Category: Blogs

HR Strategy | By Tom Murphy,

Rethinking Performance Management

No organizational investment offers a better potential ROI than the one we make into our employees.

And so we offer great benefits, flexible schedules, and a fantastic working environment. We work hard to attract and retain the best people. But once we have them, we often drop the ball when it comes to managing their performance.

If you’ve built a strong culture of trust and accountability, you might be tempted to think performance management isn’t an issue. But even the best employees can fall into ruts or develop habits that aren’t working. And even some of the best managers can fail to see it happening, or feel unsure about how to handle it.

It’s complicated

As with most issues involving human beings, the reasons employees underperform can be complex and diverse. Arguably, very few people go to work every day wanting to do a bad job.

Most people really want to be high performers, but find obstacles in their way. Here are some common performance roadblocks:

  • ineffective training
  • poor communication
  • lack of accountability
  • confusion about expectations
  • unhealthy workloads
  • unrealistic goals
  • low morale
  • illness and/or personal issues

As you can see by this list, there is no quick fix or silver bullet for addressing any of these issues. But with dedication and follow-through, it can be done.

How to tackle performance management

1.) Improve communication

Supervisors tend to have complete clarity about what is important, but often they haven’t effectively shared those details with their direct reports. For key goals and tasks to get accomplished consistently and well, everyone needs to be on the same page.

Clarify with each employee the 3-5 most important outcomes they are responsible for, why they matter, and how their work fits into the bigger picture. Let them know their performance will be measured against these items on a regular basis.

2.) Track progress and results

It’s impossible to hold anyone accountable if no one is keeping track of what’s happening. Define your indicators of success and make them easily trackable, for both supervisors and employees.

Making managers responsible for all performance monitoring can put team members on the defensive. Besides, no one should be more interested in successful performance than your employees themselves. Allow them to track (or have access to) their own data and report progress to their supervisor.

3.) Address things quickly

Very few people enjoy awkward conversations. And yet we often let things go until that becomes the case. Little things become big things. And before you know it, what could have been an easy conversation becomes a dreaded one.

When dealing with performance issues at work, think about using the airport security motto: If you see something, say something. Don’t ignore red flags. Check-in with staff regularly and have discussions as soon as a potential problem starts to emerge. That way, you can keep your conversations, and your performance management issues, from becoming threat level red.

4.) Make time for it

This might be the hardest thing of all. Busy supervisors often feel like they don’t have time to manage. But if you don’t have time to manage the little things, how will you ever find time to fix the bigger problems and issues that will eventually come of them?

Get out your calendar and start building time into your schedule now. Plan far enough ahead that your performance management time gets booked before anything else. Schedule time with employees to review indicators and data, and discuss potential issues that either of you see emerging. Resist the temptation to cancel or reschedule these meetings due to “more important” things that come up.

After all, few things will drive business more than having a staff full of happy, focused, and productive, employees.

 

Compliance | By Sonus Benefits,

Workplace Discrimination Claims: The Top 10 List

In 2017, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) resolved more than 99,109 workplace discrimination claims— securing more than $398 million from employers in the private and public sectors as a result.

Discrimination lawsuits can be extremely time-consuming and expensive for employers, and can result in a loss of employee morale and/or reputation within the community. This isn’t something you want to learn the hard way.

Want to know where your biggest risks lie? Of course you do.

Top Causes of Discrimination Claims

According to the EEOC, these were the top 10 reasons for workplace discrimination claims in fiscal year 2017:

  1. Retaliation—41,097 (48.8% of all charges filed)
  2. Race—28,528 (33.9%)
  3. Disability—26,838 (31.9%)
  4. Sex—25,605 (30.4%)
  5. Age—18,376 (21.8%)
  6. National origin—8,299 (9.8%)
  7. Religion—3,436 (4.1%)
  8. Color—3,240 (3.8%)
  9. Equal Pay Act—996 (1.2%)
  10. Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act—206 (0.2%)

You may notice these percentages add up to more than 100 percent. That’s because some lawsuits were filed alleging multiple reasons for discrimination. Yikes.

What Can You Do?

