Author Archives: CorpStrat News

Success and Preparation Go Hand In Hand

What is the greatest exposure for most business owners? Failing to plan.

Lots of business owners wake up at 2:00 am, worried and fearful, unable to go back to sleep, because they are consumed with the challenges facing their business and their families: What happens if I get sick? What happens if I can’t meet overhead? If my largest client goes out of business? If something, happens to my partner, wife, child or a parent? How will I retire? Who will succeed my business? If my lead-sales person leaves? Do I have a backup plan? The list goes on and on, right??

It takes a lifetime to build a business and it takes a moment for it to fall apart. According to Success Harbor and the U.S. Census Bureau, 400,000 new businesses are started every year in the USA, but 470,000 are dying and around half of all businesses no longer exist after five years. Only one-third make it past their tenth anniversary

All it takes is an unexpected death, an unforeseen illness, or a key personnel departure. Business owners must understand the possibilities, prepare for the risks, and plan for their continuity and succession. Protecting the business means protecting the families that depend on your business. The financial stability is interconnected. We understand this because we live it ourselves.

Are You Prepared?

We don’t have to look far to see the challenges that business owners face. Entrepreneurs face these dilemmas each day and we see family members get sick, become dependents, consume assets and increase the pressure. Success and preparation go hand in hand, and things move quickly in the world these days.

As insurance brokers and advisors, we regularly council with professionals – asking the challenging questions, and provoking dialogues into uncomfortable spaces between wants, needs and priorities. We are the catalyst for business succession, key man retention, insurance planning, and retirement focus. We prompt referrals to our network of professionals and engage your advisors to help you identify and achieve your goals.

Something keeping you up at night, staring at the ceiling? Likely, it’s in our zone of comfort. Comment below or call and let’s have a conversation about the things and people you care most about.

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Where Do You Draw The Line?

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Overly-Friendly or Sexual Harassment…Where Do You Draw the Line?

With the daily news of high profile cases of sexual harassment since Harvey Weinstein was accused last fall along with many others, clients have asked – how do you determine if someone is over-friendly verses harassment? The line between flirtation and harassment is a very fine, often, blurred one.

There is no disputing that a person’s individual and workplace culture plays a large part in this equation. Understanding what is happening (or not happening) in your organization, is most imperative for executives to take the lead on. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a clear definition of what is and is not harassment. So perhaps the question should be, what proactive things can I do to tackle this ever growing issue?

Know the facts. Review the EEOC definition and educated yourself.
Know the types of harassment. Sexual, verbal, gender, etc. and how they can play out in your culture.
Have an inclusive work culture that is diverse in ethnicity, social background, and gender.
Review and update policies that relate to harassment of all kinds.
Develop internal communication that outlines standards, a process for reporting abuse, and clear consequences for violating the policy.
Participate in regular scheduled trainings.
Create a supportive work culture where employee’s feel empowered and valued.
Support HR when a concern arises.
Don’t wait for a formal complaint. If you see or hear about it, ACT.
Respond quickly to all allegations.

Be The Solution

While there are no guarantees a company policy or training will be the perfect solution, employers can take proactive steps to address harassment and create solutions that ensure a safe and comfortable work environment for all.

For the skeptics, yes, false accusations have been made and genuine misunderstandings, easily rectified. But don’t let that lessen the seriousness of a complaint. Harassment of all kinds now have a voice and that has given people the courage to speak up, when they may have been too scared to before.

Given how little agreement exists about a clear definition of sexual harassment, employers seeking to create a comfortable work environment may need to be more explicit about the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Consider CorpStrat to help you through that next situation and in developing policies or trainings. Our HR on Demand packages can provide reliable HR support and create solutions. We are here to help.

Company Culture Matters Most

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Company Culture: What it is and Why it Matters

It’s those two words you probably hear often if you read articles on business and management but what is it exactly? Company culture is the personality of a company and the environment in which its employees work. Recent studies have revealed that employees highly value company culture in their decision to stay with-or leave-a company. Therefore, companies with strong culture can, in fact, reduce job turnover.

Retaining employees who are happy and productive is not only good for employee morale, but also for the bottom line. Turnover can be extremely expensive for employers when lost productivity and replacement costs are considered.

According to Frances Frei And Anne Morriss at Harvard Business Review:

“Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.”

Since each company is unique, the way in which you create and build your company culture will vary. However, one constant is that all cultures can be classified as being ‘weak’ or ‘strong’.

Weak Company Culture = Employees accept their responsibilities and cultural duties out of fear of their superiors and harsh policies, and they do things out of impulse.

Strong Company Culture = Employees respect, adjust and adhere to their company’s policies. Employees in this type of culture tend to enjoy working, accept their roles and responsibilities willingly, and try to learn as much as possible.

Developing Values for Your Company’s Culture:

Recognize and reward valuable employee contributions. Recent studies have shown that the top 20% of companies with a recognition-based culture have 31% lower turnover. Also, a large majority of workers believe that recognition is a key factor for them.
Flexibility – 51% of workers believe that a flexible schedule is a factor that significantly drives retention. Some popular ideas are telecommuting, flexible scheduling and PTO policies.
Benefits – There are a variety of employer sponsored programs that encourage employee engagement and increase morale and retention. In addition to your core benefit offerings (medical, dental, vision), try implementing a wellness program, paid parking, and/or transportation reimbursements. There are also many voluntary benefits available such as Life, Short Term Disability, and new trendy offerings such as Identity Theft and Pet Insurance.

