At Allied Services communication is the key to satisfaction

REPOSTED FROM TIMES LEADER BY SAM ZAVADA

In the Allied Services system, the Job title "vice president of human resources and employee culture" speaks to how important worker happiness is over its 54 physical locations. The holder of that position, Carmela Fox, is dedicated to keeping up with the latest feelings among Allied employees. Fox's efforts are just a piece of what makes Allied one of the best places to work in 2024.

Allied's extensive health care system might actually seem like a hindrance when it comes to forming a coherent employee experience, but Fox was steadfast in noting the system's ideal employee, regardless of where they happen to be located.

Employees at Allied should be team players, or willing to work within a group setting. Once they achieve some seniority, they should be prepared to mentor new employees.

The Allied Services model doesn't rely on each of the system's 2,700 employees being in the same space, so communication is vital to make sure everyone is satisfied and on the same page. Much of that is reliant on a receptive management team.

"I think our management team does a great job of being visible," Fox said. "They go out to the locations. Many of them are at different locations every day of the week."

Because management is spread out to different locations, they are able to interact with a wide swath of employees and get to know their concerns. This extends to events hosted by Allied for its employees, in which members of the leadership team will readily serve and listen to workers.

Managers at Allied are specially trained to establish a consistent culture across every location. Staying in communication through reviews and stay interviews, as well as understanding the Importance of work-life balance, are pillars of Allied's model for leadership.

"Managers come In [for training] and we talk about culture, and the way to make people feel when they're on the job," Fox explained. Even exit interviews, a notoriously awkward interaction between employee and workplace, can offer important insights.

"We do get some pretty excellent exit interviews, which makes me excited. It's more often I get to share good results," said Fox.

About a third of employees in the Allied system have been with the company for over a decade, and many employees come back into the system after leaving. Fox sees this as a particularly important indicator of Allied's success as an employer.

"I don't think we can have any stronger message than the fact that people want to come back to Allied Services," Fox said. "That's what we find most beneficial about our culture. It's that we welcome them back, and we're happy to have them back."

There are other cases in which an employee may be better suited for a position elsewhere in the Allied system.

"We have a ton of intra-system transfers, where people go to different divisions and locations," said Fox. "They like the company, but they may just want a different job [within the Allied system], so we try to provide that opportunity to them."

Turnover is dropping at Allied, even when including retirements, which Fox calls "happy turnover." With a strong foundation of competitive pay and promotions being earned within the company, the Allied Services system is sure to remain among the area's elite workplaces.