VERO BEACH — Organizers for the 2010 ‘Best Places to Work’ competition in Indian River County are looking for a few good companies.
“More than anything, people want to be a part of something, they want to advance and develop,” said Gerry Hoeffner of Personnel Dynamics Consulting and an organizer for the competition. Sponsored by Workforce Solutions, organizers held a meeting Wednesday night at Marine Bank and Trust for companies and employees interested in finding out more about the program.
To enter the competition, a business must go online at www.personneldynamics.net and fill out a survey. The survey consists of 40 questions covering areas such as number of employees, benefits offered and opportunities to advance.
A computer then analyzes each business based on 37 different measurements. Organizers strive to keep the criteria and judging as objective as possible.
“It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress,” Hoeffner said of the program.
There are two categories that businesses are judged – those under 50 employees and those over 50 employees so smaller operations can be judged on their own merits rather than competing against large corporations. Hoeffner said the competition is not divided by occupation is because employees are looking for the best place to work — if a janitor is looking to change jobs he isn’t concerned whether it is with the city or the hospital.
Thomas Epsky of the Florida Unemployment Appeals Commission was the keynote speaker of the evening and talked about successful businesses being those that treat employees with respect rather than those that are only interested in what workers produce for the bottom line.
“If your employees trust you, your customers will trust you. If your employees don’t trust you, how can your customers trust you?” Epsky said.
Hoeffner said employer-employee relations will become increasingly important. He pointed to a recent poll that showed 80 percent of businesses were predicting a 5 percent turnover rate, but that 60 percent of workers expected to leave their current jobs.
The Best Places to Work winners of 2009 in the 50 employees and under category were Legler Orthodontics, Whitehall Services, Inc., Orthopedic Center of Vero Beach, and Diabetes & Endocrine Associates. In the 50 employees and over category were Indian River Medical Center, Vero Beach Police Department, VNA of the Treasure Coast and Seacoast National Bank.
Companies designated as the Best Places to Work for 2010 will be honored on Oct. 14, 2010 at Pointe West.
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