COTA Wins HR Innovation Award from Columbus CEO

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) has been selected as the winner of the 2015 HR Excellence Award for HR Innovation by Columbus CEO magazine. COTA was recognized at the HR Excellence Awards celebration on July 14.

The HR Innovation award is given to an individual or public, private or nonprofit organization for achieving proven results in areas such as compensation and benefits; employee recognition and/or retention; strategic alignment; succession planning; talent acquisition and/or assessment; use of technology; and work-life balance.

In 2012, COTA faced significant obstacles due to an unsustainable health insurance path. In the years since, COTA has put a new focus on the design of its health insurance plan, as well as current and potential challenges associated with the plan.

“COTA has successfully implemented an outcomes-based wellness program, which is challenging in the public sector,” said Kristen Treadway, vice president of human resources and labor relations. “We’ve worked to change the culture at COTA and improve the health and wellness of our employees.”

By overcoming internal barriers and uniting stakeholders within the organization, COTA has implemented strategies and programming that have helped contain costs and introduce successful and popular employee wellness initiatives.