By: Betty Olt
Northwell Health has been honored with a first-time Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, ranking 65th among the 100 best companies in the nation to work for in 2021. The Best Places to Work award program is based solely on the voluntary and anonymous input of employees, who provide feedback about their jobs, employer, benefits and work environments on Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest job and recruiting sites.
To determine winners, Glassdoor evaluates all company reviews shared by employees over the past year. This year, Northwell was recognized as a Best Place to Work among US companies with more than 1,000 employees, with a company rating of 4.3 out of 5, with 5 being the highest score. Employers with at least 75 ratings across eight attributes are considered for the list.
“This award is truly a significant achievement for Northwell Health and is a testament to our dedicated 75,000 employees,” said Michael J. Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. “For nearly a year our entire workforce has banded together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, with our team making significant sacrifices of themselves and their families to treat the 128,000 coronavirus patients to date at our facilities throughout the region.
“It is remarkable that the health system and its employees would be recognized with a Best Place to Work award during these unprecedented times.
“With the extraordinary challenges our staff has faced treating patients during both COVID-19 surges in the New York metropolitan area, our leadership has been focused on the health, safety and well-being of our team members,” Mr. Dowling said.
Recognizing that well-being is essential, Northwell provided a special bank of time off to frontline workers and other staff members to use as needed. Tranquility spaces were created at hospitals so staff could rest and temporarily recharge in a serene environment outside the clinical setting.
Staff, first responders and community members supported hospital workers with grand clap out events on a regular basis to show appreciation and keep morale up. Staff were supported by the outpouring of local business that donated an endless stream of lunches and dinners to those working extremely long hours without breaks.
“Unlike other employer awards, Glassdoor does not have self-nominations or applications, it relies on reviews from current and past employees so the process is very transparent,” said Joe Moscola, PA, senior vice president and chief people officer at Northwell Health. “Glassdoor reviews help with our continuous improvement, whether comments are positive or negative.
The Glassdoor recognition follows a series of accolades Northwell has received, each aimed at employee recognition, workplace safety and trust and leadership. Recently, Northwell was:
- Named to Fortune’s Best Places to Work in Health Care, ranking as the highest-rated health system in the New York Metro area
- One of 10 health systems in the country to receive Press Ganey’s Pinnacle of Excellence in employee engagement.
- Recognized as one of America’s 100 Best Workplaces for Diversity by Fortune, placing 69th for creating inclusive cultures for women, different cultural and ethnic communities, the LGBTQIA+ community, older employees and workers with disabilities
- Acknowledged as one of the nation’s top health systems — and No. 1 in New York State — by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s 2020 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), which measures inclusiveness of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community at large.