Employers can (and should!) take the following steps to protect themselves from retaliation and other discrimination claims:

  • Audit your processes and practices to uncover any problematic situations.
  • Create a clear anti-retaliation policy that includes specific examples of what management can and cannot do when disciplining or terminating employees.
  • Provide training to management and employees on anti-retaliation and other discrimination policies.
  • Implement a user-friendly internal complaint procedure for employees.
  • Uphold a standard of workplace civility, which can reduce retaliatory behaviors.

Be proactive

Don’t wait until there’s an incident to protect yourself from painful, expensive lawsuits. Invest the time and resources you need to build a workplace that’s free from discrimination— and discrimination claims.

Not only will you reduce your liability risk, you’ll create a diverse and inviting culture that attracts all kinds of great talent– and makes them want to stay.

Need a better ROI on your corporate employee benefits? At Sonus Benefits, we’re not interested in just finding you a policy for this year. We provide strategic employee benefits and human resource management services to help you build a better future. Get in touch with Sonus to find out what working with a true employee benefits consultant feels like.

 

Content for this article was provided by Zywave, Inc. and is not intended to apply to specific circumstances or be used as legal advice.
Technology | By Sonus Benefits,

Just How Important Is Cyber Security?

Businesses of all shapes and sizes are increasingly reliant on the internet for daily operations. But this doesn’t come without risk. Heavy reliance on computers, phones, and internet makes protecting these resources increasingly important.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, data breaches increased 40 percent in 2016, with a total of 1,093 reported breaches. This trend continued in 2017, with over 1,120 cases reported by October.

Your company could be an attractive and potentially lucrative target for cyber criminals. Learning about cyber attacks and how to prevent them can help you protect your company from security breaches.

Could your company be compromised?

Cyberattacks include many types of attempted or successful breaches of computer security. Threats come in different forms, including phishing, viruses, Trojans, keylogging, spyware and spam. Once hackers have gained access to your computer system, they can accomplish any of several malicious goals: stealing information or financial assets, corrupting data, and causing operational disruption or shutdown.

Both third parties and insiders can use a variety of techniques to carry out cyberattacks. Techniques range from highly sophisticated efforts to electronically circumvent network security or overwhelm websites, to more traditional intelligence gathering and social engineering aimed at gaining network access.

Cyberattacks can result directly from deliberate actions of hackers, but they can also be unintentionally facilitated by employees by something as simple as someone accidentally clicking on a malicious link. According to historical claim data analyzed by Willis Towers Watson, 90 percent of all cyber claims stemmed from some type of employee error or behavior. The high-profile Equifax, Snapchat and Chipotle data breaches were all caused by employee error or behavior.

A breach in cyber security can lead to unauthorized usage through tactics such as the following:

  • Installing spyware that allows the hacker to track Internet activity and steal information and passwords
  • Deceiving recipients of phishing emails into disclosing personal information
  • Tricking recipients of spam email into giving hackers access to the computer system
  • Installing viruses that allow hackers to steal, corrupt or delete information or even crash the entire system
  • Hijacking the company website and rerouting visitors to a fraudulent look-alike site and subsequently stealing personal information from clients or consumers

Cyberattacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on websites, in which the site is overloaded by the attacker and legitimate users are denied access.

The Vulnerable Become the Victims

The majority of cyber criminals are indiscriminate when choosing their victims. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserts that cyber criminals will target vulnerable computer systems regardless of whether the systems belong to a Fortune 500 company, a small business or a home user.

Cyber criminals look for weak spots and attack, no matter how large or small the organization. Small businesses, for instance, are becoming a more attractive target as many larger companies have tightened their cyber security. According to the industry experts, the cost of the average cyberattack on a small business is increasing exponentially— and shows no signs of slowing down.

Nearly 60 percent of small businesses victimized by a cyberattack close permanently within six months of the attack. Many of these businesses put off making necessary improvements to their cyber security protocols until it is too late because they fear costs will be prohibitive.

Simple Steps to Stay Secure

With cyberattacks posing such a prominent threat to your business, it is essential to create a plan to deal with this problem. Implementing and adhering to basic preventive and safety procedures will help protect your company from cyber threats.

Following are suggestions from a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) roundtable and the DHS’s Stop.Think.Connect. program for easily implemented security procedures to help ward off cyber criminals. These suggestions include guidelines for the company as well as possible rules and procedures that can be shared with employees.

