The City of Gastonia scored in the top quartile of midsize employers who participated in Gallagher’s 2021 Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey. The City was recognized as an organization that provides innovative solutions for creating organizational structures, workplace policies, and total rewards, which inclusively engages and motivates its employees.
“We are proud to be recognized as a Best-in-Class Employer,” said Michael Peoples, City Manager. “It is important for us to continue to motivate our employees and provide them with the resources they need because they are our most important resource.”
A Best-in-Class organization, City of Gastonia, was assigned points based on its relative performance in the following areas:
- Planning horizons for benefits and compensation strategies
- Extent of their wellbeing strategy
- Turnover rate for full-time equivalents
- Completion of a workforce engagement survey
- Use of an HR technology strategy and its level of sophistication
- Health plan premium increases or decreases at the most recent renewal
- Use of a communication strategy
“The City of Gastonia takes a proactive and structure approach to planning, developing and implementing comprehensive benefits and HR programs,” said William F. Ziebell, CEO of Gallagher’s Benefits & HR Consulting Division. “In doing so, the City is able to develop a winning formula to attract, reward and retain the right talent, and position the municipality as a destination employer.”
Some Best-in-Class benefits the City provides its employees include:
- paid medical and dental insurance premiums
- no insurance premium increase for employees since 2010
- onsite health clinic
- 5% contribution to 401(k) plan
- wellness programs
The City of Gastonia has a total of 936 employees, including part-time and seasonal workers.
