2018 Optimas Award Winners for Managing Change

The Managing Change award recognizes organizations that have demonstrated adaptability and agility in successfully developing a program in response to the changing business environment. Here are the winners for 2018:

Gold: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The U.S. immigration system is undergoing major changes.

That’s significant to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose mission is to enhance the nation’s defense and respond to scientific issues of national importance. The advancement of science and technology is tied to the organization’s ability to attract and retain world-class scientists from around the world, according to Lawrence Livermore’s Optimas application.

“The unprecedented implementation of procedural changes and reinterpretations of existing immigration law will have an impact on U.S. immigration,” the application stated. “Within this landscape of uncertainty, managing immigration has evolved into a practice of managing change.”

With the changes in immigration policy and practice, there are unforeseen challenges in hiring and training global talent. Lawrence Livermore’s International Services Office aims to harness the multiple perspectives and experiences of their international employees. The lab’s population strives to be diverse and inclusive. “Science today knows no borders,” according to the application.

Since 2013, Lawrence Livermore’s International Services Office has improved its human resource management practices in leadership and diversity and inclusion, including improving its J-1 program through feedback from exchange visitors and internal stakeholders. Lawrence Livermore’s International Services Office embraces the fundamental privilege of stewardship of the lives entrusted to them, the application stated.

Lawrence Livermore brings in more than 600 international employees and visitors each year into the STEM field, which plays an important role in the economy. By managing international services internally, Lawrence Livermore also reduced its costs in this area by 50 to 75 percent rather than using a third party.

For its efforts to use its strategic human resources management international services initiative to conduct science at a large-scale with the most qualified international candidates, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the 2018 Gold winner for Managing Change.

Silver: Antah Schindler Sdn. Bdh.

Antah Schindler Sdn. Bhd., a service provider for Schindler elevators and escalators in Malaysia, is learning the importance of employee engagement.

Management made a conscious effort to change the organizational culture of the company from a “getting your work done” and “deadline driven” mindset to one driven by employee engagement.

In the company’s new workforce management initiative, they implemented “Flexi Hour,” which allows employees to adjust their daily working hours if the specified number of hours within the day is fulfilled. They also extended their leave policies to one and a half months maternity leave and five days paternity leave.

Further, they implemented an event calendar with monthly events and activities for employees such as dinners, celebrations, motivational talks, diversity days and more. The final effort was to roll out an employee-of-the-month program to recognize specific employees.

Since the company’s last employee engagement survey in 2016, engagement rose from 76 percent to 84 percent. In addition, its turnover rate dropped from 14 percent to 6 percent.

For its efforts to improve employee engagement, Antah Schindler Sdn. Bhd. is the 2018 Optimas Award Silver winner for Managing Change.

Bronze: Nemours Children’s Health System

For its efforts to use its physician leadership development program to improve physician retention, engagement and alignment, Nemours Children’s Hospital is the 2018 Optimas Award Bronze winner for Managing Change.

Go here to read about the rest of the Optimas winners for 2018.