Security Tips for Your Company

Cyber security should be a company-wide effort. Consider implementing the following suggestions at your organization:

  • Install, use and regularly update anti-virus and anti-spyware software on all computers
  • Download and install software updates for your operating systems and applications as they become available
  • Change the manufacturer’s default passwords on all software
  • Use a firewall for your internet connection
  • Regularly make backup copies of important business data
  • Control who can physically access your computers and other network components
  • Secure any Wi-Fi networks
  • Require individual user accounts for each employee
  • Limit employee access to data and information, and limit authority for software installation
  • Monitor, log and analyze all attempted and successful attacks on systems and networks
  • Establish a mobile device policy and keep them updated with the most current software and antivirus programs

Security Tips for Employees

  • Use strong passwords (a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters), change them regularly and never share them with anyone. Never repeat a password across accounts
  • Protect private information by not disclosing it unless necessary, and always verify the source if asked to input sensitive data for a website or email
  • Don’t open suspicious links and emails. An indication that the site is safe is if the URL begins with https://
  • Scan all external devices, such as USB flash drives, for viruses and malicious software (malware) before using

Securing Your Company’s Mobile Devices

Gone are the days when contact names and phone numbers were the most sensitive pieces of information on an employee’s phone. Now a smartphone or tablet can be used to gain access to anything from emails to stored passwords to proprietary company data. Depending on how your organization uses such devices, unauthorized access to the information on a smartphone or tablet could be just as damaging as a data breach involving a more traditional computer system.

The need for proper mobile device security is no different from the need for a well-protected computer network. Untrusted app stores will continue to be a major source of mobile malware which drives traffic to these stores. This type of “malvertising” continues to grow quickly on mobile platforms.

It’s important to stay informed about cyber security and continue to discuss internet safety with employees.

Don’t Let it Happen to Your Company

A data breach could cripple your small business, costing you thousands or even millions of dollars in lost revenue, sales, damages and reputation. But according to the DHS, 96% of cyber security breaches could have been avoided with simple or intermediate controls.

Strengthening passwords, installing anti-virus software and not opening suspicious emails and links are the first steps toward cyber security. In addition to the listed tips, the FCC provides a tool for small businesses that can create and save a custom cyber security plan for your company, choosing from a menu of expert advice to address your specific business needs and concerns.

It’s tempting to think a cyberattack won’t happen to you. But it’s far better to protect yourself, your employees, and your business so it can’t.

 

Is your broker thinking outside the benefits box? Are you confident your policies and processes are doing what they need to ensure that your company—and your employees— are healthy and productive? At Sonus Benefits, this is what we do for St. Louis employers every single day.

Content for this article was provided by Zywave, Inc. and is not intended to apply to specific circumstances or be used as legal advice.
Technology | By Sonus Benefits,

Safeguard Your Email to Safeguard Your Business

Email is an integral part of everyday business. From internal management to marketing outreach to direct customer support, we’re sending and receiving vast amounts of critical communication via email.

And although our various in-boxes are often overflowing with messages, the benefits of using email as a primary business tool still outweigh the negatives. But that doesn’t mean you should just set it up and forget about it. You’ll want to take precautions to make sure your customer and business information stays protected.

Here are 5 ways to make your company email safer and more efficient:

Set up Spam filters

Spam filters go a long way toward keeping suspicious and potentially damaging emails out of employee in-boxes. Not only does this cut down on the overall number of emails received, it cuts way down on the risk of people opening suspect emails and/or clicking on unsafe links that could lead to viruses or data breaches.

Train your employees on how to use email responsibly

Your IT department may be knowledgeable about these issues, but do your employees know the risks associated with day-to-day email exchanges? Malware and phishing schemes are becoming smarter and more sophisticated. Your staff needs to follow suit.

Protect sensitive information sent over email

Many assume their work emails are both private and confidential, but this may not be the case. If you don’t have to send sensitive information via email, don’t. If that’s not practical, you can help minimize risk by using encryption tools or file sharing services.

Implement an email retention policy

Many industries have strict requirements about how long they have to hang onto their emails. A clear, well-written policy will not only help you manage high volumes of messages, it will also keep you in compliance.

Develop an email use policy

Unfortunately, employees aren’t always responsible with their use of email. Setting specific guidelines for what is and isn’t appropriate can help protect you from the threat of data breaches or litigation stemming from careless use of company email.

Many people don’t think twice about sending or opening an email, but these simple actions don’t come without risk. Make sure your email isn’t doing more harm than good by investing in some basic security tactics. Your business (and your in-box!) will thank you.

