Today's Quote:
"There are two types of people--those who come into a room and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, 'Ah, there you are.'"
-- Frederick L. Collins
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Small Business Forum: Avoid ID Theft
Please join us for a Small Business Forum: Avoid ID Theft, Fraud Prevention for your Small Business with guest speaker
Elaine Dodd from the Oklahoma Bankers Association.
Tuesday, July 28th
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Partners Human Resources
3420 N. Santa Fe Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK
RSVP to Shauna George at (405) 463-5011 or sgeorge@spiritbank.com.
Entrepreneurial Spirit Award Announces Semi-Finalists
By Tulsa
Business Journal Staff
Officials for Mayor Kathy Taylor's Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Award announce the competition's
top 12 semi-finalists.
They are: 4BrooksDesign, Blue Label Bartending, Bootcamp Tulsa, Cog Togs Inc.,
Diaper Departure, Elote Café & Catering, Filters4me.com, HOAtoday, Mr. BodyFat,
Part-Time Pros, Real Time Rehab and Target Solution Foods.
These 12 entrepreneurs will continue forward in the competition, the next steps
of which are a coaching session with local, established business owners and experts;
an updated business plan submission and review by Spirit Award judges; and a five-minute
pitch to the judges.
The top seven finalists will be announced Sept. 20 and will, following that announcement,
participate in another coaching session, business plan review and pitching round. The first,
second and third place winners will be announced at an entrepreneurial celebration ceremony
on Nov. 17, during Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Award is sponsored by SpiritBank, which provides the
$30,000, $5,000 and $2,500 cash prizes to the first, second and third place winners,
respectively, and is in a strategic partnership with the Tulsa Business Journal, which
has provided continuous coverage of the competition since it began in April.
Profiles of the aforementioned entrepreneurs who agreed to media coverage may be found in
a special insert in the July 6 issue of TBJ and online at
www.tulsabusiness.com.
For additional information regarding the Tulsa Entrepreneurial Spirit Award sponsored by SpiritBank, please visit
www.tulsaspiritaward.com.
Spirit of Tulsa Photo Contest
TulsaPeople readers and professional photographers are invited to enter the 2009 Spirit of Tulsa Photo Contest featuring
photos depicting the life and sights of Tulsa.
Enter your favorite photos of people, places, events, animals and other things that show the spirit of Tulsa by
September 1st! Prizes will be awarded for professional and amateur photographers. Contest sponsored by SpiritBank.
For additional rules and entry form, please visit the TulsaPeople Website at
www.tulsapeople.com.
Small Business - Focus on Health Care & Benefits
Employee Benefits in Today's Economy
By Chris Penttila, Entrepreneur.com
In tough times, company perks tend to take the hit first. But how do you axe them while keeping employees happy?
Like most companies, RedPeg Marketing offers perks to its employees. The Alexandria, Virginia, experiential marketing firm hands out trophies for good performance and provides breakfast at staff meetings. Employees can compete in an annual Connect Four tournament as well as participate in lunchtime training sessions. Open the company fridge, and you'll find cold beer.
RedPeg co-founder Brad Nierenberg, however, has been known to go above and beyond with company perks. He shells out $17,000 a year to rent a three-bedroom house in Dewey Beach, Delaware, that the company's 48 employees can sign up for year round. "That's one of the perks I've kept even in the downturn," says Nierenberg, 42.
He once walked into the office carrying a briefcase containing $38,000 in cold, hard cash and presented each employee--38 of them at the time--with $1,000 for meeting company goals. "I thought, 'I've got to make a big deal out of this; I can't just put it in their checking account because that's not as fun,'" says Nierenberg, who saw sales of $18.5 million last year. "I thought it would be cool for them to see $38,000 in cash."
But Nierenberg has also taken perks away. He ditched employee use of a Mercedes for a whole month, free gas included, because he felt it was an expense that wasn't necessary. He also stopped a company program that allowed employees to take off a certain number of Fridays during the summer because business was picking up and the company needed to make up ground after a few slow quarters. "You definitely can take a perk away," Nierenberg says, "and you should if it's affecting your business."
But wait a minute: Conventional wisdom says it's a bad idea to pull a perk once it's out there. Yank away something employees have come to expect, and you're setting yourself up for rampant conspiracy theories and angry employees. Google learned that the hard way last spring when it announced it would charge employees 75 percent more for its in-house day-care program. Employees with children didn't take the news well, and some reportedly started to cry. Google has since reduced the price and will take more than a year to phase in the cost adjustment, but at what cost to morale? "Anytime somebody is receiving something and then, all of the sudden, they're not, clearly they're going to be upset," says Deb Cohen, chief knowledge officer at the Society for Human Resource Management, an HR membership organization.
Of course, there's a difference between the perks employees structure their lives around, like insurance, day care and flextime, and the frivolous perks, like bagels on Monday. And it's these types of perks Google has also trimmed down to cut costs without affecting employees significantly: In October, the New York City division instituted limits on cafeteria hours and food selections. "No one is going to quit because they can't get free coffee or pastries," says Bob Nelson, an employee motivation and management consultant and author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees. But the risk you run, he says, "is a panic that if the company can no longer afford coffee, it must be headed for disaster."
