In this month’s edition of Fast Company magazine, the feature article was on “The 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2013”.   Nate Silver, Principal of FiveThirtyEight came in as #1.  Never heard of Nate Silver before?  He is considered a data guru and has an uncanny ability to take data, add his creativity and hit a bull’s-eye.  Here are some of his highlights:

• In 2011, the Boston Red Soxs seemed destined for postseason glory. But late in the season, Silver saw signs of an ominous losing streak and wondered, statistically, if they were headed toward a collapse of historical proportions. They
  were. The team didn’t even make the playoffs.
• Silver’s presidential predictions made him famous.  He correctly called the winner of 49 of the 50 states in 2008 and 50 of the 50 states in 2012.
• Silver tweaked his models for the Academy Awards for 2011.  He was right in 4 of the 5 major categories including best picture: The King’s Speech.
• When the 2013 NCAA bracket was announced, Silver called Louisville the favorite, giving the cardinals a 22.7% chance of winning. By the final four, he boosted the team’s chances to 55%. Louisville handily beat Michigan in the finals.

The article goes on to say:

It may seem odd to say we have arrived at a moment when data and creativity are bound together but Silver doesn’t have a problem with the idea.  “I think there are two types of creativity,” he says.  The first is what he calls “pure expression” – what musicians, poets, actors and dancers do.  The second is finding different ways to approach and solve a problem.  To me, that is the highest form of creativity for business today – how do you solve a problem through your own unique creativity.

Too many entrepreneurs use the “spaghetti” method: they just keep throwing things at the wall to see if something sticks. Instead, look at the data you have in your business.  What data are you tracking for your business? You should be tracking revenue, clients, conversion rate, open rates, list size and website visits to name a few.   Big businesses use data to boost profits and to sell more products all the time.  Even smaller companies are using data to create apps to do things like tell you when to leave for your meeting because the roads may be clogged.

Once you know your data, then add your own creativity to take your business to the next level.  Is video the right media for you? Is speaking from the stage? Is your message strongest in written form?  What problem do you solve in a way that no one else does?  That will be your key differentiator.

“History shows that people keep making mistakes and the good things is that people who are creative and entrepreneurial and innovative can make a name for themselves and make a lot of money for their company if they do something a little different,” says Nate Silver.  So figure out how you can use the data about your business today, add your creativity and do something different.  It could be the missing key to your success.

(Portions of this blog have come from the article “The 100 Most Creative People in Business, Fast Company Magazine, June 2013)

-Cathi Harley, Director of Coaching

How often during the week do you think to yourself, “I should do x, y, and z”?  Days maybe even weeks pass by and you remember you still have not done x, y and z.  If you believe this doesn’t happen, you are lying to yourself.  Forgetfulness happens to everyone, we are all guilty of this trait.  For example, one day I will think to myself, I need to buy paper towels this weekend before I run out.  Next thing I know, it is Thursday of next week and I go to grab a paper towel to clean a mess and it’s empty.  It is not that I didn’t want to buy the paper towels over the weekend, I had simply forgotten.

The real question now is how often does this happen to you at work with some kind of project or task that you forgot about?  If you’re a typical worker, it most likely happens more often than it should.  Don’t let forgetting of some simple tasks make you look like a bad worker.  There is an easy solution to this problem that will minimize the forgotten tasks.   Something as simple as writing a to-do list will help you stay on track.  I know that may sound like advice you would give to a kid, but adults can and should use it as well.  It is easy to lose a thought during the day.  By keeping a to-do list, every time you look at it, it is a visual reminder of what you need to accomplish.

Once you are given a new task or if you think of something new to do, add it to the list as soon as you can.  Don’t give yourself time to forget it.   As you complete tasks throughout the day, cross them off or put a check mark next to it.  Any items that are left over at the end of the day should be re-written on a new piece of paper in priority order for the next business day.  This will help organize a working pace, as well as, create a strategy to insure that your projects are completed on time and not overlooked.

This little helpful tool I learned from Suzanne Evans not too long after working here.  Actually, I started implementing it while working here.  We all learn what a to-do list is when we are young, but very few actually put it use.  So I challenge you to start using a to-do list for two weeks.  I bet you’ll be surprised at how helpful a simple little to-do list can be.

-Brad Adams, Executive Assistant

I’ve made a lot of really crappy decisions. I have! I admit it. And I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, that hurt people, that hurt me. Many of these have been irreversible and life-changing.

