The Workforce Optimas Awards are a celebration of the power of human resources management. Annually, Workforce recognizes HR programs that have made their businesses better. The winners are selected in 10 categories: General Excellence, Competitive Advantage, Financial Impact, Global Outlook, Innovation, Managing Change, Partnership, Quality of Life, Service, and Vision. The winning programs are profiled in the March issue of Workforce magazine with additional information provided at Workforce online.
It is with great pleasure that Workforce celebrates the winners of Optimas Awards 1993:
 | General Excellence: HR marries the best of old and new approaches to redefine its role. The focus is on organizational change and adding value. |
 | Competitive Advantage: Bell Helicopter Textron Incorporated Movement of its helicopter manufacturing facility to Canada created a staffing crisis for the company. A creative and aggressive recruitment plan—followed by extensive training—solved the problem. |
 | Financial Impact: Steelcase faced rising workers’ compensation costs with a return-to-work program focused on on-site physician care and job redirection. The effort saves millions every year. |
 | Global Outlook: A training program for students selected abroad helps Gillette develop its international management team. |
 | Innovation: Apple’s Electronic Campus is an online, internal data base system that enables employees to learn from each other by accessing information about everything from management projects to conducting a performance review. |
 | Managing Change: When one of Philadelphia Electric’s nuclear power plants was shut down, the crisis prompted an overhaul of its management selection and training. The changes helped the company set records for the most days of continuous operation |
 | Partnership: Partnerships with other growers to give migrant employees year-round employment helped stabilize Duda’s workforce and offers migrants a better future. |
 | Quality of Life: Stride Rite was the first US company to provide on-site child care. Since then, the company has added on-site elder care and other work/life benefits |
 | Service: Ruiz Food Products, Incorporated Much of the HR department’s role at Ruiz is making sure that the corporate goal of educating employees is met. An on-site education center teaches English as a Second Language, helps employees improve their literacy skills in Spanish, and offers computer training. |
 | Vision: United Parcel Service of America The Urban Internship Program sends managers into inner cities to work on community service programs. The program helps people in need while enhancing managers’ skills. |
