January 4, 2006. Boston, MA --- Circles, a leading provider of loyalty solutions, will continue to provide personal assistance services to more than 20,000 employees of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System (SBHCS), New Jersey´s largest health care system. The extended agreement ensures that nurses, administrators and staff of SBHCS will continue to have 24/7/365 access to personal concierge services through 2007.
"Since its introduction five years ago, we have received extremely favorable responses from those employees who have used the service," says Sidney D. Seligman, Senior Vice President for Human Resources at SBHCS. "This reaffirms our belief that offering a comprehensive work/life program featuring personal assistance enhances our ability to attract and retain talented staff --- and to add value to the work and personal lives of our employees."
Launched in October 2001, more than 5,000 employees of SBHCS have used the service, placing over 17,000 requests. Employees stated they saved an average of 2.5 hours every time they used the service.
A perfect example is Terese Marino, RN, Director of Departmental Administrative Services at Clara Maass Continuing Care Center at Belleville, who uses Circles whenever she needs help with time-consuming travel plans. This year Ms. Marino traveled to Phoenix, and needed assistance with car rental arrangements, researching sightseeing activities and local attractions, nightlife suggestions and finding day trip ideas. "Using Circles made it so easy to pull together all the details of our trip," Ms. Marino says. "Knowing that there was someone there doing the research and helping me secure the reservations made my trip even more enjoyable. Circles took all the aggravation out of planning the trip, and gave me more time to get excited --- and pack!"
Circles´ personal assistance service is a central resource for employees to complete practically anything on their to-do list. Through the unique combination of outstanding personal assistants and a proprietary knowledge base of excellent partners, comprehensive service provider networks and proprietary content, employees of SBHCS are able to get fast, expert and personalized results saving them much needed time. SBHCS staff can call Circles to complete any personal task on their list, such as:
- Planning and arranging for a special weekend getaway
- Finding a handyman for home repairs
- Locating and purchasing tickets to sporting events, concerts, plays, etc.
- Birthday, anniversary and wedding gift suggestions
- Restaurant recommendations and reservations
"Facing a growing shortage of workers and increasing costs of recruiting, hiring, and training, healthcare organizations realize that they must offer benefits programs that engender employee loyalty," says Janet Kraus, CEO and co-founder of Circles. "And, we know that the programs that best enhance loyalty are those that help employees achieve work/life balance --- namely concierge and personal assistance. Why? Because employees say they just simply do not have enough time to get everything done."
About Circles
Circles is a leading provider of concierge, events and experiential marketing services to over 20 Fortune 1000 clients. Founded in 1997, Circles has revolutionized how companies build life-long relationships with their customers and employees, driving behaviors that increase engagement, satisfaction and profitability. Clients include Unilever, Yum! Brands, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Pepsi Cola North America and The Methodist Hospital.
About Saint Barnabas Health Care System
The Saint Barnabas Health Care System is New Jersey´s largest integrated health care delivery system, serving over 2 million patients a year and including eight acute-care hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, nine nursing homes, three assisted living facilities, one free-standing inpatient psychiatric facility, a statewide behavioral health network and home care and hospice services.
Cindy Kazan
Communi-K, Inc.
969 West Jonathan Lane
Milwaukee, WI 53217
414.352.3535
FAX: 414.352.2331