And boy, was there a time when I would let these decisions (and outcomes) stop me. There was a time I would hang out and allow my decisions to paralyze me, keep me from being present and keep me from living the life I so desperately desired.

And then I realized I had a choice.

I could choose to:

Hang out in regret about my decisions and commitments already made
Hang out in self-doubt, indecision and second-guessing myself

Hang out in blame and being a “victim”
Hang out in comparison and judgment and not feeling “good enough”
Forget that I was a powerful Spiritual being having a human experience and there is no end to what I can achieve

Or I could choose to:

Embrace my decisions and leverage them for change and success
Embrace my decisions to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to achieve what I want
Embrace my experience as a Divine spiritual being having a human experience
Embrace that where I am is perfect, exact and empowering
Embrace the creative spirit of “there is enough for all and there is no competition”
Embrace the fact that I will get the results to the degree that I am willing to put forth the energy and take the necessary action.
Embrace the power of who I am and demand from the Universe that the opportunity present itself to me NOW!

When I started coming from a place of embracing the past and the present, letting go of the judgment, resistance and disappointment, I released myself from the events of the past. I released myself from paralysis. Then I began to allow myself to step into and claim what I truly desired, with strength, with conviction and with a knowing.

It all comes down to choice….

You get to decide, you get to choose!

So here’s the challenge. If you are feeling stagnant, overwhelmed or even paralyzed, I invite you to take an inventory of where your thoughts are around the decisions you’ve made and experiences you have had…or are having.

Which place are you choosing to hang out in? A place of judgment, indecision, blame and lack that is keeping you small? Or a place of empowerment, embracing what was and what is and moving fully into a future expressing your true greatness?

It’s all up to you… You get to decide, you get to choose!

-Paige Stapleton, Director of Client Development

Hey everybody, it’s Suzanne Evans. And I bet you would like to see my team of professional, highly intelligent, well skilled, well trained, staff party. I’m joking, but I’m being serious. Do you have a company culture? I don’t care if you have 1 virtual assistant, or you’ve got 3 or 4 full time employees, or 100 full time employees. When I first started out, I had 1 virtual assistant. I used them for 5 to 10 hours a month. Yes, you heard me right. Not a week, a month. And that was my team. It was me and it was Vickie Turley. So here’s the deal. You’ve got to start developing a culture. What are your values? What do you stand for? Do you have a code of values, and code of ethics that you share with your team members and your contractors, and your employees? We do. Just for an example, one of our core values is, we have 100% responsibility for everything. We take 100% responsibility for everything. If we have a huge win, hell yeah we did that. If we had a huge loss, hell yeah we did that.

We have 10 core values that we make sure represents who we are. And our team and our contractors know them as well. So, how are some ways that you can develop culture fast? So when Vickie and I first working together, we would always meet a couple times a year. I don’t care how small your business is or where you’re starting out. Meet with people in person. That’s step number 1. When they come and meet in person, don’t just go over the strategy for the year, the strategy for that 6 months. Also talk about where you want to go with the company and what you stand for, and how your developing, and how your evolving. And plan in some fun time that really starts to establish culture. Vicki and I use to go for some manicures and pedicures. Here’s why. There was a place down the street that did them for 30 bucks. That’s what I could afford. Right. You do what you can do, where you are, when you’re there. It’s just that simple.

Not everybody is going to be able to do what I do with my team. We go to Vegas, and go to concerts, and go to the INC 500 conference all together as a team. And we do all kind of fun things. Kim Wannamaker just had her 2-year anniversary here with the company and we had a cocktail party and surprise for her. That’s the culture we create. Our culture here now is really embedded in creativity, individuality and innovation. But it’s going to be different for every single person. So for some of you, your culture might be immersed in spirituality. Figure out what works for you. Figure out who you are and share it with your team, share it with your company, share it so it becomes a culture. And highering becomes easier. Because when you know who you are and the people working for you know who you are, who they are and who the company is. Everybody else you have to higher, it’s easy. You can tell. They show up for the interview and they either fit or they don’t. So whether it’s interns or the CEO of you company, when you have a culture, everything gets easier.

Yup, you read that right, a Trillion Dollars Secret to growing your business that most people aren’t using AND almost no one is talking about.