It's this perception that entrepreneurs want to avoid. Last Year, Expedite Group, a 7-year-old Cary, North Carolina, concierge company, debated whether to decrease the 401(k) matching contribution it offers its 17 employees. "We've struggled with matching it at times," admits founder Nancy Piepho, 39.
She decided to leave the match alone, however, because lowering it might create doubt in employees' minds. "We want the employees to have confidence in what we're doing," Piepho says. "That was one of the reasons I was like, 'It's not going to be easy, but it's not a lot [of money] and it's the right thing to do.'"
A tough year
Next Level Café, a St. Paul, Minnesota, technology management firm, saw 2007 as a great year. But 2008, not so much. "It's been a tough year," says CEO and co-founder Rich Anderson, 38. "We haven't been growing as much." Morale was falling, so last autumn, Anderson began tracking morale through a weekly survey that he plotted on a graph. He met with the company's 25 employees and told them the truth: The company wasn't at risk of failing by any means, but it wasn't a great year and that meant fewer bonuses and perks.
Anderson, who co-founded the 7-year-old company with Stephen Weiler, 43, also started sharing some information about the company's budget. He revealed that 75 percent of the service company's expenses are salary-related, and he explained how a drop in clientele affects the expense side. An enlightening moment came when Anderson asked employees to guess how many clients the company had won and lost to date in 2008. "Every single person on the team underestimated," he says. Now the company posts the names and revenue of new and former customers on a wall--a daily reminder of where the company stands. Morale is on an upswing, and the company closed 2008 with $2 million in sales.
Entrepreneurs shouldn't fear pulling a perk, but they should fear doing it without employee involvement, Anderson warns. "As soon as you do it without having employees involved in the process, they're going to resent it and fight back. They're going to use it as a reason to leave if they're looking to leave," he adds. "If you get them involved, they'll support the decision. They'll embrace the world that they helped create."
Central to a good communication plan is anticipating how employees will react when a perk is taken away and who will be most affected. You'll also have to decide what kinds of low-cost perks could replace what's gone. "Think about how you can offer the same or similar kinds of benefits in a different fashion that won't cost you so much money," says Cohen.
PerkSpot, a perks management company that creates customized portals where employees can go for discounts on a wide range of consumer goods, is seeing large companies implement its service to offset other benefit cuts they're making, including insurance coverage. In one case, a national retailer rolled out PerkSpot when it announced it wasn't giving anyone a raise. Says founder and CEO Christopher Hill, "They wanted to introduce PerkSpot to help soften the blow."
Linking perks to performance
Cohen sees companies moving toward flexibility and other unique benefits that promote work-life balance. "That's really been dictated by the work force," she says.
Nelson, however, thinks now is the time for companies to link perks to performance. This way, companies don't create cultures of entitlement where employees feel the company owes them just for showing up. "Smart companies are offering perks to the performers who have earned those perks," he says.
Expedite Group has its share of softer perks, from Wii nights to beach trips to potlucks. Piepho, however, is most concerned with keeping her best performers happy, so she tailors perks to them. She's letting one employee with an infant work flexible hours from home, while a rising star in the company is getting greater responsibilities. "What do pivotal employees need to thrive? That's what you should focus on," she says. "I know who my stars are, and I'm going to focus on them."
There are still high expectations, however, particularly from the company's Gen Y employees experiencing a recession for the first time. "It's not their fault; they haven't had the different experiences that us hugely older people have had," Piepho says, laughing. "Recently, [we said], 'This is what the pay range is, and if you're not happy with it, go forth and be happy.'" Employers in a lackluster economy could find that sharing their blues is better than sinking into the red.
Read this article online at www.entrepreneur.com.
Perks: The Cool, The Old School and The Frivolous
Entrepreneur.com
The Cool Perks
- Employee discount programs
- Telecommuting
- Scheduling flexibility
- Subsidized or on-site child care
- Mentoring and training programs
- Time off for volunteer work
- Same-sex domestic partner benefits
- Policies that let employees bring their child to work in an emergency
- On-site lactation room/mother's room
- Gas cards
The Old-School Perks
- Free drinks and snacks
- Meal per diem
- Gym memberships
- Mobile phones
- Company car
- Holiday turkeys
- Company T-shirts, stationery, pens, etc.
- Holiday parties
- Dry cleaning services
- Friday happy hours
- Use of the company's product or service at low or no cost
The Frivolous Perks
- Grants to buy hybrid cars
- Reimbursements for adoption-related expenses
- Pet health insurance
- Paid travel expenses for spouse of employee
- On-site personal grooming
- Ready-to-go take-home meals
- Free computers for employee personal use or loans to purchase them
- Free massages
- Nap rooms
- Carpooling subsidies
Read more at www.entrepreneur.com.
How Not to Save on Healthcare
By Elizabeth Milito, NFIB.com
Looking to trim healthcare costs? Stay away from these cost-cutting don'ts.
As healthcare costs continue to rise, many small business owners are looking for ways to cut costs. Be careful. Some cost-saving strategies might lead to lawsuits and headaches.
Avoid the following legal pitfalls.
