UniFirst Named to the 2015 Leadership 500 Excellence Awards for Management Development Program
April 23 2015 - 8:27AM
UniFirst Corporation (NYSE:UNF) was chosen as a recipient of the
2015 Leadership 500 Excellence Awards for outstanding achievements
and innovation in leadership development and programs. The awards
were presented at the LEAD2015 forum on March 31 in Dallas, Texas,
and salute the world's top leadership practitioners and programs,
as well as highlight their roles in developing their most important
asset—their people. Winners were selected based on the merits of
the program and participant feedback surveys regarding the impact
and quality of the program.
A photo accompanying this release is available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=32362
UniFirst was recognized for its UniFirst Management Institute
(UMI)—a leadership development program that supports the career
progression of the top high-potential leaders within the company.
It provides targeted, individualized professional development
through a blended training solution which includes a series of five
week-long workshops offering forums with key leadership, business
simulations, and competency assessments. Outside the workshops,
participants utilize virtual meetings, action learning, job
shadows, social networking, and reading assignments designed to
accelerate participants to the next career level.
"We're very proud to have been recognized for the work we've
done that has made UMI a successful leadership development
program," said Tara Bodine, talent acquisition and development
manager at UniFirst, who was on-hand to accept the award. "Our
learning team spends a great deal of time adjusting and improving
this program to ensure it continues to effectively cultivate, groom
and prepare UniFirst employee Team Partners who show great promise
as future leaders of our company."
Overall, about one third of all UMI participants have been
promoted from the positions they held during their UMI attendance,
with several reaching executive leadership levels. UMI graduates
are consistently the first candidates considered for new leadership
positions as they become available at UniFirst.
Patrick O'Leary, a manager in UniFirst's National Accounts, also
attended the awards conference on behalf of UniFirst as a UMI
success story. He started his career at UniFirst in 2003 as a
national account executive, managing a portfolio of accounts that
included some of UniFirst's largest rental customers. O'Leary was
selected to attend UMI in 2004 and, after graduating in 2005, was
promoted to business development manager. A second promotion in
2008 named him manager of the Program Sales Division within
National Accounts, where O'Leary oversees all sales and services
responsibilities of UniFirst's National Accounts Direct Sales
operations. "I'm excited to be here as a testament to the value and
importance of UniFirst's UMI program," he said. "I am certain that
my career track wouldn't have been as direct or as swift without
the training and skills provided by UMI."
For the past 30 years, Leadership Excellence, now a part of
HR.com, has identified and recognized the top 500 leadership
organizations for offering outstanding leadership programs and
strategies, and for serving as award-winning examples, encouraging
other organizations to create a program that suits the needs of
their users.
About UniFirst
Headquartered in Wilmington, Mass., UniFirst Corporation
(NYSE:UNF) is a North American leader in the supply and servicing
of uniform and workwear programs, as well as the delivery of
facility service programs. Together with its subsidiaries, the
company also provides first aid and safety products, and manages
specialized garment programs for the cleanroom and nuclear
industries. UniFirst manufactures its own branded workwear,
protective clothing, and floorcare products, and with over 225
service locations, 275,000 customer locations, and 12,000 employee
Team Partners, the company outfits more than 1.5 million workers
each business day. For more information, contact UniFirst at
800.455.7654 or visit www.unifirst.com.
CONTACT: Meghan Marcus
PR/Communications Specialist
UniFirst Corporation
978.527.3974
Meghan_Marcus@unifirst.com
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