So I want you to take a minute and imagine a marketing strategy that’s:

• Been around over 100 years
• CRAZY effective
• Brings in nearly $2 Trillion in sales
• AND that is being almost completely ignored by our industry?
• BUT all the “Big Boys” – Bank of America, Disney, CapitalOne and Time Warner Cable – are using it, loving it and raking in the money!

It’s called Direct Mail Marketing.

Think Magazine subscriptions, Record Clubs, Sweepstakes, Time-Life Books, Credit Card Offers….. that letter from Aunt Edna.

You see, direct mail is basically sending you some physical mail to elicit a response, whether that is to get a magazine, a book, join a sweepstakes or to visit your Aunt in Tallahassee.

Direct Mail works, in fact as other sectors of advertising are falling off in their effectiveness, direct mail is growing – especially when it’s used for cross-channel marketing (basically using a postcard or letter to drive traffic to a website or salespage).

Remember, it’s only “junk mail” when you don’t want it or aren’t looking for it.

But if you get a card, letter or DVD in the mail and it’s exactly what you need, it has the answer you’re looking for you’d be really happy and grateful, wouldn’t you?

It also works because as Suzanne says all the time “Zigg” while they “Zagg”. And since so many people in our industry are not using mail, then simply sending some mail is a “Zigg” – because let’s face it… everyone’s email in-box is pretty full these days.

Think about it, do you get less than a 100 emails a day? Now imagine what your prospects inbox looks like as they are looking for a solution to their problem.

So how are we using Direct Mail here at Suzanne Evans Coaching?

• We mail a copy of our Free DVD when you first join our list
• We send pre-event postcards to let people know when we’ve got a new event happening in their area
• We send registration gifts to people who register for various events and programs (what’s great about this is that we can then involve them before the event even starts
• We send “lumpy” letters – i.e. last year’s Be the Change Button, which went viral on social media and created a lot of buzz for the event.
• We promote book and product launches through postcards, fliers and letters
• And Fun surprise mailings

And the best thing about Direct Mail Marketing is that you can use it wherever you are in your business.

• Just starting out – send a warm letter
• Having an event – send a postcard
• Send a freebie CD or DVD through the mail
• Hosting a meetup – send an invitation
• Targeting a high-end group of prospects – FedEx a personal DVD player with a professionally edited video of your offer on it and put a post-it that says “Play Me”
• Integrate mail into any “Big Push: campaigns you have, like we do for Be the Change.

Direct Mail is a powerful, effective and underutilized marketing strategy that can have you standing out from the others in your field.

What is one thing you could add right now to your marketing and business building efforts?

Start adding direct mail today and take your piece of the Trillion Dollar Secret.

-Brian Stark, Director of Strategic Development

What a blast to spend time with the Women of the Curio Market in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe last year through Suzanne’s Global Empowerment Journey project. I knew it was going to be an inspiring trip, but I had no idea how much I would learn from these incredible and fascinating ladies.

I came away with such a new perspective and realization that sometimes we forget some of the simple ways we can rejuvenate, motivate and even inspire ourselves….For example:

Celebration:

Whew, did these women love to celebrate. At even the slightest moment of  “good” news, they would break into song out of gratitude for us being there to work with them.

This would happen frequently whether they were singing a song about “working for the gold” or another song we heard called “I thank you for the rest of my life.” Come on…don’t you just love that?!

It reminded me that so often we take things for granted…like getting a new client. That’s I am so adamant about doing a happy dance every time we here at SEC bring on a new client, every time a home study is sold…really any time money comes into our business. That sense of celebration and excitement creates a joyful and grateful place to do all our work from.

Giving:

At the end of our journey, the women passed around a big bag and each of the shop owners placed one of their curios they normally sell in the bag as a symbol of their appreciation. It brought nearly all of us to tears. Realizing, that should they sell one of these items in their shop, it meant money to feed themselves and their families for at least a day or two…  but they were willing to share what they had with us… oh… so beautiful.

It was a great reminder how important it is to not wait until you have “enough” to give, before you actually do give. The power in giving is when we give from a place of knowing there is always enough and that whatever we do give to others will come back to us many times over.

Community:

You could feel the sense of support and community even though these women pretty much sold the same items from shop to shop in their Curio Market. Their shops were small little sectioned of squares of space, each full of African bowls, carvings and batik cloth.

It was so exciting to see the love they had for each other and to discuss with them new ways they could further support each other in promoting each other’s shops so they could all thrive as a whole.

