Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- A lot of businesses should take a cue from CHG Healthcare Services.
The Utah-based company has made Fortune Magazine's list of the Top 100 Best Places to Work. It's the only Utah company on the list, and the employees -- all 650 of them -- are very proud.
On Friday, CHG Healthcare hosted a chili-eating contest as part of a company-wide Super Bowl party -- just another Friday at CHG. For the party, employees dressed up in their favorite team colors. Their work areas were all decked out, and in a nearby training room a football throwing contest was going on. And of course, everyone was eating.
Besides looking forward to Sunday's big game, the employees were also celebrating and showing why they are listed in Fortune's Top 100 Best Places to Work.
CHG is a staffing company that specializes in the health care industry, providing professionals to hospitals in all 50 states.
"There's a shortage of all types of health care professionals in our country today. So whether it's physicians or nurses or technicians or therapists, we provide them all," says President & CEO Michael Weinholtz.
The company was founded in Utah in 1979. Its headquarters are in Salt Lake City, and there are offices in seven other states.
The health care staffing business is a very competitive and intense field. The employees put in long hours and long days. But, CHG's No. 1 core value is called "Putting People First." And that means creating an office culture where employees' milestones, achievements and opinions always matter.
"I think when you have engaged people who are happy to come to work and not worried about their jobs or worrying about the environment they are going to be walking into, it makes for more productive people," Weinholtz says.
Friday's Super Bowl party is not unusual. CHG has a special events team that plans things like this at least every month: fund drives, food drives, charity walks and general office fun.
B.J. Martinez, an employee of CHG for 24 years, says having these kinds of experiences go a long way in her job satisfaction. "It's a booster. It really is. I'm happy to come to work every day," he says.
To make the list, Fortune Magazine interviewed many of CHG's employees. In fact, two-thirds of the grade were based on what the workers said.
The magazine also saw some of the same video clips shown on KSL News to illustrate the workplace atmosphere.
E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com
