Mill Steel Company awarded the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award in an event hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber DETROIT, Aug. 20
DETROIT, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Mill Steel Company was named a winner of
the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace
Flexibility today, distinguishing the employer as a leading practitioner of
workplace flexibility in Grand Rapids, Detroit and across the nation. Mill
Steel Company was recognized at 2008 Sloan Awards luncheon on 8/14/08 at the
MGM Grand in Detroit Michigan.
The Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace
Flexibility are part of the When Work Works project ( www.whenworkworks.org ),
an ongoing initiative of Families and Work Institute, the Institute for a
Competitive Workforce (an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), and the
Twiga Foundation. Through When Work Works, these partner organizations provide
research, resources, and recognition to employers nationwide, and share the
results of research on creating effective and flexible workplaces that meet
the needs of the 21st century.
Mill Steel believes a more fully trained and efficient work force means a
more flexible work force. It means they can cover for one another when Life
happens, because Life will happen, be it illness, a death in the family,
doctor's visits, a school play, or a child's soccer game. They strive to meet
the individual in the real needs of their every day lives. They have modified
shifts and hours around family needs. They restructured their bereavement pay
system to provide to team members with out of state or out of country family.
Their training programs provide for those who cannot travel by bringing the
training to them.
The Sloan Awards recognize organizations that are dedicated to making work
"work" for both the employer and the employees. Representing employers of all
sizes and all types, winners of this prestigious award not only offer
excellent workplace flexibility practices, but they also use flexibility as a
strategic business tool to enhance organizational effectiveness while also
benefiting employees.
Tom Stanfield, People Development Director for Mill Steel said, "We don't
want our Mill Steelers to ever have to make bad choices. A bad choice is
choosing between working and going to the doctor, or between paying the bills
and being able to attend a child's sporting event. Being in control of your
own destiny means never having to make decisions you don't want to make, and
that is what we want for our entire team: control of their destinies. We have
seen our teammates through cancer, illness, and other tragedies, providing
financial and job security. This is who we are. This is what we do every day,
because we are a family."
"Employers must develop new recruitment and retention policies.
Unprecedented conditions -- a multi-generational workforce, a shrinking labor
pool and an increasing demand for skilled workers -- dictate that they do so,"
said Greg Roth, Senior Manager of Workforce Education Programs for the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce.
The Michigan winners of the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business
Excellence in Workplace Flexibility announced at the awards ceremony include:
Albert Kahn Family of Companies
Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company
BDO Seidman, LLP
Detroit Regional Chamber
Farbman Group
Image One
Lee Hecht Harrison
Menlo Innovations LLC
Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA)
Mill Steel Company
Peckham Inc.
The Children's Center of Wayne County
Applications for the Alfred P. Sloan Awards were open to all organizations
in Michigan with more than 10 employees that had been in business for at least
one year. Applicants were evaluated in a rigorous two-step process, first
comparing the employer's application to nationally representative data from
Families and Work Institute's National Study of Employers, and then
corroborating the employer responses through a survey of employees.
"Sloan Award winners have put into practice their bold ideas about how to
make work work in the 21st century, and they have shown how they can support
the needs of their employees while also making their organizations more
effective and successful," said Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work
Institute. Each of the 2008 Sloan Award winners will also be recognized
nationally, including a full-page congratulatory ad in USA Today, and will be
featured in the 2009 issue of the Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work
Work, published by Families and Work Institute.
Michigan (statewide) is one of 30 select communities nationwide chosen to
host and participate in the When Work Works initiative. Other communities
participating are: Arizona (statewide); Atlanta, GA; Aurora, CO; Birmingham,
AL; Boise, ID; Brockton, MA; Charleston, SC; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Dayton,
OH; Durham, NC; Houston, TX; Lexington, KY; Long Beach, CA; Long Island, NY;
Louisville, KY; Melbourne-Palm Bay, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Morris County, NJ;
Providence, RI; Richmond, VA; Rochester, MN; Salt Lake City, UT; San
Francisco, CA; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; Washington, DC; and
Winona, MN.
For more information about When Work Works or the Alfred P. Sloan Awards,
please contact Shanny Peer at (212) 465-2044 x 217 or at
speer@familiesandwork.org.
ABOUT MILL STEEL COMPANY
Mill Steel Company is a family owned, Flat-Rolled Steel Service Center
with corporate offices in Grand Rapids and additional manufacturing sites in
Melvindale (Detroit area) and Windsor. Sales in 2007 were $210+ million.
Addition to the Sloan Award, Mill Steel Company has been named as one of the
"10 Best Places to Work" six years in a row by Michigan Business and
Professional Association, and in 2005, 2007 and 2008 were voted "Best of the
Best." www.millsteel.com
ABOUT WHEN WORK WORKS
When Work Works is a nationwide initiative to highlight the importance of
workforce effectiveness and workplace flexibility as strategies to enhance
businesses' competitive advantage in the global economy and yield positive
business results. When Work Works is a project of Families and Work Institute
in partnership with the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Twiga Foundation, with funding provided
by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. For more information, visit
www.whenworkworks.org .
ABOUT FAMILIES AND WORK INSTITUTE
Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a nonprofit center for research that
conducts extensive research on the changing workforce, changing family and
changing community. Founded in 1989, FWI's research typically takes on
emerging issues before they crest. The Institute offers some of the most
comprehensive research on the U.S. workforce available. For more information,
visit www.familiesandwork.org .
About The Institute for a Competitive Workforce
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) is a 501(c)3 affiliate of
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ICW promotes high educational standards and
effective workforce training systems, so that they are aligned with each other
and with today's rigorous business demands. Through policy initiatives,
business outreach, and a strong grassroots network, ICW is finding solutions
that will preserve the American workforce as this country's greatest business
asset and its strongest future resource. For more information, visit
www.uschamber.com/icw .
About The Twiga Foundation
The Twiga Foundation is dedicated to inspiring, promoting and maintaining
a family consciousness at home, in the workplace and in the community. The
Twiga Foundation acts as a liaison to key stakeholders in the When Work Works
communities to address the issue of flexibility in the workplace. The
Foundation helps build a broader leadership constituency for workplace
flexibility within each community. For more information, visit
www.twigafoundation.org .
SOURCE Mill Steel Company
