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What The Principal 10 Best Companies—2007 Say About Their Commitment to Employee Benefits

Employee Benefits and Business Success

• "If people feel they have a good benefit package, they'll give 110 percent to the employer. The return is very loyal, hardworking employees."
  —Dan Robinson, CEO, Placid Refining Company LLC
• "The strength of our organization is measured by the strength of our employees."
  —Vic Adamo, president and COO, ProAssurance
• "All of our success is attributable to our people, and our benefits help us attract and retain the best people."
  —Dan Roth, CEO, National Futures Association
• "We can attribute our success to our employees. We believe that our high level of retention in our population definitely is a contributing factor to our success."
  —Theodore M. Pierce, executive director, Surplus Line Association of California
• "The benefit package helps provide our associates with more peace of mind and less stress, which allows them to concentrate more on their jobs. That helps increase productivity and develop customer satisfaction."
  —Michael Hess, CEO, Badger Mining Corporation
• "We're always focused on delivering the best to our client, the federal government. That drives us to make sure we have the best people to deliver those services."
  —Marie E. Schram, SPHR, director Human Resources, LMI
• "Having employees feel appreciated helps us keep our turnover ratio low; an average of 6.4 percent average for the past 5 years. That allows us to have a more experienced staff which is a great selling tool—both for prospects and for maintaining our clients—and allows us to be more productive with the employees we have."
  —Scott Egginton, president, Cobb Strecker Dunphy & Zimmermann, Inc.

Employee Retention, Attraction and Productivity

• "We're clearly focused on our workforce. We don't produce anything but intellectual property. We're much higher on our benefit package than our competitors. It's a discriminator for potential employees."
  – Admiral Donald Pilling, CEO, LMI
• "We learn from our member companies and listen to our employees. By investing in our benefits, we are able to attract and retain top talent."
  – John J. Castellani, President, Business Roundtable
• "We don't hear about people looking elsewhere or being unhappy. That says a lot about what we offer here. Because we have such a happy, motivated workforce, we've broken productivity records every year the last 4 or 5 years. We're doing more with fewer people."
  – Beth Nighbor, associate development leader, Badger Mining Corporation
• "We've taken employees from very large companies. The only way we can do that is with the benefit package and the work-friendly environment where they know they can succeed."
  – Steve Gfroerer, CFO, Cobb Strecker Dunphy & Zimmermann, Inc.
• "Our philosophy has always been to attract and retain the best employees. We try to offer our employees a package that's very competitive and helps us attract and retain the best people while keeping our costs as low as possible."
  – Dan Roth, CEO and president, National Futures Association
• "We run a refinery which is on the Mississippi River. There are more industrial chemical refineries here than any other place in the U.S. We compete for these employees. To be competitive to hire them and have them stay, you have to be competitive with other employers in the area. Our benefits package makes us competitive."
  – Dan Robinson, CEO, Placid Refining Company LLC
• "We're competing nationally and locally for talent. We try to find a benefit package that's sustainable in the long run and competitive in the cities in which we operate."
  – Vic Adamo, president and COO, ProAssurance
• "We recruit employees that bring great talent and potential that allows them to grow their future with Society. To successfully retain these individuals, we need to offer a variety of comprehensive and unique benefits that will meet their needs as their lives change."
  – D. Holly Lifke, vice president of human resources, Society Insurance

Taking Care of Employees

• "We believe we have the best employees in the industry, and we want to treat them like the best."
  – Bruce Telander, Chairman, Cobb Strecker Dunphy & Zimmermann, Inc.
  
  "We want employees to know that we care about them."
  – Theodore M. Pierce, executive director, Surplus Line Association of California
• "We choose to invest in our employees. Part of that is maintaining a strong benefits package."
  – Scott Diener, president, PMSLIC Insurance Company
• "We maintain the package we have because it's the right thing to do. Our associates are our number one priority and our number one asset. We need to keep them healthy and looking forward to their futures so they can retire from here healthy and in a good financial position."
  – Beth Nighbor, associate development leader, Badger Mining Corporation
• "From the beginning, the company cares about employees. Employees work harder when they know that they're not going to be financially devastated by an illness. That's one less thing for them to worry about."
  – Clay Shaw, vice president Human Resources ProAssurance
• "We wouldn't offer the richness of benefits if we didn't care about our employees."
  – Jim Thomas, president and CEO, Society Insurance