |
It’s not often that a large companys CEO hangs with the
staff. But at PAML, the top executives walk their talk, especially if
that walk
happens to be the Spokane Heart Walk. Or the 7.46-mile Bloomsday Run.
Led by its CEO, Dr. Thomas O. Tiffany, Pathology Associates
Medical Laboratories, or Pac Lab as the locals and employees
affectionately call
it, has for the second year in a row stabilized its health care benefits
premiums for employees. PAML continues to invest in and encourage
employees to
stay and grow.
First PlaceLarge Companies |
One way the company does this is through two tuition
reimbursement programs in which it pays back employees 50 percent of
their
tuition. On top of the tuition reimbursement, the companys Continuing
Education Department pays for onsite training in leadership, process
improvement, crucial conversations and supervisory training. For these
sessions,
PAML will pay employee travel expenses, too.
And if an employee wants to do some volunteer work, PAML
will pay the employee to do it.
PAML is an outstanding company to work for and is
continually looking for innovative ways to improve benefits,
policies/procedures
and creative programs that are beneficial for the employees, one
employee
writes. PAML has significantly reduced dependent premiums in 2010 and
has made
health insurance affordable for the employees. Exempt and non-exempt
salary adjustments
were given January 1, 2010.
There are many ways for employees to be compensated for
their time and effort.
But one standout example is the company wellness program.
This extensive, multidimensional program is filled with incentives that
help
keep employees happy and healthy. In initiating the program, which helps
the
company track and encourage the health of employees, PAML offered $75 to
each
of its 1,149 employees just to fill out the survey. Any employee who
then goes
for a biometric screening on campus gets $25. Mammogram? Another $25.
Completing an online Health Risk Assessment survey? Another $50.
But if a company is going to do all this, then its leader
has to set the exampleprecisely what Tiffany does. Overweight and
diagnosed
with type 2 diabetes, Tiffany led the company in its involvement in
Spokanes
Bloomsday foot race in which the company contributes 50 percent of the
registration cost for each participating employee. PAML even supported
two
Corporate Cup teams last year.
Tiffany leads the companys onsite walking program and is
this years chair of the Spokane Heart Walk, a year-round event
featuring more
than 144 employees and culminating in a group walk in May. Last year,
Tiffany
shed more than 60 pounds. Human resources confirms that in 2010, hes
kept the
weight off.
Back to “The 100 Best Companies to Work For”
Next: Large Companies, Second Place