Minnesota Companies Honored for Championing Healthy Work-Life Balance

MINNEAPOLIS - Jan. 30, 2008 - Leaders from Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Certes Financial Pros, Gray Plant Mooty, Weber Shandwick and Deloitte & Touche received top honors today at a ceremony recognizing work-life balance initiatives.

The luncheon awards ceremony, held at the Doubletree Park Place Hotel in St. Louis Park, Minn., honored recipients of the 2008 Minnesota Work-Life Champions™ Awards. It is Minnesota’s only statewide awards program spotlighting the efforts of Minnesota employers for implementing programs and practices that create flexible and supportive workplaces.

The event was attended by more than 200 Minnesota business leaders and professionals. New to the program this year was a “Making Work-Life Work: How Do They Do It?” panel, featuring employers and employees from four organizations of varying sizes, industries and regions who discussed their approaches to helping employees balance work and personal time.  

Nineteen employers were recognized with Minnesota Work-Life Champions Awards, with one in each of the five size categories designated as the Outstanding Employer for 2008. Four employers were presented with Innovative Initiative Awards, calling attention to distinctive practices within each organization. Other organizations received Work-Life Advocate Award certificates, acknowledging their efforts to create supportive work-life cultures.

Recipients of the 2008 Minnesota Work-Life Champions Awards include:

5 – 49 Employee Category

Outstanding Employer:  Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (Rochester)

Minnesota Work-Life Champions:

• Health Service Innovations (St. Paul)
• Intertech (Eagan)
• Mahoney, Ulbrich, Christiansen & Russ, P. A. (St. Paul)
• Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota (St. Paul)
• Working Family Resource Center (St. Paul)

50 – 249 Employee Category

Outstanding Employer: Certes Financial Pros (St. Louis Park)

Minnesota Work-Life Champions:

• Avicenna Technology, Inc. (Montevideo)
• Windings, Inc. (New Ulm)

250 – 999 Employee Category

Outstanding Employer: Gray Plant Mooty (Minneapolis and St. Cloud)

Minnesota Work-Life Champions:

• Landscape Structures Inc. (Delano)
• Marco, Inc. (St. Cloud)
• RESOURCE (Minneapolis)

1,000 – 2,999 Employee Category

Outstanding Employer: Weber Shandwick (Bloomington)

Minnesota Work-Life Champions:

• Dorsey & Whitney LLP (Minneapolis)
• MRM Worldwide (Minneapolis)

3,000 + Employee Category

Outstanding Employer: Deloitte & Touche (Minneapolis)

Minnesota Work-Life Champions:

• Mayo Clinic (Rochester)
• Wells Fargo (Minnesota)

The Innovative Initiative Award honors employers incorporating programs that recognize the diverse needs of employees. This year’s honorees include: Certes Financial Pros, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Mayo Clinic and Windings. In addition, Work-Life Advocate Award certificates were presented to: Ameriprise Financial, Carlson, Karlsson Consulting Group, Inc., Residential Services of NE MN, Inc., Travelers, ViRTELLIGENCE and WACOSA.

Noteworthy efforts made by Outstanding Employers and Work-Life Champions include: offering flexibility and control over work schedules; generous holiday and illness leave; dependent care assistance; informational programs to help employees meet personal and family challenges; and formal systems of communication for employees to express their opinions on issues relating to both organizational operations and how they are treated as employees. For highlights of work-life practices and efforts made by the 2008 Outstanding Employers, visit www.worklifechampions.org.

Minnesota employers had the opportunity to apply for the 2008 Minnesota Work-Life Champions Awards from Aug. 23 – Nov. 8, 2007. Small and large, for-profit, nonprofit and public sector employers were eligible. Evaluations focused on organizational culture and leadership; work practice and flexibility; health, wellness and benefits; leave options; help with personal and family issues; and community involvement. Applicants were also evaluated based on a survey that was administered to a random sampling of employees from each company. The judging panel for the 2008 awards was comprised of delegates from Minnesota businesses of varying sizes and industries.

For more information about the 2008 Minnesota Work-Life Champions™ Awards, contact David Rodbourne, vice president at the Center for Ethical Business Cultures at 651-962-4120 or visit www.worklifechampions.org.   

Photos:

If interested in photos of award recipients, keynote speaker or the award statue, please contact Antoine LaFromboise, alafromboise@psbpr.com, (612) 455-1724.  

© 2008 Minnesota Work-Life Champions