Is your broker thinking outside the benefits box? Are you confident your policies and processes are doing what they need to ensure that your company—and your employees— are healthy and productive? At Sonus Benefits, this is what we do for St. Louis employers every single day.

Content for this article was provided by Zywave, Inc. and is not intended to apply to specific circumstances or be used as legal advice.
Employee Benefits | By Tom Murphy,

Benefits of Employee Handbooks

Your views on employee handbooks may differ depending on which side of the table you’re sitting on. But love ‘em or hate ‘em, employee handbooks serve several important functions.

For staff members, it can be easy to assume the employee handbook is nothing but a set of rules designed to benefit and protect employers and keep the employees in their places. But there’s more to it than that.

Setting the stage

A well-written handbook not only helps employees understand the culture of the organization, it also lays out the benefits of working in the organization and sets clear expectations for behavior on both sides. Other benefits for employees include:

Introduction to the company culture, mission, and values – Smart employers will use this document to reinforce an employee-friendly culture. Remind your staff what your organization values and how you demonstrate those values to employees, customers and the community.

Explanation of employee benefits – Having this information spelled out in one place helps clear up confusion and allows employees to see the full value of what’s being offered.

Clearly outlined policies, procedures and expectations – Putting a structure in place is one thing, but communicating it is another. Employees value fairness and consistency and will appreciate knowing the ground rules from day one.

Information about where to turn for help – Employees are often afraid to bring up uncomfortable issues at work. Your employee handbook is great place to document procedures for addressing workplace problems and concerns. If your company offers employee assistance programs, you can include that information as well.

Yes, your employee handbook should include company rules and expectations. But crafting them in a way that shows you truly care about your employees can make all the difference in the world – especially on a new hire’s first day.

Making it count

A well-written employee handbook also has many benefits to you as an employer. To get maximum value out of your employee handbook, ensure that it:

Showcases your employee benefits package – You want your employees to be excited about working for you, and providing great benefits is one way to make that happen. But if they don’t know what you’re offering, they can’t appreciate the value. Spell it out so they can see what they are getting.

Ensures compliance – In order to protect your employees, you need to protect your business. Avoid potential misunderstandings, complaints, and lawsuits by documenting your EEO, sexual harassment, and anti-discrimination policies.

Sets behavior standards – From dress codes to drug policies to conflict resolution to pets at work, your employees will only know what you take the time to tell them. Use your employee handbook to explain expectations and guide your team toward behaviors that are in line with your organizational culture.

Documents key company policies and practices – When is pay day? What happens when someone needs to call in sick? How do performance reviews work? Employees are bound to have questions. Writing your policies down in one place makes finding these answers easier for everyone.

Tips for success

Do your homework

Know your Federal, state, and local employment laws. If you have multiple locations, make sure you research the regulations in each state. Depending on requirements, you may need to create multiple versions of your handbook for different locations or business units.

Use plain language

Avoid complicated language and legal-ese. But also avoid being too sparse or vague. Your handbook should be clear and easy to understand. Not only will this make it more palatable to read, it will decrease the risk of misunderstandings.

Cover the bases

Keep your information up to date. Review and refresh your employee handbook regularly. Include information on key policies and topics, such as:

  • Family medical leave
  • Non-discrimination
  • Workers comp
  • Employee benefits
  • Paid time off
  • Pay structure and timelines
  • At-will employment language (where applicable)
  • Code of conduct and disciplinary action

It’s also a good idea to have an attorney go over your final copy to make sure you haven’t left anything out— or included things you shouldn’t have.

Give it some love

Imagine it’s your first day in a new job. What kind of employee handbook do you want to receive? A cold list of rules and a clinical dissertation of what happens when you break them? Or an employee-friendly explanation of what it means to be a part of the team?

Think of your employee handbook as an opportunity that helps you define your organizational culture, put it into practice, and share it with your team.

Struggling with benefits administration and compliance? At Sonus, we’ve got tools to make it easier. Get in touch with Sonus to see how we can help your organization become a local employer of choice.

HR Strategy | By Scott Schulte,

3 Keys to Employee Retention

Employees are easy to keep when there isn’t much competition or opportunity. But when the employment market shifts to give job seekers the advantage, it can be increasingly difficult to hang onto your talent.

