Woodland Pond at New Paltz Certified as a Great Place to Work®

New Paltz, NY – Great Place to Work Institute and its senior care partner Activated Insights have honored Woodland Pond at New Paltz with certification as a Great Place to Work for 2023-2024. The certification process involved surveying 100% of employees from across all departments and evaluating more than 60 elements of staff members’ experience as an employee of Woodland Pond. These 60 elements included employee pride in the organization’s community impact, belief that their work makes a difference, and feeling their work has special meaning.

“It is such an honor to have achieved this certification for the second straight year. More importantly, our outcomes have improved over last year,” says Michelle Gramoglia, Woodland Pond President and CEO, “and we could not be more proud!”

“We made a concerted effort to incorporate employee feedback from last year’s surveys into our benefit programs, employee enrichment programs, rewards and recognition programs. Our improved year over year performance in the Great Place to Work survey results reflects this commitment to our staff and that we have demonstrated that we are listening to their feedback.”

There are 5 broad categories assessed by the Great Place to Work survey. Of the 5 the three categories where Woodland Pond was recognized by staff to be the highest performing were Respect, Pride, and Camaraderie. Gramoglia shares, “That we scored so highly in these three categories is so meaningful to us as a community. To know that the majority of our staff emphasized these as where they feel most valued here, tells us that the support and family like environment that is so special and unique at Woodland Pond is being felt by more than just a few of our staff.”

According to Gramoglia, the survey, conducted in December 2023, highlighted inclusion and belongingness as among the highest positive sentiments among staff (from the more than 60 aspects of employment at Woodland Pond measured).

• 94% of staff say “People here are treated fairly regardless of their sexual orientation,”
• 92% of staff say “This is a physically safe place to work,”
• 92% of staff say “People here are treated fairly regardless of their gender,”
• 90% of staff say, “When you join the company, you are made to feel welcome,”
• 89% of staff say “I’m proud to tell others I work here.”

“To know that we have created such a welcoming environment for our staff bring such enormous pride to our entire team, and we will proudly share our “Great Place to Work” honors with pride!”

To learn more about becoming an employee at Woodland Pond at New Paltz click here.

ABOUT ACTIVATED INSIGHTS AND GREAT PLACE TO WORK

Activated Insights is the senior care affiliate of Great Place to Work, the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through its aging services certification program, Activated Insights helps Great Place to Work recognize outstanding workplace cultures in the aging services industry and produce the annual Fortune “Best Workplaces for Aging Services™” as well as other Great Place to Work Best Workplaces lists for Millennials, Women, Diversity, Small & Medium Companies, and various regions. Through its employee engagement platform, Activated Insights helps clients create great workplaces that outpace peers on key business metrics like revenue growth, profitability, and retention.

ABOUT WOODLAND POND

Woodland Pond at New Paltz is located in New Paltz, N.Y., and is a not-for-profit, upscale continuing care retirement community (CCRC), tailored exclusively for those aged 62 and older. Nestled beneath the shoulder of the breathtaking Shawangunk Ridge, the community opened in 2009 and is the only CCRC in the mid-Hudson Valley. Woodland Pond offers an 83-acre campus that includes a professionally staffed Health Center and a Community Center with an art studio, fitness center, heated indoor swimming pool, salon, Dedrick’s at the Pond, library, woodworking shop, game room, free computer access, a smart classroom, and more.

As a true CCRC, Woodland Pond at New Paltz offers independent living with a choice of a private residences (28 cottages and 177 apartments), services, and amenities. Many of the apartment styles and all the cottages are now either fully reserved and/or occupied. Under Woodland Pond’s Life Care program, residents are provided privileged admission to the assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing center. Life Care functions similar to a long-term-care policy wrapped in a healthy and fulfilling resort lifestyle—so that residents can enjoy this chapter of their lives in an inspiring and supportive environment, free from worrying about escalating future long-term-care expenses

Woodland Pond caters to a diverse group of accomplished individuals with a variety of interests and a zest for life.