At Exemplar Health Care, we care: five ways we appreciate our colleagues this Employee Appreciation Day

3 March 2022

Two colleagues with a bunch of flowers and 'Employee of the month' certificate

Employee Appreciation Day is a day that’s solely dedicated to recognising and appreciating employees’ efforts. On this special day, Andrea Stoddart, HR Manager, shares how we embed a culture of appreciation and recognition at Exemplar Health Care.

Being thankful makes us more positive. People who regularly take time to notice things that they’re thankful for, often experience more positive emotions and express more compassion towards others.

Showing appreciation doesn’t always need to be a grand gesture – often a quick ‘thank you’ makes a big difference.

At Exemplar Health Care, we aspire to appreciate people’s efforts all year round.

We have a dedicated section on our colleague app, My Exemplar, where colleagues can say thank you to each other whenever they wish – and each week, one colleague wins a £25 voucher for going above and beyond.

We also host more formal awards and recognition, for example our annual Values Awards and festive ‘In it to win it’ competition.

There are lots of ways that we like to say thank you through a range of rewards and benefits including retail and lifestyle discounts, Company Shop membership and fastPAYE, which gives colleagues the chance to access some of their overtime wages before payday.

On Employee Appreciation Day, we want to say a big thank you for all of the hard work that our colleagues do to make every day better for the people who live in our care homes.

Here are five of the ways that we encourage a culture of recognition and appreciation at Exemplar Health Care.

1. Weekly Above and Beyond Award winner

We know that our care and nursing colleagues go above and beyond each and every day. But often, those outside of their care home don’t see that.

Our colleague app, My Exemplar, has a dedicated section where colleagues can say thank you to each other.

Each week, one winner is selected at random for our Above and Beyond Award.

They receive a £25 Amazon voucher to spend on something nice for themselves.

Here are some of the recent winning messages of thanks.

“Thank you for your hard work and level head when it comes to stressful situations! You’re an amazing carer, never forget that!” – Emma Towers at Wykewood care home in Bradford
“Thank you to Amanda for making the most delicious cakes and mince pies for Church Walk’s Christmas party!” – Amanda Harrop, Church Walk care home in Rochdale
“Thank you for all of your help supporting a service user who was unwell and really struggling. Your kindness in the face of such difficulties was lovely to see.” – Leonie Millington, Marmaduke care home in Hull

2. Annual Values Awards

We stand proudly by our five core values of:

fun
integrity
responsive
success
team work.

We expect all of our colleagues to display the behaviours associated with our values.

Once a year, we host our Values Awards where colleagues nominate those who have displayed our behaviours in their work.

The awards are run in each of our homes and in our Central Services.

3. Festive ‘In it to win it’ competition

We know how difficult it can be for our care and nursing colleagues to be away from their families whilst working over the festive period.

Exemplar Health Care colleagues who work over the festive period are entered into a raffle draw to win a share of over £7000.

For every shift that our care home colleagues work, they receive a raffle ticker which is put into the random prize draw.

We select three winners from across the company, and one lucky winner in each home gets £100:

first prize - £2000
second prize - £1000
third prize - £500.

Marta Wilkinson, Health Care Assistant at our Ribble View care home in Preston was one of our 2021 winners. She shared: “Winning the money was a wonderful unexpected surprise, it made my life a lot easier. Thanks Ribble View, you're the best.”

4. Rewards and benefits

The reputation that we’ve earned is all thanks to the talented and passionate people who work with Exemplar Health Care.

We’re always looking for new ways to say ‘thank you’ for the dedication, care and compassion that our teams show every single day.

We offer a range of rewards and benefits for our colleagues, to show thanks, support their health and wellbeing, and encourage their personal and professional development.

Our My FIRST Rewards platform offers:

retail and lifestyle discounts at high street shops, restaurants, gyms and cinemas
24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
online Wellbeing Centre.

Our other rewards and benefits include:

fastPAYE to access earned wages from overtime before payday
paid NMC membership for Registered Nurses.

5. Employee of the Month

Many of our care homes run an Employee of the Month initiative, to boost morale and bring a monthly feel-good-factor to work.

This is run at a home level so that colleagues have a direct impact who wins the award.

Here are some of last month’s Employee of the Month winners.

“Thank you for just being you and for all the hard work and laughs here at Wykewood. You’re a star.” - Sheryl, Wykewood care home in Bradford

Tania and Lucy, Yarningdale care home in Codnor, Ripley

Careers in care and nursing with Exemplar Health Care

At Exemplar Health Care, we invest in our colleagues no matter what role they work in and at what level.

We’re opening a number of new care homes across England in 2022-23, and we’re looking for caring and compassionate people, who match our values, to join us.

Check out our most popular vacancies below, or visit our online job search to view all job vacancies.