For a sixth time, The University of Akron is being honored as one of the 99 best places to work in Northeast Ohio by the Employers Resource Council (ERC). UA and the other NorthCoast 99 Award recipients will be recognized on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at a banquet in Mayfield Heights.
ERC helps Northeast Ohio companies design programs and practices to help them attract and retain the most talented employees.
At UA, that is accomplished by giving employees opportunities to make the most of the educational setting in which they work, says Bill Viau, associate vice president for talent development and human resources.
Continued opportunities to grow
“We’re proud of our efforts to find the highly skilled and accomplished individuals for our workplace, and then we provide training opportunities so that they can gain valuable new skills and continue to grow here,” says Viau. “We also encourage our employees to use UA’s generous fee remission policy to take classes that interest them or to pursue a new degree if they choose to do so.”
In 1999, ERC launched the NorthCoast 99 Awards to annually recognize the "99 great workplaces for top talent in Northeast Ohio." Since then, more than 400 organizations have received the honor. To be considered, each organization goes through a rigorous application process that requires them to look at all aspects of the workplaces they have created by focusing on seven fundamental characteristics — flexibility, opportunity, recognition, development, security, support and talent integrity.
Over the ensuing years, it has been rewarding for ERC to see how businesses and organizations have created workplace cultures where individuals can thrive, says Pat Perry, its president.
“NorthCoast 99 has transformed from a workplace competition to a movement,” Perry notes. “We see it every day and are gratified that more and more local CEOs are shifting toward a great workplace strategy.”
The University of Akron finds itself among a diverse group of honorees, including Akron Children's Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic, Sterling Jewelers, Hyland Software, FedEx Custom Critical and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. See the full list of 2014 winners.
To learn more, visit the NorthCoast99 site.