It’s not rocket science. It’s supply and demand. Unemployment rates are low, which means candidate pools are shrinking. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are retiring in large numbers, leaving employers scrambling to fill open positions. The combination of these two factors is the proverbial one-two punch.

Unlike during the recession years, employers are finding they now have to compete for talent. Highly qualified candidates are gaining the upper hand when it comes to job search, and talented employees can be easily found with a quick LinkedIn search.

Your employees don’t even need to be looking for a new job to be presented with opportunities. Potential new employers are already looking for them.

A whole new world

You’re going to have to work harder than ever to find, hire, and keep to your best people. If you’re not thinking about how to maximize employee recruitment, engagement, and retention, you’ll want to add it to your To Do list.

Here are three ways to get started:

1.) Evaluate your hiring processes

Do you know what it’s like to be recruited by you?

According to Career Builder, probably not. Their research revealed that only 31 percent of employers have actually applied to an open position at their company to see what the process is like.

You may think your online application is super slick, but do you know that for a fact? Does it work as smoothly as it was designed or are you missing out on candidates due to antiquated technology or inefficient processes? Even something as simple as a broken website link can cause frustrated candidates to skip on by. Now just imagine the damage a poorly written job description can do!

It’s time to take a dive into your employee recruiting processes.

Are you dragging an entry level candidate through three panel interviews? Taking way too long to move interviewees through the process? Waiting for buy in from six different departments before you make an offer? Of course you need to evaluate job candidates, but guess what? They’re evaluating you, too. If your hiring process isn’t friendly and efficient, your candidates will be scratching you off their lists.

Go through your recruitment process from start to finish make sure it’s quick, easy, and appealing.

2.) Change your filters

Remember when you had hundreds of applications coming in for every open position? Back then, you had to filter out large swaths of applicants just to get a manageable candidate pool to work with. It wasn’t a luxury to eliminate candidates based on small details, it was a necessity just to shrink the pile.

Employer who are using the same filters in this new market are going to run into trouble. Put some thought into the things you really value in an employee, and then use that criteria to evaluate the filtering mechanisms you have in place.

Are you requiring five years of experience for a position that doesn’t really need it? Are you immediately tossing out resumes because of a single typo, regardless of the rest of the content? Are you ruling out candidates that have tattoos, piercings, or green hair? In today’s job market, you’re probably doing yourself more harm than good.

You may need to extend this evaluation into to your company policies as well, as more and more talented individuals opt out of traditional cultures and into less restrictive environments.

Depending on what industry you’re in, this could be a super quick fix or the beginning of a long, slow process. But the longer you wait, the more likely you are to find yourself with fewer and fewer candidates to choose from.

3.) Up your job description game

Very few dynamic, talented people are going to get excited about a bunch of corporate jargon and a laundry list of tasks. If you want candidates to be enthusiastic about your positions, write your job postings and descriptions to get at the kind of person you want to hire.

Looking for a marketer? Ask interested applicants to describe their favorite ad campaign and why they think it was effective. Looking for a salesperson? Ask them to sell you on why you should or shouldn’t watch Game of Thrones. Looking for an engineer? Give them a story problem to solve, preferably one that involves weight and angles. The point is, make it compelling. Make it interesting. Make it reflect what it’s actually like to work at your company.

And don’t be afraid to be upfront about compensation. The time for luring candidates with the promise of a steady job at a mystery salary is over.

According to a 2015 Jobvite study, money is still the number one factor in the decision to leave or accept a position. But many employers are all too happy to leave this important part of the conversation out. Compensation is the elephant in the room. If you don’t address it, your candidates are going to get frustrated— and look for someone who will.

Recruiting and retaining employees is easier when you can proudly offer a comprehensive benefits plan that makes your team members feel as valuable as they are. At Sonus Benefits, we build cost effective, long-lasting employee benefits strategies to keep your business and your employees in optimum health.

Employee Benefits | By Sonus Benefits,

Fertility Benefits: What You Need to Know

Both the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association (AMA) have recently recognized infertility as a disease. This could have a big impact on how insurers and employers treat infertility when it comes to their benefit offerings.

According to research from Willis Towers Watson, the number of employers offering fertility benefits is expected to increase from about 55% to 66% by 2019. This trend shows just how important employers (and their employees) consider these benefits to be.

