CVS Caremark Presents at NCOA-ASA Conference on Company's Commitment to Recruiting and Retaining Mature Workers
March 28 2008 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Discussion focuses on innovative programs, partnerships, and
intergenerational mentoring in the workplace WOONSOCKET, R.I.,
March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Today CVS Caremark, a leader in developing
innovative workforce programs to recruit and retain employees, was
joined by other business leaders at the 2008 NCOA-ASA Aging in
America Conference in Washington, D.C. for a discussion on the
multigenerational workforce and the importance of mature workers.
Michael Ferdinandi, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and
Corporate Communications, CVS Caremark, co-presented the session
"Seizing Business Opportunities with the NEXT Workforce" at the
NCOA/MaturityWorks Alliance Workforce Summit. Mr. Ferdinandi spoke
about the company's mature worker initiatives, including creative
and flexible benefits options, a welcoming work environment
encouraging career advancement at all levels, and strategic
public-private partnerships. By 2010, almost one in three workers
will be at least 50 years of age, and as baby boomers continue to
approach retirement age, the pool of replacement workers will not
be large enough to meet employers' labor demands. Mr. Ferdinandi
discussed how CVS Caremark has developed workplace solutions to
retain skilled mature workers and recruit and train the next
generation of employees. In the past decade, the company has forged
innovative partnerships with local and national agencies and
organizations in order to actively recruit employees including
mature workers, and now roughly one in five employees is age 50 and
older. CVS Caremark also offers substantial training, convenient
locations, and flexible work schedules -- including a snowbird
program that enables employees to shuttle between different store
regions on a seasonal basis. "CVS Caremark prides itself on
developing innovative workforce development partnerships and
programs, and opening up customized hiring and job training
opportunities that match company and community needs," said Mr.
Ferdinandi. "The strength of our company is in our talented and
diverse workforce, and our mature workers bring to us a lifetime of
experience, a wide range of skills, a commitment to customer
service, and an eagerness to mentor our younger associates." Mr.
Ferdinandi also revealed the results of a survey on mentoring in
the workplace among CVS pharmacists age 50 and over. The study
shows that senior pharmacists view mentoring as personally
rewarding, especially when mentoring college students and
apprentice pharmacy technicians. The study, conducted by University
of Vermont Business Professor Barbara McIntosh for CVS Caremark,
also shows that senior pharmacists who are interested in mentoring
depend on having proper mentor training in order for the mentoring
to be successful. These results help reinforce the value of CVS
Caremark's Senior Pharmacist Legacy Mentoring Program, which uses
the talent and experience of senior pharmacists, working and
retired, to mentor apprentice pharmacy technicians and high school
and college students in order to cultivate and reinforce their
interest in entering pharmacy careers. The company piloted the
program in Chicago in 2006 and will expand the successful program
to Atlanta and Tampa next year. As the program continues, outcomes
will be formally evaluated, and a tool kit will be developed to
allow replicating the project across the country and in other
allied healthcare professions. "In this multi-generational
workforce, companies should consider implementing a formal
mentoring program to help attract young adults to the profession,
retain experienced employees who are at retirement age, and
transfer the knowledge and expertise of older workers to young
adults," said Dr. McIntosh. "As the study shows, a formal mentoring
program is also important in providing mature workers with the
tools needed to become successful mentors." About CVS Caremark CVS
Caremark is the largest provider of prescriptions and related
health care services in the nation. The Company fills or manages
more than 1 billion prescriptions annually. Through its unmatched
breadth of service offerings, CVS Caremark is transforming the
delivery of health care services in the U.S. The Company is
uniquely positioned to effectively manage costs and improve health
care outcomes through its 6,300 CVS/pharmacy stores; its pharmacy
benefit management, mail order and specialty pharmacy division,
Caremark Pharmacy Services; its retail-based health clinic
subsidiary, MinuteClinic; and its online pharmacy, CVS.com. General
information about CVS Caremark is available through the Investor
Relations portion of the Company's website, at
http://investor.cvs.com/, as well as through the pressroom portion
of the Company's website, at http://www.cvs.com/pressroom.
Contacts: Carolyn Castel Sara Steindorf CVS Caremark Weber
Shandwick Worldwide (401) 770-5717 (617) 520-7259 DATASOURCE: CVS
Caremark CONTACT: Carolyn Castel, CVS Caremark, +1-401-770-5717, ;
Sara Steindorf, Weber Shandwick Worldwide, +1-617-520-7259, , for
CVS Caremark Web site: http://www.cvs.com/ http://investor.cvs.com/
http://www.cvs.com/pressroom
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