ACR Voted Top Workplace AGAIN!
The word is out: ACR was the top large company in Minnesota in the StarTribune’s 2016 Top Workplace survey. This is the third year ACR employees have participated in this survey. In those three years ACR has been named the top large company in Minnesota twice!
“I work for the best company in Minnesota”
When we hear news like this it can be easy to think, “Cool, I work for the best company in Minnesota, but that doesn’t really relate to me directly.” While it’s true that ACR gets the credit in the StarTribune, it’s important to remember that ACR isn’t just some impersonal company name: at its core ACR is about people. We serve people with disabilities and to provide those services, we need kind, smart, joyful people to work with them.
High Quality Work and Positivity
So what does it mean for ACR to be named the top workplace in Minnesota? It means that we, by which I mean direct care staff, supervisors, RNs, finance staff, maintenance guys, HR staff, front office employees, upper management, and all of the other people employed at ACR, have created the best workplace in Minnesota. Being named top workplace is a direct result of the high quality work and positivity everyone exemplifies throughout ACR.
Another result of our work at ACR is that Jim Nelson was named the #1 CEO in Minnesota. Like the company award, this one also reflects the quality of our work. From the beginning, Jim knew that the key to providing a high quality of life for people with disabilities is to hire happy people. In his StarTribune interview Jim explained, “If you are working with someone who is happy, you are happy.”
When ACR employees talk about happiness, it’s not an airy ideal we emphasize so that everyone will like working here. Rather, happiness–in particular happy staff–is the most fundamental aspect of our care. Happy staff help create full and happy lives for the people we support. Happy staff, everyone working at ACR, are the reason why residents run in the Twin Cities Marathon, why they go on vacations, why Christmas Day becomes a footie pajama party, and why you are welcomed on a shift by a smiling resident and maybe even a big hug. We weren’t named #1 because we do charting online or because we work with tight budgets. We became the top workplace (again) because of our day by day choice to be happy–to make a difference in the lives of the residents we serve.
http://www.startribune.com/top-workplaces/381558941/
http://www.startribune.com/ceo-jim-nelson-of-acr-homes-believes-in-the-power-of-happiness/384175471/
written by: Ryan McLaughlin, Residential Supervisor