WakeMed Receives Top Honors for Training & Development

Oct. 26, 2012 - PRLog -- WakeMed Health & Hospitals has ranked fifth among 30 organizations across the globe in the American Society for Training & Development’s (ASTD) 2012 BEST Awards program, an exclusive global recognition in the training industry.

WakeMed’s education team, which includes Staff Development and Training, the Center for Innovative Learning, and Nursing Education, competed against 84 organizations in 13 countries. Organizations from Bahrain, Canada, India, and the United States received the prestigious ASTD BEST Award, which recognizes those that demonstrate enterprise-wide success through employee learning and development.  Winners range from health care systems to financial services companies to hospitality organizations.

WakeMed was specifically recognized for its recruitment efforts, overall staff satisfaction, breadth and depth of its training programs, and support of employee learning programs at the C-level. Examples of these training programs include an integrated nursing education program to help student nurses move through the system with the proper support, guidance and education, and a tiered program for leadership development to ensure there is a full pipeline of prepared leaders within WakeMed.  

“Education and employee development are priorities at WakeMed, and we are invested in this growth at all levels,” commented Jeanene Martin, senior vice president, Human Resources.  “We are very proud to be recognized and ranked among the top five in the world by a national organization for our efforts.  We continue to focus on offering best practices programming to educate employees, develop leaders and ultimately impact WakeMed’s retention rates, which are some of the highest in the region.”  

Members from all three of WakeMed’s education departments were honored with the ASTD BEST Award during a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. in early October.  This award marks the third time in just five years WakeMed has received this honor. In 2007, WakeMed was number 31 out of 40 winners and in 2008, jumped 21 spots to number 10.  More information about the 2012 ASTD BEST Award winners may be found in the October 2012 issue of T+D magazine (http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/).

About WakeMed Health & Hospitals

WakeMed Health & Hospitals is a private, not-for-profit health care organization based in Raleigh, N.C.  The 870-bed system comprises a network of health care facilities throughout Wake and Johnston Counties. Centers of excellence include cardiac and vascular care, women’s and children’s services, physical rehab, emergency and trauma, orthopedics, neurosciences, home care and numerous wellness and community outreach programs.  WakeMed’s team of 8,300 employees, 1,000 volunteers, more than 1,000 affiliated physicians, and 150 physicians employed by WakeMed Physician Practices serve the residents of North Carolina using the most advanced technologies to ensure the finest in health care.  For more information, visit www.wakemed.org.

About ASTD

ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to the training and development field. In more than 100 countries, ASTD’s members work in organizations of all sizes, in the private and public sectors, as independent consultants, and as suppliers. Members connect locally in 120 U.S. chapters and with 20 international partners. ASTD started in 1943 and in recent years has widened the profession’s focus to align learning and performance to organizational results, and is a sought-after voice on critical public policy issues. For more information, visit www.astd.org.