Employee Rewards & Recognition: eClinicalWorks, Westborough

“We believe that for you to be a team leader, you have to have first joined the company and worked as a team member.” Girish Navani, CEO and Co-Founder eClinical Works

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Westborough-based eClinicalWorks, which develops electronic health records products, has been growing at a rapid pace over the past decade.

CEO and co-founder Girish Navani credits the company's agility to the team-style structure in place for the more than 2,100 employees, who are divided into teams of five to 15 people. Navani said that allows plans to be executed quickly.

“Speed is at a premium,” he said. “You need to be moving fast and you can only get that when you have a team structure versus a pyramid structure.”

Recognition of work well done — and quickly — is key, as employees are never hired from outside the company for leadership positions. Navani believes promoting from within helps guide eClinicalWorks' success. He wants to make sure leaders understand the corporate culture and aren't coming in and leading while trying to understand what their workers are doing.

“We believe that for you to be a team leader, you have to have first joined the company and worked as a team member,” he said, adding that that's important so an employee can be observed working for a few years at eClinicalWorks where positive attributes will be enhanced and expanded upon and any negative ones can be blotted out, helping the employee improve and grow.

An example of that practice at work: one employee worked for the company for a few years and was rewarded by leading eClinicalWorks' new New York City office at the age of 27, handling a $19-million contract, the largest the company had received at the time.

“We do not have traditional titles or layers of hierarchy, so this was a great recognition of his work; and others believe that they are able to do similar things if they work hard and have their heart in it,” company spokeswoman Heather Caouette said.

Although moving up through the ranks may be the greatest form of employee recognition on paper, Navani said eClinicalWorks does other things to motivate and reward employees.

“Most people often recognize peer recognition above everything else,” he said.

Navani said teams compete and give presentations on their achievements, with prizes and reward money. Peers judge the team competitions and motivate employees, Caouette said.

“They help employees have an even greater role in the direction of the company,” she said.

HONORABLE MENTION

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Weekly “high fives” are emailed and posted on the company intranet. Recipients and other top performers are recognized at quarterly meetings.

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