Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Delta Dental Enjoying The Best of Many Worlds

3 min read

Delta Dental of Arkansas’ success as a company is well-chronicled thanks to progressive group dental insurance products and unparalleled customer service. The firm’s 180 employees are central to this success.

“Our company can be described in two brief statements: ‘Work Hard. Be Nice,’ ” said Kelly Carney, vice president of human resources. “It’s such a simple concept, but by following this motto, we’re able to successfully serve our members and continue our success as Arkansas’ largest dental insurance provider.

“To be successful in the marketplace, we must provide our customers with high productivity and near-perfect accuracy at a low cost. To be successful as an employer, we must carefully match the right employee with the right job, constantly invest in improving their skills and frequently demonstrate our appreciation for their accomplishments.”

This powerful combination gives Delta Dental an edge in securing and retaining the best talent. The company enjoys a higher than average number of applicants, thanks to employee-centric policies and its visibility in the community. This provides the luxury of hand-picking from the best available talent at each position.

“We provide professional development opportunities for staff and managers, including continuing education and training through access to a tuition reimbursement program, certificates/accreditations and ongoing seminars and trainings,” Carney said. “We also have recognition and reward programs that reinforce the importance of an employee’s contribution to the overall success of the organization.

“We believe our efforts to be a Best Place to Work can be seen and measured through our company’s many achievements. We regularly exceed our expected monthly key performance indicators, our customer service metrics from our stakeholders continue to reflect high satisfaction and our employee turnover statistics are lower than industry standards.”

“Our workplace culture is one that encourages employees to take pride in their work and adhere to certain principles and values that we can all believe in. We believe that a happy and engaged workforce is a key component to our organization’s success.” — Kelly Carney, vice president of human resources

One important element driving this dual, internal-external success rate is the company’s employee steering committee made up of representatives from each department who meet with the CEO and vice president of human resources every other month to discuss any topic an employee brings up, from corporate benefits to what sodas are available in vending machines.

“One of our distinguishing benefits is that we have a tight-knit group of helpful and knowledgeable co-workers that have established a very family-oriented employee network,” Carney said. “Due to our open culture, employees and management are able to communicate more quickly and effectively with each other.”

Neat Thing We Do
• Philanthropy and community service are hallmarks of the company; in 2014, Delta Dental donated more than $50 million in charitable contributions nationally. Delta Dental of Arkansas is in the process of expanding its already-robust corporate citizenship program that connects employees with volunteer opportunities that they can take advantage of during or after work hours. Partners include Arkansas State Dental Association, CARTI, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Junior League of Little Rock and countless other civic organizations. 

Nationally, Delta Dental serves more than one-third of the estimated 191 million Americans with dental insurance, providing coverage to more than 73 million people last year in more than 122,000 groups. Delta Dental clients include 395 out of the Fortune 1000 companies. In 2014, Delta Dental member companies processed more than 97 million dental claims, approximately 1.8 million every week, with an accuracy rate of 99.7 percent.

Send this to a friend