The "Best" Growing Companies are Prepared for the Coming Job Revival
November 10, 2003 (Des Moines, Iowa) - With promising economic news and strong signs of job growth, companies may soon find themselves in a race to keep their top employees. Now a new guide shows how 10 leading companies have a head start by designing benefits programs that help recruit and retain a loyal work force. Innovation at Work: A Guide to Best Practices in Employee Benefits, showcases the benefits strategies of The Principal® 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security-a group of small and medium-sized businesses (5 to 1000 employees) from across the nation recognized in 2003 for excellence in employee benefits programs.
"The experiences of these 10 outstanding companies demonstrate that strong benefits build a strong workforce which leads to a strong bottom line," said Carey Jury, vice president, Principal Financial Group®. "We created this guide because the innovative practices of these impressive organizations can help other companies overcome the challenges - and reap the rewards - of helping employees secure their financial futures. Growing companies now have the opportunity to better understand the correlation between a comprehensive benefits program and increased productivity and profits."
The guide details how The Principal 10 Best Companies have overcome the challenges of spiraling benefits costs while ensuring that their employees appreciate and take advantage of the benefits they offer. From retirement plans to healthcare benefits, the guide offers tips and solutions based on the winning companies' real-life tactics. The guidebook also includes:
- A checklist to help employers identify gaps and solutions in their own benefits programs
- A tool for companies to benchmark their programs against others across the nation
"What makes the guidebook particularly useful to businesses is that the winning companies don't necessarily offer the most generous benefits packages," said Jury. "Rather, they have designed creative and innovative benefits programs that can be adopted by companies of various sizes, industries and states of financial health."
Jury added that the exceptionally low turnover rates of The Principal 10 Best Companies-which boast an average voluntary turnover rate of 4 percent compared to the nationwide average of nearly 9 percent-is proof that innovation pays off.
"These companies have managed to maintain and in some cases increase their commitment to their employees-even during hard economic times," said Jury. "They will have a tremendous competitive advantage when the job market opens up again."
The Principal Best Practices Guide is available on The Principal Web site, www.principal.com/10best.
The Principal 10 Best Companies-2003 are: CEF Industries, Addison, Ill.; Delta Dental Plan of Iowa, Ankeny, Iowa; Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa; Hypertherm, Inc., Hanover, N.H.; Lancet Software Development Inc., Eagan, Minn.; MEEMIC Insurance Company, Auburn Hills, Mich.; MSU Federal Credit Union, East Lansing, Mich.; Noesis, Inc., Manassas, Va.; Parr Instrument Company, Moline, Ill.; Strata Environmental Services, Inc., Knoxville, Tenn.
About The Principal 10 Best Companies
The Principal 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security is a nationwide program that recognizes growing companies that excel at contributing to their employees' financial futures and sense of financial security through benefits and other programs. The recognition celebrates innovation, creativity and commitment to employee and financial benefits. The Principal 10 Best were selected by a blue ribbon panel of judges, renowned for their expertise in employee benefits, including Dallas Salisbury, president and CEO of the Employee Benefits Research Institute and David Wray, president of the Profit Sharing Council of America.
Entry forms for the 2004 program will be available in the February 2004 both by mail and online. To learn more about the 2003 Principal 10 Best Companies log on to www.principal.com/10best.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and mortgage banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. More employers choose the Principal Financial Group for their 401(k) plans than any other bank, mutual fund, or insurance company in the United States2. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $134.8 billion in assets under management3 and serves some 14.8 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
1 "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered trademarks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2 CFO Magazine, April/May 2003 based on total plans served in 2002 by insurance companies, banks and investment firms.
3 As of September 30, 2003.
