What The Principal 10 Best Companies—2006 Say About Their Commitment to Employee Benefits
The Principal 10 Best Companies for Employee Financial Security—2006 on:
...employee benefits and business success:
“I certainly feel that the determination to create a generous benefits package is one that we see a lot of return from. This is an investment, not an expense.”
– Vic Sellier, vice president—finance and operations and CFO, Argon ST
“Our industry has gone through a lot of changes. A lot of the work is being done with computers now. Many companies lost their people who had the manual skills and brought a new group in to do the computerized process. We had people stay because they didn’t want to lose the benefits. They were willing to learn new technology and apply their skills and knowledge from the manual process to the new computerized process. It actually put us farther ahead.”
– Julie McFarland, CEO, McNaughton & Gunn, Inc.
“Employee ownership may not be for everyone—every company has to develop its own culture. But there’s no question in my mind that the most successful companies going forward will be those that are united with their people. It’s the delivery system that will make the difference, and that is people.”
– Steve Chapman, president and CEO, ITAGroup
...employee retention, attraction and productivity:
“Great people get great benefits. Good people need to go work someplace else.”
– Leo F. Wells III, president, CEO and founder, Wells Real Estate Funds
“Every one of my people came here at less pay than they were making before. You come here for our benefits package and the quality of the work life. We’re able to lure employees away from the big four accounting firms. They’ve bought into it, and they’re loving it.”
– Dale Kent, CFO, West Bend Mutual Insurance Company
“We get the best and the brightest because of our benefits.”
- Joan McCormick, PHR, vice president and director of human resources, Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union
“If employees have good benefits, it takes away some of the worry about how they’re going to survive with their families and be economically stable. If they have that, they can focus on their work and being productive.”
– Julie McFarland, CEO, McNaughton & Gunn, Inc.
...controlling the cost of health care:
“Our loss ratio when we first started with wellness was awful. I know for a fact that it went down at least 40 percent as a result of the wellness program. Our increases in our premium year-over-year have started to work their way down, versus working their way up. We were on our way to no more benefits.”
– Larry Larson, controller, Howalt-McDowell
“One of the things that keeps us awake at night is rising health care costs. One of the ways we manage that is through promoting wellness and preventive measures, which can lower your health care costs if you catch things early enough.”
– Becky Padgett, chief people officer, Wells Real Estate Funds
...helping employees prepare for retirement:
“Employees do need to take charge of their own retirement. We’re providing programs and communicating how they work, and employees need to take advantage. Entitlement, no. Availability, yes.”
– Jim Albertson, manager of human resources, Central Iowa Power Cooperative
“When a young employee comes in, quite often they’re very interested in maintaining their current cash flow. We’re very astute at helping them understand the importance of looking down the road.”
– Wayne Wood, president, Michigan Farm Bureau
...taking care of employees:
“Many companies operate for the bottom line and the bottom line only. To me that is short-sighted. We operate for our credit union members, and we understand that the only way we’re going to meet their needs is through our employees. They’re your greatest asset, and you’d better take darned good care of them.”
– Wendell Sebastian, president and CEO, GTE Federal Credit Union
“One of the things we feel strongly about is keeping our benefits intact to make sure our employees are taken care of financially.”
– Becky Padgett, chief people officer, Wells Real Estate Funds