Opting to provide fertility benefits sooner rather than later could give you an edge when it comes to recruitment and retention. But there are some things you should know.

What is Infertility?

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after a full year of trying, without using contraceptives. This disease affects men and women. But not all couples show identifiable signs of infertility, which can make it hard to diagnose. Even if clear signs are present, it may not be obvious that they point to infertility.

This can put incredible strain on relationships and cause partners to feel inadequate, depressed, ashamed or guilty. According to the AMA, undergoing fertility treatments early can get ahead of these emotions and increase the chances of pregnancy.

Types of Treatments

How employers handle fertility benefits varies widely, in part because the trend of offering this type of coverage is relatively new.

Employers essentially have two options when it comes to fertility benefits:

1.) Offer to pay a portion of infertility treatment costs as a voluntary benefit, or

2.) Cover specific treatments under their health plan.

There is no right or wrong way to incorporate infertility programs into your benefit offerings. It will depend on your budget and the needs of your workforce.

Deciding whether to offer these options as voluntary offerings or under a health plan should not deter you from providing some sort of fertility benefits. With other businesses slow to adopt fertility benefits, you have a unique opportunity to tailor your benefits and leverage these offerings to attract and retain employees.

Consider this list of potential treatments you could cover in your fertility benefits package:

In vitro fertilization—IVF is relatively invasive and involves the collection of eggs, fertilization in a lab, then implantation in the uterus. Like most treatments, this can be very expensive, but it is a go-to method for many people. Offering to cover some or all of IVF for employees can be a huge win for retention.

Ovarian stimulation—This kind of stimulation is often part of IVF, as ovaries must be stimulated for best results. However, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the optimal regimen of stimulation has not been established. This means treatments will likely evolve and be simplified in the coming years, which could translate into lower costs and increased viability for insurers.

Artificial insemination—There are several specific forms of artificial insemination, but they all have the same basic outcome: semen is manually injected into the uterus through medical devices. Artificial insemination has been around for decades and has been established as one of the most popular options for individuals who need help conceiving.

Surgery—There are a variety of surgeries designed to help reverse infertility. For instance, procedures can remove ovarian cysts, clear fallopian tubes, remove adhesions from the uterus and collect semen from individuals who cannot otherwise produce it. Since all of these issues can cause infertility, surgically treating them increases the chance of pregnancy.

Medications—There are many medications, both prescription and over the counter, designed to help increase fertility. These medications include treatments that stimulate ovulation, promote healthier egg growth and prevent premature ovulation.

Reasons for Infertility Treatment

Infertility has many potential causes. Understanding them can help when considering medical treatments.

Some individuals may choose to seek infertility treatment due to factors other than the inability to conceive. Below are some of the most common conditions that prompt individuals to seek fertility procedures:

Endometriosis—This condition happens when uterine tissue grows outside of the uterus, affecting how the reproductive organs function.

Genetic disorders—Some individuals worried about passing on genetic disorders opt for procedures like IVF, which allows doctors to implant eggs in a lab, screen them for genetic disorders and reinsert them into the uterus.

Uterine fibroids—Fibroids are benign tumors and their presence in the uterus can interfere with pregnancies. These are especially common in women between the ages of 30 and 40.

Ovulation disorders—A number of conditions exist that prevent or drastically lower the chances of ovulation. This means fewer eggs are present, which may force individuals to seek infertility treatments, like egg donors or IVF.

Fertility preservation—Those who must undergo severe treatments, like chemotherapy, might opt to preserve some of their eggs or sperm. Since some treatments can result in lower fertility, removing and storing these genetic materials opens the opportunity for fertilization later on.

Controlling Cost Factors

Employees who suffer from infertility often seek treatment regardless of whether their employers offer any benefits. This can lead to risky decisions, short-term solutions, and less effective outcomes.

Allowing employees to shoulder the entire burden of infertility treatment can have additional consequences for employees, such as poor performance, inability to focus on job duties, and increased stress. By sharing a portion of the costs for infertility treatments, employers can help reduce these effects.

In addition to reducing employee risks, offering fertility benefits can help lower health care costs overall. According to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, employees with access to fertility benefits tend to cost their employers less because they are making health decisions with their doctors’ advice, not solely due to financial limitations. This means employers should not worry about seeing a huge rise in costs if they offer fertility benefits.