These are just a few ways that you can attract, retain, and reward employees and grow your company culture. Today’s workplace is vastly different than it was in the past. Employees care about your reputation as a company and are constantly evaluating employers on their corporate culture. In fact, many workers view cultural compatibility just as important as salary! A positive and strong company culture vastly improves retention as employees who identify with and feel a sense of belonging are happier and are more likely to stay.

With that said, if you could describe your corporate culture in three words, what would you say?

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/06/13/new-research-unlocks-the-secret-of-employee-recognition/#615d82695276

https://qualityincentivecompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SOAW-2017.pdf

https://hbr.org/2012/05/culture-takes-over-when-the-ce

How to Deliver Unbeatable Customer Experience

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What does great service really mean?

A great product or service is the first half of a successful business – great customer service is the better half of a successful business. Does the mention of a company name trigger good feelings from a customer? When customer service evolves into an amazing customer experience, the answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes!’ A successful business shapes the customers’ experience by embedding a fundamental value proposition in offerings, but a satisfactory experience just isn’t good enough for long-term success.

Go above and beyond

So what is great customer service? The definition is different for everyone – to some, it is as simple as solving problems and offering solutions in an expedient manner. To others, it means overall politeness from those who represent the company. In other organizations it’s defined as a company’s willingness to give their customers, ‘the customer is always right’ approach, no matter how unreasonable their demands may be.

If you invest in your customers, they will invest in you

The human elements of customer service are what really define great customer service…doing everything one can to please, protect, enrich, and value the customer. At the end of the day, every business should be built around how to deliver an extraordinary customer experience.

To achieve a truly value-based and positive customer experience, here are the four touchstones every company should be implementing:

Be responsive – Customers hate repeating themselves, so being responsive across social media platforms, mobile applications, and engaging web pages is increasing in importance as channels expand.
Treat customers with a friendly, helpful attitude – Lousy customer service is the number one reason people choose to stop engaging with a company. Simply put, happy customers remain loyal.
Quality communication and services – With today’s technology, every business can offer personalized connections that leave people more than satisfied and with confidence that strengthens brand loyalty.
Build trust – Transparency goes a long way by showing clients that they can lean on your processes and communication to steer them in the right direction.

At CorpStrat, we deliver the CorpStrat Gold Standard, which is our version of a customer service experience. This is comprised of 5 values:

Teamwork – we work together to achieve the best outcomes for our clients
Great Attitude – we bring positive energy to every interaction
Client Interest First – All of our actions are guided by achieving our clients’ objectives
CorpStrat Golden Rule – we show up on time, finish what we start, do what we say, and demonstrate our gratefulness
Passionate Learners – We are constantly increasing our knowledge and gaining wisdom

And most importantly, when it comes to our Gold Standard…

We know it, we show it, we own it.

How To Evaluate The Right Benefits Broker: 6 Important Questions To Ask Yourself

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Choosing the right broker can be a daunting task. While all benefits brokers have access to the same carriers and rates, there are value-added services that a skilled benefits broker will also provide; usually at little, or no additional cost. It’s important to take the time to find the right benefits broker for your company’s needs.

To get the most out of your broker partnership, ask yourself these 6 important questions:

1.) Are you up-to-date on the latest health care reform regulations, receive guidance and the latest developments?

Compliance concerns continue to increase for businesses. Between ERISA and payroll taxes, maintaining compliance is becoming more difficult and frustrating for companies. Here, a benefits broker can become the compliance officer for its clients.

2.) Do you have support during your open enrollment that includes educational materials, meetings, and other communications?

There is a lot that can go wrong during open enrollment periods and things can get hectic, especially in the coming years as health care reform and political turmoil spiral. Benefit brokers are there to help guide you through the process to make as seamless as possible.

3.) Who do you call when you’re faced with a complex question from a former employee about COBRA coverage?

Sure, you can try calling the U.S. Labor Department or the Internal Revenue Service office, but the most effective way to handle their questions, would be to consider calling upon insurance brokers. These skilled and certified professionals will eliminate the painful task of navigating COBRA coverage for existing and former employees.

4.) Do you know how other companies of your size and demographics are providing benefits to their employees so that you can remain competitive?

In many cases, employers must offer health care in order to remain competitive with other businesses for the most talented employees and avoid fines imposed by health care reform. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer adequate health coverage or be subject to assessment if their employees receive premium tax credits to purchase their own insurance.

5.) Are you aware of voluntary and workplace benefits that you can offer without adding significant cost on your end?

Be strategic about cost saving voluntary benefits. Voluntary benefits have long been a relatively simple and inexpensive way to expand the benefits a company can offer employees. With out-of-pocket medical costs growing into the tens of thousands of dollars, voluntary benefits can extend this type of financial protection to health care.

6.) How do you educate employees about how to make the most out of their benefits and do you have an online platform to access?

Education, especially when it comes to ones’ health is especially important. By explaining and guiding your employees on the different benefit plans offered, it can help them appreciate having access to coverage in the first place. But to really help employees feel comfortable with their benefit plans, we strongly suggest providing ongoing and consistent education throughout the year.

The above is only a sliver of the value-added services your benefits broker should offer. If your current broker isn’t providing all the above, feel free to reach out to us. We’re a full-service brokerage firm offering insurance, technology, and compliance solutions for all facets of your business

Ask us how you can spend less time on the broadening workload of benefits enrollment, payroll, & compliance and more time on growing your business. Contact us today, or learn more about CorpStrat HR and CorpStrat Payroll.