The Workforce Optimas Awardsare a celebration of the power of human resources management. Annually, Workforcerecognizes HR programs that have made their businesses better. The winners areselected in 10 categories: General Excellence, Competitive Advantage, FinancialImpact, Global Outlook, Innovation, Managing Change, Partnership, Quality ofLife, Service, and Vision. The winning programs are profiled in the March issueof Workforce magazine with additional information provided at Workforceonline.
It is with great pleasure that Workforce celebrates the winners of Optimas Awards 1992:
 | GeneralExcellence: HR participates in every major business decision, and every HR program directly supports a business goal. To do that, HR has developed three key strategies. The payoff is enormous. |
 | CompetitiveAdvantage: FedEx meets its commitment to customer satisfaction through training, training and more training. Each employee’s initial orientation period is followed by proficiency tests every six months and remedial training for those who need it. The program is also supported by training delivery using the latest technology and pay tied to proficiencies. |
 | FinancialImpact: What started out as an attempt to manage its own health care costs has turned into a health care subsidiary that generates revenue for Deere. |
 | GlobalOutlook: General Electric Medical Systems Group A comprehensive Global Leadership Program provides top managers with a global outlook and brings it a larger share of the world market |
 | Innovation: To help cut health-care costs while giving employees in rural areas access to top-notch care, Campbell created a primary care network(PCN) that revolutionized health-care delivery |
 | ManagingChange: Efforts to manage its changing workforce—which began in the mid-1970s—have paid off for US West. The key has been to look at diversity as a philosophy, not a program. |
 | Partnership: Disney has developed six broad initiatives that help educational institutions and fuel its own staffing pipeline. The most unique is a Florida program aimed at helping prevent high school students from dropping out to help support their families. The program allows students to attend class during the morning and then work in the company’s theme parks in the afternoon—and to be paid for the full day. |
 | Qualityof Life: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Incorporated "To improve the quality of life of a broad community" is this company’s social mission both inside and outside the organization. |
 | Service: A policy committee that represented a joint venture between two teams of management (operations on one team, HR on the other) makes decisions on all issues basic to the culture of the organization, moving it from being seniority-based to performance-based. HR implements the programs and policies that all sides buy into |
 | Vision: Household International Incorporated HR recognized that external economic issues eventually would require staff reductions. In response, HR developed an employee placement program focused on employee potential and committed to making every effort to find suitable jobs within the organization for top talent. |
