For the eighth straight year, The Oklahoman has recognized the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation as one of the best places to work in the state.
In the 2020 Top Workplace rankings, OMRF took second among all large employers (350-plus employees) in the state. The foundation has ranked in the top 10 every year since Top Workplaces began in 2013, one of only six companies in the state to do so.
The Oklahoman conducts the surveys in partnership with Energage, a Philadelphia-based research and consulting firm. Staff rate employers on a variety of factors that include job satisfaction, management quality, pay and benefits, and opportunities for growth.
Employees like Mike McDaniel, the senior lab manager for the Cardiovascular Biology Research Program, lauded OMRF’s response to the pandemic that puts employee safety first. “I’ve really appreciated the onsite testing and letting people work from home who can,” said McDaniel, who joined the foundation as a laboratory technician in 1998.
Overall, McDaniel said, OMRF promotes a healthy atmosphere for employees. “Everyone is just kind and understanding, willing to work with you and help make your job enjoyable. That’s big to me. Science can be stressful and requires hard work, but the work environment at OMRF doesn’t add to that stress — it alleviates it,” he said.
This year, OMRF also received special recognition for receiving the highest marks among all organizations in all categories for “Direction,” based on responses to questions about the foundation’s future.
“I am deeply grateful to our employees for bestowing this honor on the foundation for the eighth year running,” said OMRF President Stephen M. Prescott, M.D. “As we prepare for our 75th anniversary in 2021, I’m confident our founders would be proud and awe-struck by the work our scientists are doing — and how we, as an organization, have stayed true to our mission of helping more live longer, healthier lives.”
