Author Archives: CorpStrat News

M&A in your future? You need an Employee Benefits Audit.

The recent trend of mergers and acquisition of closely held businesses is on the minds of so many business owners these days. Virtually unlimited sources of Venture Capital coupled with inflation, rising overhead expenses, and the great resignation has made pursuing exit strategies increasingly attractive.

A thorough employee benefit review is critical for every company, but particularly those that are considering entering and preparing for any M&A activity.

Here’s a quick hit list of issues that should be reviewed and addressed:

Have you benchmarked your Employee Benefits package against companies of similar size in your industry? Is your benefits package competitive enough to attract and retain talent?
Are your retirement plan programs in full compliance with ERISA and fiduciary responsibilities including filings of all required tax reporting? Do you know who the fiduciary on your plan is? If you don’t know, its likely you — the business owner
Do you have key people coverages that can assure prospective purchasers that their most important people are protected and insured?
Review any and all TOP HAT or executive compensation programs, and be sure to address any unfunded liabilities or promises like bonus agreements.
Prepare any desired severance and retention bonuses and consider equity/phantom stock agreements that could help assure continuation for key people.
Be sure your company is fully compliant on ACA reporting as well as affordability of benefits for firms 50 and up.

Review all HR documents, time keeping systems, PTO , OT, etc and ensure the are all in compliance and up to date

Have an outside advisor review your HR and audit your processes to be sure that you do not have any potential exposures.

This really is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many key details that need to be addressed but this list is a great start to helping your company prepare for the best outcome in any potential transactions.

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If you’re interested in an Employee Benefits Audit, we can help with that. Learn more here.

How to Simplify Communicating New Hire Rates to Employees

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Communicating new hire rates to employees has grown increasingly complex in recent years. Back in the day, it was simple and straightforward: rates were the same for either single employees, an employee plus a spouse, or an employee with a family. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.

Since the inception of the ACA in 2010, California employers with 100 or less employees have a rate based on each employee’s actual date of birth and their home zip code. On top of that, each eligible dependent has a rate based on their birth date. When you combine that with most companies having somewhere between six to eight plan choices, the layers of complexity really start adding up.

How can you simplify this?

Between differing rates, benefits plans, multiple products, regional variances, state requirements, and demographics, you need to find a sustainable way to communicate these specifics in a clear and easy to understand way to your employees. To us, this really starts and ends with automating the process. If you’re not embracing technology for this, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Automating this process means employers can deliver all of their rates, plan options, benefit summaries, and even the SBCs to remain compliant in a seamless, paperless experience.

If your Employee Benefit enrollment experience is clunky or is still paper based, let’s talk. We can help you save time, save money, and increase efficiency and compliance. We’d love to help make your organization look great to your team and your potential new recruits.

4 Ways to Better Take Care of your People

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An organization really is nothing without its people. We’re big believers in cutting edge HRIS technology but if it’s not accompanied by great relationships, we know a company simply can’t thrive. We care about facilitating the right ecosystem in which your team can create relationships with one another that truly add value to both their work and overall well being.

We want companies and professionals to advance and thrive, and we believe the key to this is ensuring both your team and clients feel seen and appreciated. Here are four of our top tips for taking better care of your people:

1. Hire the right candidates.

This might sound like a no brainer but you’d be surprised at how easy it is to hire a “rock star” on paper who isn’t a team player. Take special care to check that your prospective hire matches your core company values. You want someone who is committed to having meaningful relationships in business and can relate their skills and expertise to the benefit of your organization. Hiring the right people is especially important if the position calls for interfacing with clients; every person you hire becomes a representation of your company and its values.

2. Take every opportunity to reward and recognize.

Employees are by far your greatest asset and it’s important to be intentional about making stellar workers feel appreciated. When your team members help a customer or client achieve their goals, make them feel seen and rewarded. Small things like a free lunch, holding a happy hour in their honor, or a gift card to their favorite coffee shop can have a big impact.

3. Don’t treat clients like they’re just business assets.

We strive to be an important ingredient in our clients’ success, but we never want to treat them like they’re just a number on the page. You never know where a solid client relationship might lead to. So many of our current friendships, business connections, and referrals have been the direct result of cultivating a genuine relationship with our clients. Encouraging your team to form relationships with their clients that are authentic, caring, and helpful pays off no matter what.

4. Create a culture that encourages lasting relationships.

We are always encouraged when our employees form strong relationships with one another. We know their strong connections make us a better team and allow us to work together better than ever. In addition, when our clients engage and form friendships with our team, we feel that it really completes the circle both emotionally and economically.

