{"id":1695,"date":"2020-02-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/?p=1695"},"modified":"2020-06-15T17:38:28","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T22:38:28","slug":"ports-beyond-the-numbers-taking-care-of-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/14\/ports-beyond-the-numbers-taking-care-of-their-own\/","title":{"rendered":"Ports Beyond the Numbers: Taking Care of Their Own"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it comes to letting their employees know how important they are, ports are stepping up \u2013 way up<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*By Candace Gibson*<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On-site yoga classes. A nurse that visits premises every Wednesday. Reduced insurance premiums just for taking that Sunday walk in the woods you were planning to enjoy anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional benefits\npackages and standard-issue days off are\nonly the tip of the iceberg at some of America\u2019s ports. Human resources teams\nare committed to retaining their workers by offering incentives that make a work-life balance possible. With programs and perks\ndesigned for entry-level workers, retirees\nand every age in between, reporting for the workday just got a lot more\nrewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Port of New Orleans is a\nstate agency, \u201cwhich limits the ways that we can incentivize our employees,\u201d\nexplained Communications Manager Jessica Ragusa. \u201cAs a self-sustaining political subdivision of the state\nof Louisiana, the port receives zero tax revenues. We have to be creative and\ndo more with less, while also showing employees how much we value their\nsuccess, happiness and overall wellness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practically speaking,\nemployee wellness promotes productivity. \u201cDefined holistically, \u2018wellness\u2019\ncorrelates with less absenteeism, more engagement and fewer accidents,\u201d said\nRagusa. \u201cEmployees should be proud of their workplace and feel supported in\nbuilding a work-life balance. Port NOLA\u2019s\nself-branded Ship Shape Wellness Program\noffers incentives to help employees make healthy choices and has engaged 35% of\nits employees so far in 2019. Through the program, employees can earn credits\nthat reduce their health care premiums. In addition to hosting to lunch-and-learn\nseminars with themes like thinking positively and navigating the grocery store,\nPort NOLA schedules events throughout the year to simply bring employees\ntogether, such as inviting everyone to eat lunch outside together on Earth Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Georgia Ports Authority, Chief Human Resources Officer Lise Altman cites the port\u2019s signature Waterfront Wellness Program as a driver of employee engagement. \u201cOur goal is to reduce costs for everyone, encourage healthy lifestyles, seek preventive care and to promote health and wellness through prevention and intervention,\u201d said Altman. Employees don\u2019t have to leave the premises for their workout or checkup: GPA has onsite fitness centers and group exercise classes, as well as an onsite nurse practitioner and wellness program coordinator who can coordinate screenings for lab work, biometrics and mammograms. In addition to offering tobacco cessation classes, GPA also connects employees to local counselors through an Employee Assistance Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more…<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to letting their employees know how important they are, ports are stepping up \u2013 way up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437,438,4,442,9,447],"tags":[309,314,316,315,312,318,175,246,317,183,304,307,310,40,305,311,313,49,306,308],"class_list":["post-1695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-involvement","category-education","category-features","category-leadership","category-seaports-magazine","category-workforce","tag-bethann-rooney","tag-brenda-reed","tag-chris-crouch","tag-christus-spohn-health-system","tag-elizabeth-monahan","tag-empowerher","tag-georgia-ports-authority","tag-glenn-wiltshire","tag-international-maritime-organization","tag-jaxport","tag-jessica-ragusa","tag-lise-altman","tag-port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey","tag-port-everglades","tag-port-nola","tag-port-of-bellingham","tag-port-of-corpus-christi","tag-port-of-new-orleans","tag-ship-shape-wellness-program","tag-waterfront-wellness-program"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}