I came back with a new sense of my own community, not just the incredible group of entrepreneurs I went to Zimbabwe with, but also my connection to you… the Suzanne Evans Community… as well as my colleagues, friends and family.

We aren’t meant to do this all alone and the more we can celebrate with each other, give to one another and support each other in our growth, the more all of us succeed and truly create the change we want to see in the world.

So here is my question to you…are you taking time everyday to celebrate, give and build your community? If not, start right NOW.

What is one thing you can celebrate right now in your life and in your business? Did you get a new client? Did some unexpected money come in? Do you have food in your refrigerator? Do you have a refrigerator? Whatever it is… Celebrate it!

What is one piece of giving you could do today? Can you donate some time or money to a cause that is dear to your heart? Can you give some canned food to the food shelter? Can you go online and donate $25 to Kiva.com and help an entrepreneur in a developing country?  Whatever it is… Give It!

What is one thing you could do today to build community? Can you connect with your accountability partner? Can you reach out to a friend or mentor who understands building a business? Can you connect with a facebook friend and offer some support? Whatever it is… Build Community around it!

Make sure you are bringing these 3 things into your business and into your life EVERY day, and who knows, you may just burst into song too!

-Paige Stapleton, SEC Director of Client Development

Whether or not you are an old school or new school entrepreneur if you are avoiding social media in your business you are making a big mistake. Social media platforms are the future of building your brand and offer the best methods of getting your message communicated to millions of people worldwide. Some business owners still are hesitant to make the plunge into fully utilizing social media and it is holding back their business from growing to where they want it to be. I have listed the top four reasons your company must use social media below!

1.) Its where your clients are – This is fairly simple, almost every single person is somehow connected to social media. Therefore if utilized correctly it can get you connected to a countless amount of people who are either interested in what you are providing or connect you with people of similar interest who can help you grow your business. You can almost think of it as a gigantic cyber-networking event that never ends!

2.) Using Social Media Leads Creates More Sales – If you are marketing yourself correctly through social media, it is reaching thousands more people than if you weren’t. I will guarantee that if you utilize social media the amount of inbound leads you receive will be astonishing. It may take some time to get traction and followers the vertical you are in but once you do you will see a huge difference. Like anything else the more you are committed to building your following the quicker you will build your following!

3.) Social Media is Free! –  This really leaves you with no reason to avoid using social media. Unless you upgrade a specific platform which in some cases is necessary once you get comfortable most social media platforms are totally free. This makes your investment into utilizing social media low risk & high reward, which is always a good route to go!

 4.) It’s not leaving anytime soon – Social Media is continuing to grow and different platforms are continuously being updated and created… Don’t get left behind and start making more money!

-Jason Gasbarro, Client Enrollment Specialist

For years I was known for insane work ethic. I think the immature or jealous would have said I was a workaholic. I think I was year 1 and 2 of business, but there was not much of a choice when working a 60 hour a week day job AND building a business. The next several years I became less about insanity working and more about being wildly focused and intense. There are a few reasons I did this….

1) It takes it. It really does….especially in the beginning.

2) I loved what I was doing. The more I did it. The more I loved it.

3) I know from experience, my mentors, and study that you can outrun anybody if you put in the effort and I am living proof. I am not the smartest or the best but I can outwork and out last anyone.

4) It was all a part of a grand plan. (Most people don’t know this about me- I never shared it until now)

My friend, Larry Winget, says “Dreams don’t come true. Plans come true.” And I have had a plan for everything in my business every year, every month, every day from the start. 90% of all of it I have shared with my clients, tribe, and team, and the rest has been my personal plan.

Years ago when I read the quote about ” living a few years of your life like most people won’t so you can live the rest of your life like most people can’t ” it made a ton of sense to me.

Basketball players can’t play for ever.

Opera singers voices change.

Carpenters hand eventually get shaky

But no matter what you do you can set yourself up for forever. And that is what I have been doing the last five years. I intentionally lived my life in such a way that I could live it in a certain way now. Don’t get me wrong….I work hard. I manage 15-17 full time employees, run 20 events a year, 20 launches, speak 1-2 times a month, but I have been able to scale back, slow down, and shift priorities.

It was always my plan.

I was known for super late nights …..I am now usually in bed by 10.

I coached 7-9 hours a day…..I now coach 3.

