NORTH CAROLINA PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

2009 PSYCHOLOGICALLY HEALTH WORKPLACE AWARD PROGRAM

We are excited about launching NCPA's second annual the Psychologically Health Workplace Awards. The plan is to present awards in late 2009.

This is an excellent opportunity for psychology to put its name and face before the business community in North Carolina. Other state associations who are doing this project have reported excellent results in building relationships in this important community. For the third year in a row APA has also presented national awards, and the results have been impressive. One of the 2008 award winners went on to become a national award winner.

For this to be successful, we need your help with identifying companies who should be approached and urged to apply for the Psychologically Health Workplace Award. The actual application process is done through APA's PHWA website - www.phwa.org - go to it for more information if you are interested.

Here is what we need:

1. Identify specific businesses in your area that you know make a commitment to programs and policies that foster employee health and well-being and that you believe may be open to applying for recognition.

We are attempting to identify small to medium size businesses that have some name recognition in the community since these are most likely to be the businesses that would appreciate public recognition. These companies will be contacted and invited to apply - they will receive a personal letter followed by a phone call.

2. Get contact information to the NCPA office - for each of the businesses that you would like to suggest we need the following information. It is important that we get all of this information, not just the name of the company, so we can send the individual a personalized letter inviting them to consider applying. CLICK HERE for a form you can mail or fax to the office, or send the information in an e-mail to ncpasally@mindspring.com.

3. Become a PHWA Volunteer - We are in great need of volunteers around the state who would be willing to visit companies for evaluative purposes. A volunteer in all major areas of the state, the east, the west, Charlotte, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, and Hickory/Morganton would be very helpful. These visits would likely take place in the fall but dates are very open and would involve a conference call for basic training about what you would be doing, the visit itself, and completion of the evaluation forms for the visit.

The process for the companies involves an initial call from one of our members to seek their cooperation/willingness to apply. Once we have this, the company would complete an initial application and a detailed description of their business practices. They, then, would have employees complete a questionnaire. The final step is an evaluative visit from a psychologist. We take all information we have gathered and decide on our state winners. Categories are small business (less than 250 empl), medium business (251-1000 empl), large business (>1000 empl), non-profit institutions, and government or educational institutions.

If you are interested e-mail Sally Cameron at ncpasally@mindspring.com.

Thanks for your help with all three of these requests.