New Jersey award honors companies for taking stress out of work

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 11 December 1999

The New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) presented its first "Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award" to two companies: Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G), a large utility company, and Organon, a mid-sized pharmaceutical company. Hunter Douglas, a window manufacturer, earned an honorable mention at the October awards ceremony.

NJPA established the award to honor companies that are making employee job satisfaction a priority and to generate interest in creating psychologically healthy workplaces among other companies, says David Panzer, PsyD, president of Psychological Consultants in Highland Park, N.J.

"This award came out of a recognition that more and more, the workplace is becoming a significant part of people's lives," says Panzer, who co-chaired the award committee with Elaine Garrod, PsyD, a practitioner in West Orange, N.J.

NJPA sent applications to 250 companies, and received 11 submissions. They looked for companies that offered:

Programs that enable employees to provide feedback and evaluate job satisfaction.

Options such as flexible time, child care and leave time for family health needs.

Professional development opportunities, tuition reimbursement or career counseling.

Programs on topics such as workplace violence and grief counseling.

All three winning companies excelled in each area. Specifically, PSE&G won for helping its employees make the transition to a more competitive environment as part of the deregulation of the utilities industry. The company held communication groups where employees could voice concerns and offered professional development training to employees whose jobs were changing because of the deregulation. Ronald J. Mack, MD, the medical director of PSE&G, accepted the award for the company.

Organon stood out for its professional development training opportunities and communication groups where employees could offer feedback about company policies. Organon also offers awards for outstanding performance, an adoption assistance program and tuition reimbursement. Organon's director of human resources, Michael Kahrer, accepted the award.

Hunter Douglas earned an honorable mention for its innovative approach to improving employee relations among its 17 locations across the country and for its successful mentoring program for new employees. Vice president of corporate human resources Betty Lou Smith accepted the award for Hunter Douglas.

The New York Times and several New Jersey newspapers covered the competition. Encouraged by this year's response, NJPA is preparing for next year's competition and developing a plan to follow up with the winning companies, says Panzer.

Prior to the conference, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman recognized the importance of psychologically healthy work environments by declaring October "Psychological Health in the Workplace" month.

--J. Chamberlin

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