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We firmly believe that creating meaningful personal relationships goes beyond any sort of efficiencies technology can create. If this resonates with you, let’s talk. Call us (818) 377-7260 or email us at marketing@corpstrat.com.

6 Tips to Successfully Attract and Retain Employees in 2022

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The workplace has been transformed by the pandemic, now employees have higher expectations for compensation, benefits, and workplace flexibility. Due to this, employers of all sizes are facing attraction and retention challenges like never before. Compared to 2021, organizations are experiencing a 3x increase in difficulties attracting employees and a 4x increase in difficulties retaining employees.

Successful efforts to win over new employees can require investments of time and costs that are higher than ever. Most businesses don’t have a lot of resources to invest in attracting and competing with large, well-capitalized organizations so it’s time to think outside of the box. We encourage you to get creative. Don’t be afraid to risk being unique and different in order to attract the talent you need to achieve your goals.

We’ve put together our top tips to help you successfully attract and retain employees in 2022:

1. Review your Benefits

Health insurance has to be a vital part of your compensation package but don’t stop there. Build out a well-rounded benefit offering that will wow your prospective employees. Include vision, dental, life, disability, 401K plans, and more. After you put together this plan, make sure you have ways to communicate them clearly to your prospects.

2. Review Your Recruiting and Hiring Process

Make sure your recurinting and onboarding process is welcoming and engaging from beginning to end. New employees will notice the difference and it will help set the tone for their time at the company.

3. Offer Bonuses for Employee Referrals

Expand your recruiting to include your employee base. Offer employees a cash bonus for referrals that are hired to the team. If your employees love where they work, they’ll be motivated to refer their friends.

4. Focus on Developing Your Employees

Include educational reimbursements, extracurricular learning, and skill advancement opportunities in the areas of their interest.

5. Establish a Hybrid Work Environment

There’s no escaping it, flexible work environments are the new normal. Create a clear hybrid work policy that allows for flexibility between in-office and remote work when an employees’ positions allow for it.

6. Focus on Enriching Workplace Culture

Continue to work on your workplace culture for employees who come to the office. Help your team foster community by encouraging friendship. This can include free lunches, team happy hours, or company-wide social events that help to bond your staff together and build camaraderie.

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Need help with improving your company culture? Contact us at marketing@corpstrat.com

5 Tips for Bringing Your Team Back to the Office

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After over two years of working remotely, we know a lot of employers are grappling with if and how to bring their teams back into the office. They’re faced with a barrage of questions: Should they bring employees back full time? Keep them remote? Should they offer set hybrid programs or let employees decide their own schedule? The risk of losing great employees by pushing them to return to the office looms large however, full-time remote work doesn’t suit every business.

The answer is there is no right answer. It’s almost impossible to establish a protocol that makes sense for everyone. The bottom line is companies have to get creative with how they balance safety, productivity, and culture as we begin returning to the office. We do think companies will likely employ various hybrid work iterations for the foreseeable future.

Here are our best ideas to help find balance between encouraging company culture while your team is remote and building rapport back in the office:

1. Give Employees Their Own Work Spaces.

Try rewarding employees with their own work spaces as opposed to the shared work spaces that are so popular nowadays. The pandemic has created all sorts of uncertainties about touching other people’s stuff.

2. Offer up free lunches.

We know there’s “no such thing as a free lunch” but we’ve seen companies have tremendous success when they offer their employees meals as a gesture of appreciation. Sending your remote employees a voucher for a food delivery app and an invitation to join a team Zoom hang out is a great way to allow your team to interact more casually. When your team is in the office, providing free lunches allows people to connect with each other. We’ve found that this desire for connection is greater than ever since the pandemic began.

3. Create Memorable Moments to Connect

Try and use culture building opportunities as frequently as possible. This is where employers can really get creative. Consider setting up both remote and in-person fun experiences like an Escape Room or a virtual Pub Quiz. Give away memorable gifts, company merchandise, or a welcome back to the office care package so employees feel that their experience is being valued.

4. Provide Gas Cards

Send gas gift cards to anyone who comes into the office on a regular basis. Gas is expensive right now so this is an easy win because it makes employees feel valued for their efforts.

5. Use Social Media to Show Off Company Culture

Make sure your employees are proud of the team that they’re on and feel included. One way to do this is share notable team experiences on your public Social Media channels and in your internal team communications, like a Slack channel or team newsletter. You’ll be able to show the community being built back up in the office and ease the minds of employees still on the fence about returning to the office.

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Need help creating positive Company Culture? We can help with that. Contact us.