For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                                          Contact: Sheila Gardner, PhD             

                                                                                                                                                                                   New Hampshire Psychological Association

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   603-225-9925

NORTHEAST DELTA DENTAL HONORED FOR HEALTHY WORKPLACE PRACTICE

Receives Best Practices Honor from American Psychological Association

Concord, NH 3/11/10 — Northeast Delta Dental (NEDD) was presented with a Best Practices Honor from the American Psychological Association (APA) at the annual Psychologically Healthy Workplace Awards ceremony held March 6, 2010 in Washington, D.C. NEDD was recognized for its flexible work policy, which allows the company to respond to employees needs, including their non-work demands.

During these challenging economic times, keeping employees engaged and maintaining a healthy, productive work environment is more important than ever. NEDD, an umbrella organization that provides dental benefits to individuals and companies in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, has shown its commitment to employees through the use of flexible work schedules. This practice is an example of Work-Life Balance, one component of a psychologically healthy workplace. NEDD was one of ten organizations to receive the Best Practices recognition at the ceremony. The organization is a previous winner of the New Hampshire Psychological Association’s State-Level Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award, qualifying it to be nominated for APA’s Best Practices Honors.

“Northeast Delta Dental is one of the anchor organizations in New Hampshire and has served as a role model of effective leadership, quality employment, and excellent service for years,” said Dr. Steven Atkins, President of the New Hampshire Psychological Association.  “It is such a pleasure to see them receive this well-deserved, national recognition for one of many psychologically healthy practices and policies currently being implemented in their organization.”

Flexible work schedules have been the norm at NEDD since 1995, and in 2008, rising gas prices led the organization to add a four-day work week to the mix. To assure that NEDD remains responsive to customers, managers in each department work with employees to determine adequate departmental coverage, set flex time parameters and staff their departments accordingly.

NEDD’s flex work policies are simple, easy to understand and administer, and take both employee and organizational needs into account. The organization benefits by reduced absenteeism, better coordination of work schedules, cross training of staff members and improved employee and customer satisfaction. NEDD has also been able to retain high-quality employees, with a turnover rate of just 3.26 percent in 2009. 

Through the use of flexible work options, employees are better able to manage their caregiving responsibilities and other life demands, save money on commuting and childcare costs and enjoy working in an atmosphere that supports teamwork, quality and communication.

 “Employers who understand the link between employee well-being and organizational performance have a distinct competitive advantage in their ability to attract and retain the very best employees,” says David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, APA’s assistant executive director for marketing and business development. “We congratulate Northeast Delta Dental and hope that its example helps showcase the power that a healthy workplace has to drive positive change and help individuals, organizations and communities thrive.”

The Best Practices Honors is a national recognition that highlights those local Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award winners with a single program or policy that contributes to a psychologically healthy work environment and meets the unique needs of the organization and its employees. Nominees come from a pool of previous local winners and are selected through a competitive evaluation and judging process.

More information about the Best Practices Honorees and APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award winners is available at www.apa.org/news/press/releases/phwa/index.aspx. Organizations interested in learning more about creating a psychologically healthy workplace or applying for an award in their state, province or territory can visit www.phwa.org. 

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The New Hampshire Psychological Association (NHPA) has been a champion of the mental health community and the voice of psychologists in the state of New Hampshire for over 50 years. NHPA is dedicated to the development of psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare. 

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest association of psychologists.  APA’s membership includes more than 152,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students.  Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.