Fertility benefits can improve the lives of your employees and position your organization as a coveted place to work, especially if your competitors are slow to adopt similar benefits.

At Sonus Benefits, we build cost effective, long-lasting benefits strategies to keep your business and your employees in optimum health. Located in Kirkwood, MO, we help clients throughout the greater St. Louis area identify and manage complex employee benefits challenges. If you would like help managing your employee programs, we may be the insurance consultant and business partner you need.

Content for this article was provided by Zywave, Inc. and is not intended to apply to specific circumstances or be used as legal or medical advice.

Leadership + Management | By Tom Murphy,

Are You Building Your Company Culture or Letting it Knock You Down?

Even the most noble and well-planned strategy won’t be carried out with enthusiasm and care if people don’t like working in your organization. At best, you’ll end up with a mediocre version of the ideas you envisioned. At worst you’ll end up with a toxic culture that drives employees, clients and supporters away.

Culture happens. Whether you’re paying attention or not.

If you ignore it, the culture of your organization will develop randomly. But if you’re paying close attention, you can be very intentional about building and shaping the kind of company culture you want to live, breathe and work in.

  • When you carefully manage and protect your environment, you will attract people who fit into your culture and who are excited to contribute to your mission.
  • But if you just let whatever happens happen, you will allow people who are in your company to determine your culture.

Culture is more than a fancy mission statement. It’s more than onsite espresso machines, or a dress code that includes flip flops.

Yes, those things can be manifestations of your culture, and good ones at that. But true culture is about your values. It’s about living and breathing your beliefs, and making sure everyone else knows them too. It’s about the care and development you pour into your people. It’s about making sure everyone feels worthwhile and sees themselves as a valuable part of the team. And, it’s about showing your employees the roles they play in making your vision a reality.

Organizations that don’t pay attention to culture:

  • Hire for skill and not for personality fit
  • Have little (or poorly executed) communication
  • Lack performance management, mentoring, and personal/career development
  • Don’t have defined or well-communicated company vision and values
  • Breed employees who don’t trust their leaders and don’t feel connected to their work

Organizations that are intentional about shaping the right culture:

  • Hire for personality and cultural fit, recognizing that skills can be taught
  • Communicate clearly and often
  • Request feedback, ideas, and participation from all team members
  • Integrate regular performance coaching and personal development opportunities
  • Have defined company values that are woven into the fabric of the organization
  • Share the vision of the organization and work collaboratively to make it a reality
  • Foster trust in leadership and commitment to something bigger

Which kind of organization are you?

Regardless of how your culture has developed, chances are it is fairly strong and engrained.

A culture will always rise up to defend itself, be it good or bad. If you’ve got a great culture, this strong defense should be very welcome. But if you’re trying to make cultural change, this defense can be very frustrating and tough to overcome. It takes a leader with a strong will to turn the tide, and some tough decisions and actions along the way.

But great challenges offer great rewards.

Don’t let a happenstance culture drag your organization down. Commit to building the kind of culture that makes your team excited to be part of your vision and you excited to go to work each day.

Recruiting and retaining employees is easier when you can proudly offer a comprehensive benefits plan that makes your team members feel as valuable as they are. At Sonus Benefits, we build cost effective, long-lasting employee benefits strategies to keep your business and your employees in optimum health.

Leadership + Management | By Tom Murphy,

How to Deal With Organizational Change

They say the only constant is change. And like most clever sayings, this one is also very true.

Today’s pace of change is faster than it’s ever been before. But here’s the kicker. It’s also the slowest it will ever be again. Just think about that for a second.

When it comes to change, you have three basic choices

  1. Bury your head (and the rest of your body) in the sand
  2. Wait for change to find you and then react
  3. Get out in front change and take control

We all know people and companies who have gone with option one— and how well that went.

And yet many individuals and organizations are all too willing to ignore impending change, or to embrace a strategy that is purely reactionary.

If you run a business, this isn’t going to help you achieve your goals. Or even survive.

Taking control

If you want to make change work for you, you’ll not only need to tune in to what’s happening around you, you’ll need to adjust your thinking, processes and vision to match. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide what your new future looks like and commit to making it a reality.

Based on what’s happening now, what critical elements will need to be in place to set you up for success? Ultimately, you want to be able to ride the waves of change instead of helplessly watching them roll in and hoping they will spare you.