I did all my own copy, launch planning, sales, and management….. I now do about 10%

I worked in the evening and on weekends…. now only on occasion or when I want to.

I did not get lucky or lazy. It was a plan. And it worked because if you work a plan it always does. Here is my advice to you if you want to set yourself up for long term.

1) Have a plan. And work it. To an insane default. Do every damn thing you say you will do.

2) Don’t launch a business and expect to get to be where I am now and when you are not get pissed and stop. It took me and every other Inc 500 winner years to get to here. Be patient. Work the plan.

3) Over hire as you get more and more successful. Last year I over staffed myself. I knew it. But I was hiring for where I wanted to go and not where I was.

4) Know what you want out of life. Business sucks if your life sucks. Money does not replace joy.

So, you too can start to give some of it up. It just might not be this year, but plan it and it will happen.

-Suzanne Evans

One of the most important elements in creating a successful business starts with the culture you create. In reality if you think about it. You spend more time at work than you do anywhere else. Therefore creating a culture that takes your employees and creates them into your work family is essential in the longevity of your employees and business. Below I have listed Jay’s top 5 essentials to getting your culture on the fast track to creating your work family.

1.) Hire The Right People – I know it sounds simple right? We will call this the groundwork for creating your work family. Always remember that somebody who was a great fit at a previous work place might not be the perfect fit for your company. Find people who care about your business and you, and more importantly have personality. As Suzanne always says, “You can teach skill but you can’t teach personality.” Hire people that you can connect with that also have a passion to learn! If it takes longer to find the right person or more interviews just remember that this is the groundwork for the perfect company culture.

2.) Communication – Now that you took that extra step to find the right fit for your company you need to create and grow an on going relationship with them. Taking the time to sit with your employees on a regular basis to discuss both the good and the bad shows that you genuinely care about your employee and will ultimately lead he/she to learn and work harder for you. Any employee who cares about their boss will go that extra mile for the company.

3.) Transparency – This is such an important component to keeping employees happy and motivated. I mean in reality who is going to be motivated to work towards a goal when they don’t even know what is going on or better yet what the goal is? Always keep your employees in the loop on what is going on with the company. You never know what you can learn from your employees. Being Transparent will also build trust and create that team vibe you have always dreamed of!

4.) Celebrate – Rewarding your employees does a great deal in motivating them onto the next success of the company. One thing that you need to find out is what type of reward motivates your employee the most; the same reward could have a different effect on a different employee.

5.) Be Positive – Building your business is not always going to go as planned or always go the right way. Remember that your employees are mirrors of you. Once you become negative and nasty it will unmotivated them from there jobs. Find ways to communicate loses in a positive way as hard as it might be. Positivity goes a long way!

Now it’s time for you to create YOUR culture!

Jason Gasbarro, Client Enrollment Extraordinaire

In a recent survey by Deloitte Consulting and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, a nonprofit educational association, 75 percent of corporate respondents identified the ability to attract, motivate and retain talent as a top five priority for their annual agendas, up from 69 percent in 2006 and 56 percent in 2005. This growth was even more pronounced among companies with revenues exceeding $1 billion; 77 percent of respondents in this category identified the issue as a top five priority, slightly higher than the control of health care costs (73 percent).

One way that employers may attract, motivate and retain talent is by providing desirable or attractive benefits.  However, benefits are costly and the costs are rising.  In order to balance the competing objectives of providing benefits that will be attractive to employees and controlling costs, employers need to consider a number of issues.

First of all, companies should consider employees concerns about equity.  Equity is when executives receive substantially better benefit packages than a company’s “rank and file” employees.  Employee dissatisfaction may result and significant disparities between executive and employee benefits can sometimes become an issue in labor union negotiations.  As an example some company executives can receive what is called a golden handshake or golden parachute.  A golden parachute or handshake is a clause put in an executive’s contract to grant them large benefits if their employment is terminated.  This type of package can be viewed as a benefit to the executive receiving the contract, but a disadvantage to those employees at a lower level.  The view from the employer’s side is that they secure work for high-paid executives, but the downside is that the contract does not specify the executive to perform well.