Don't play doctor.
Don't suggest that employees avoid expensive treatments or seek out alternative treatments. If you offer poor advice, you may find yourself liable for negligence. Even if you don't, the employee might suffer from relying on mistaken advice.
Don't make employment decisions based on age.
Older employees are more likely to have health problems than younger ones. But federal laws--and many states--prohibit employers from discriminating against employees over the age of 40. Don't consider an employee's age when making hiring or retention decisions.
Don't ask employees about family members' healthcare conditions.
An employer may be liable for firing an employee because members of that employee's family had unusually expensive healthcare needs. In Dewitt v. Proctor Hospital, a case recently decided by a federal court, a hospital employee's husband suffered from prostate cancer. His treatments cost the employer hospital more than $100,000. The hospital, in an effort to cut costs, let the employee go. Ultimately, the hospital likely spent far more trying to defend this employment decision in court.
Don't make employment decisions based on weight.
An employer may be liable for unlawful discrimination for refusing to hire obese employees. In Cook v. Rhode Island, an employer refused to hire an applicant on the grounds that the plaintiff's obesity impaired her ability to work and might have increased her risk of developing serious medical problems that would result in absenteeism and increased workers' compensation claims. The court held that obesity can be both an actual and perceived disability. A jury later found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her $100,000 in compensatory damages.
Some states have also enacted laws prohibiting discrimination based on appearance. These laws may protect obese or overweight individuals not covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Avoid wellness program mistakes.
Wellness programs have become a popular way of promoting good health among employees. Many employers provide on-site exercise facilities or subsidize health club memberships. These efforts seem to be paying off. Studies indicate that businesses with wellness programs have shown substantial health-related cost savings, such as decreases in employee absences and turnover, and reduced insurance premiums. But other wellness programs--in which employers award "wellness points" to employees who meet certain benchmarks, allowing the employee to offset these points against insurance deductibles--are more controversial.
First, employment law experts question whether wellness points violate the ADA. Regulations issued by the Department of Labor specifically state that wellness programs cannot be "a subterfuge for discriminating based on a health factor." Wellness programs that reward and penalize workers based on arbitrary health indices--such as body mass index, cholesterol or blood pressure--likely violate these regulations. Preliminary research into the genetic causes of obesity also indicates that members of some racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately likely to be obese. This research raises the question of whether some employer obesity reduction programs unlawfully discriminate against employees based on race or national origin.
If you decide to create a wellness program, emphasize education. For example, teach employees how to eat a balanced diet or how to incorporate exercise into their lives. Avoid tactics or incentives that induce shame or guilt in employees who have trouble controlling their weight. Instead, encourage all employees to lead healthier lifestyles.
Read this article online at www.NFIB.com.
The ABC's of HSA's
NFIB.com
Many consumers may be confused by health savings accounts,
high-deductible health insurance plans coupled with IRA-style
savings accounts. In reality, they're pretty simple and are
getting more and more popular.
What is an HSA?
HSAs were developed to maximize your savings on health insurance while providing you with a valuable tax break. An HSA program has two parts: an eligible, high-deductible health-insurance plan and a tax-advantaged savings account. For an individual, an HSA-eligible health-insurance plan must have an annual deductible of at least $1,050––which means you'll have to pay the first $1,050 of medical expenses before your health coverage kicks in.
The second part of an HSA program is an IRA-style savings account that allows you to reduce your taxable income by building savings. You can deposit funds up to the total of your health plan's annual deductible into the HSA-account each year. So, within certain regulatory limits, the higher your health plan's deductible, the more you can tuck away tax-free.
What health benefits can I expect?
Online health insurance agent eHealthInsurance recently released a report detailing the plan benefits for HSA-eligible health plans. The benefits provided are surprisingly rich. Here are some interesting facts from the report Health Savings Accounts: January 2005 - December 2005:
- Nearly 80 percent of the plans had 100 percent coverage, after the deductible, for X-rays/lab, hospitalization and surgery
- At least 83 percent of the plans had some type of prescription drug benefit
How does the tax savings work?
If you make $40,000 a year, and you put $2,000 in your HSA, you'll pay taxes only on $38,000. What happens to that $2,000? Like an IRA, the HSA is meant to encourage you to save for retirement. Funds placed into your HSA can be invested to earn tax-free income, and the balance will roll over from year to year until retirement age. But unlike an IRA, you can use your HSA funds to cover medical expenses without penalty. The funds in the account may be used to cover any qualifying medical expense, which in many cases includes over-the-counter drugs and eyeglasses, as well as co-payments and any medical costs incurred before your annual deductible is met.
Who buys HSA-eligible plans?
The eHealthInsurance report also included interesting information on the types of people who have purchased HSA-eligible health-insurance plans. Contrary to many skeptics who assumed that HSA purchasers would be only the young and wealthy, findings show that is not the case. Here are some interesting findings on HSA-eligible health plan purchasers:
- Their average age is 38.
- Forty-five percent of them earn $50,000 or less per year.
- More than 40 percent of them were previously uninsured.
- At least 95 percent of them pay $200 or less per person per month.
Read this article online at www.NFIB.com.
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