To make effective changes in your business, you’ll need to evaluate the following:

  • Company profitability
  • Organizational growth
  • Your core value proposition
  • Your marketing and sales process
  • The skills and behaviors on the team
  • What resources you need to be successful
  • And perhaps many other elements of your organization

The key is here is that you and your entire team will need to understand how you must evolve in order to remain relevant and viable.

The vision is just the beginning

Simply defining your future isn’t going to cut it. In addition to coming up with your vision, you will need to follow up by:

  • Communicating – Take the time to explain to the team and why change is necessary.
  • Planning – Establish and share a formal strategy for how you will move from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow
  • Making it happen – Make sure everyone understands not just how they will be impacted, but also how they will be expected to contribute to the execution of the plan.
  • Evaluating and adjusting – Report back to the team on all of the above. Track your progress and results on a regular basis and make corrections as needed.

Way too often when a change initiative is introduced, the team simply grins, rolls their eyes, knowing nothing ever really changes.

And while it’s tempting to blame it on bad attitudes, the truth is that often it’s their leaders who have trained them to react this way. By not committing to past initiatives, and by sidestepping the difficult work and decisions, and follow through that should have happened as a result.

Get committed

Take the time to make sure both your leadership and team understand where the organization is going, why you’re going there, how you will get there, and how they will be impacted and expected to contribute.

Taking this critical step will allow people to feel excited instead of scared, empowered instead of frustrated, and knowledgeable instead of in the dark. When your team understands how they fit into the bigger picture, they will be much more willing to stop fighting your change initiatives and start fighting with you to put them in place.

Yes, it may be difficult. But that’s what makes it so rewarding when you succeed.

Need a better ROI on your corporate employee benefits? At Sonus, we’re not interested in just finding you a policy for this year. We provide strategic employee benefits and human resource management services to help you build a better future. If you’re looking for a corporate employee benefits consultant who is a true business partner, and not just a once a year policy peddler, Sonus Benefits is here for you.

 

HR Strategy | By Scott Schulte,

Got Strategy?

Do you hate planning? Would you rather just jump in and DO SOMETHING?

If so, you’re not alone. There are plenty of people who would agree with you. Yes, doing things is important. But so is the strategy behind what you’re doing. And this is where strategic planning will give you the edge.

Whether you’re running the business or the HR department, taking the time to form the strategy behind your actions will help clarify WHY you need these things to happen. In turn, this will help determine exactly WHAT it is you should be doing, and HOW you will go about it.

Why start with WHY?

There’s a reason Simon Sinek’s TED talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action has been viewed over 37 million times. If you don’t know why your company exists or why you’re in business, how can you possibly know what drives your decisions and behaviors? Or what needs to happen next?

When done right, strategic planning will help you:

  • Define what you are working toward
  • Identify the resources you need to make those things happen
  • Use your time, energy, manpower, and technology efficiently
  • Measure results, track progress, and change direction as needed
  • Effectively communicate all of this information
  • Keep your team motivated, engaged and committed to the work

A focus on doing might keep you busy, but a focus on strategy will keep you effective.

No matter what you’re trying to achieve, taking the time to figure out where you are, where you want to be, and what you need to do to get there just makes sense.

When you take a vacation, do you just randomly hop in the car and start driving? Of course not! You’re going to put some effort into picking a destination, based on what your goals are. Is it strictly relaxation? Are you vising someone? Do you want to learn about a new city or country? Are you simply looking for the cheapest option?

Your vacation goals will affect the way you plan and execute your trip. And because you want the best results, you’ll plan carefully.

Don’t leave it to chance

When it comes to figuring out how to make things happen in your business, strategic planning becomes even more important.

Imagine if you let each person in your organization determine the best way to achieve the company vision. You’d end up with as many business strategies as you have team members!

The vision has to come from the top. And spread.

You may have the best strategic planner or team in the world, but if the organizational vision and WHY isn’t clearly communicated, it won’t filter down to those who are responsible for helping making it a reality. Not only will staff not understand their motivation, they won’t be able to see how they fit in or take ownership in achieving the vision.

Empower your team to work toward shared goals and good things will happen.

Need a better ROI on your corporate employee benefits? At Sonus Benefits, we’re not interested in just finding you a policy for this year. We provide strategic employee benefits and human resource management services to help you build a better future. Our goal is to take your business where you want it to go.