Next, employers considering benefits to attract, retain and motivate employees need to take into consideration economic issues.  According to National Underwriter Life & Health magazine, in a 2006 study, 90% of the benefit managers surveyed rated “controlling costs of both health and welfare benefits” as the most important factor they consider in making benefit decisions.  As benefit costs appear to be increasing exponentially, employers are trying to control those costs.  In addition to paying some share of employee’s benefit costs, companies must pay costs of administrating the plan.  Administrative costs are those costs to the employer via fees from equity companies who are the initial benefit provider.  According to the survey listed above, reducing human resources administrative costs was significantly lower in importance this year compared to a similar study constructed in 2002. This is perhaps a sign that concerns of increasing costs in medical plans are taking precedence over reducing administrative costs.  While controlling costs may improve a company’s bottom line, going too far in this direction by reducing benefits or by shifting more of the costs to employees may reduce job satisfaction or motivation on part of employer’s workers.

Employers designing benefits plans may also run into certain political issues.  For example, Wal-Mart recently experienced a surge of negative public opinion and political outcry when memos came to light that revealed that the company had contemplated cutting benefit costs by dismissing elderly workers and those with health problems and limiting employees eligibility by restricting many to part time schedules.  Another political issue is if married employees with families receive benefits for their spouse or daycare benefits for their children.  Offering coverage for controversial or experimental medical treatments, or denying such coverage could have political repercussions as could the denial of benefits to unmarried life partners.  Lastly, the Starbucks article could bring up a point on politics.  This article speaks how employees are eligible to participate in the company’s 401(K) plan if they are full time or part time and receives over 240 hours of work.  It would seem that the misappropriation could be seen that a full time worker is getting similar benefits as compared to the part time worker.

Competitiveness may be a key factor when employers are deciding what benefits to contribute to employees.  The attractiveness of your benefits package can make a difference, with regards to attracting new hires, between pulling in star candidates and having to settle for average performers, especially when the labor market is tight. (Potter and Youngman)  The disadvantage of using employee benefits to attract new applicants is it may take additional effort to make them feel that your benefits are better than the next interviewing company’s.  The key to competitiveness is differentiation.  Even when particular benefit elements are seen as desirable or almost universally offered, employers could still differentiate their programs.

“More experienced” applicants may be the ones most likely to place the most weight on a company’s benefits package in considering whether to accept a job offer.  According to Employee Benefit News, much is being written about the value of retaining and recruiting older workers. The advantages of having mature employees-baby boomers and members of the Silent Generation preceding them-are well known, they tend to be stable and loyal. Most are highly skilled. Workers with long tenures possess workplace experience and institutional knowledge that is difficult, if not impossible to replace.  If there is a downside to employing a veteran workforce, it’s higher health care bills. There’s no getting around the fact that older human assets break down more often and require more costly maintenance.

Lastly, employers looking to make benefit decisions based on employee attractiveness, retention and motivation need to look at overall employee satisfaction.  Again, according to the National Underwriter Life & Health magazine, in a 2006 study found that attracting and retaining employees and increasing employee job satisfaction continue to be the two most important goals of benefit plans among over 500 employers with 10 to 2000+ employees.  They said, “Helping employees plan for their financial future is also key.”

A factor to consider along with job satisfaction is motivation.  To further explain the connection between job satisfaction and motivation and employee benefits, it is useful to take a look at Hertzberg’s theory.  Hertzberg’s theory describes motivation as being based on two factors: motivators that are associated with job satisfaction, and hygiene and maintenance factors, which are called job dis-satisfiers.  Motivators consist of achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility and advancement.  They are central and related directly to the nature of the work and rewards attainable from work performance.  Hygiene includes company policy and administration, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations with superiors, subordinates and peers and working conditions.  These are extrinsic and associated with the work environment. The important thing to remember is that these two factors are different.  For instance, providing for hygiene needs can prevent dissatisfaction for the employee and disadvantages to the employer, but does not contribute to satisfaction and therefore cannot increase motivation.  The best way to increase motivation is from the central factors, so it is advantageous for employers to identify and utilize effective motivators.

In conclusion, in considering how to use benefits as a means to attract, retain and motivate employees companies need to take into account issues related to equity, cost, politics, competition, recruiting and even job satisfaction and motivation.  Overall it is interesting to see employers who worry more about the benefits that are provided than the employees do.  Although benefits are a consideration of potential employees, the top consideration when deciding to join or remain with an employer is “the quality of coworker and/or customer relationships,” followed by the opportunity for work/life balance and “working for an organization whose purpose/mission they agree with.”

Lindsey Pascoe, Controller