USAA has is part of the banking industry and they have devolved different strategies over the years to improve their workforce. USAA is always being awarded for not only being great to their members but also to their employees. USAA is interesting in that it also makes its employees its customers. This is great in that it helps employees see the customer side of things and be able to have a broader perspective of the company. As such, USAA has developed some best practices to improve their workforce. One of the best practices is the employee innovation practice. USAA has an open forum where employees can submit ideas to improve the company. They also compete in challenges on specific issues. The employees receive recognition, patents, and even money if there idea wins (Solomon, 2018, para. 15). This encourages employees to be more active in their job as well as take a look at the member side of USAA and how they would want it to be improved. Employee engagement is key to attracting and retaining top talent. Another best practice is the idea of taking care of their employees’ health. USAA focuses not only on providing health benefits to its employees, but motivating them to stay healthy. They do this in several ways and according to BestCompaniesAZ (2017), “USAA’s Phoenix campus features an onsite health services clinic, as well as onsite massage therapist and physical therapist. They also have a fitness center with a covered basketball court, volleyball quad and jogging/walking trails” (para. 4). Encouraging employee health is something the organization strives for to benefit the company and employee alike. USAA has long been acknowledged for being one of the best places to work. This is in part due to the continuous effort of the organization to understand employee needs and adapt to them. Changes in policy are often how USAA achieves this and the successes of these changes are what make it a best practice. One such change as pointed out in USAA Recognized As One of the 2017 Best Workplaces for Parents by Great Place to Work® and FORTUNE (2017), “This acknowledgment comes on the heels of USAA’s recent announcement to expand parental leave in order to give all new parents an additional 12 weeks of paid time off when a child joins the family by either birth or adoption. This leave is in addition to the existing vacation time and short-term disability options for employees” (para. 3). Better benefits are a great way to attract and retain talent. Hospitals would benefit from implementing these practices. They would benefit from implementing innovation initiatives to allow employees to purpose ways to better the system. Hospitals could attract and retain top talent by offering better benefit packages and focusing on the health of their employees. References: BestCompaniesAZ. (2017, December 27). Health In The Workplace: USAA's Focus On Wellness. Retrieved from https://bestcompaniesaz.com/health-in-the-workplace-usaa-focus-wellness/. Solomon, M. (2018, October 5). How USAA Bakes Customer Experience Innovation Into Its Company Culture. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2018/09/30/how-to-build-a-culture-of-customer-experience-innovation-the-usaa-way/#2678abdc2378. USAA Recognized As One of the 2017 Best Workplaces for Parents by Great Place to Work® and FORTUNE. (2017, November 28). Retrieved from https://communities.usaa.com/t5/Press-Releases/USAA-Recognized-As-One-of-the-2017-Best-Workplaces-for-Parents/ba-p/152525.
