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Photo by Frank Aymami
From left: Benefit consultant Ana Graci, employee benefit specialist Joe Maniscalco, President Kevin Gardner, Vice President Mike Ford, employee benefit specialist Eddie Cabos and benefit consultant
Lisa McCoy partake in some friendly competition at Strategic Employee Benefit Services.
T W O - T I M E H O N O R E E
Strategic Employee Benefit
Services of Louisiana
Everyone wants to be appreciated at work.
Since people are more productive when
they feel appreciated by their bosses, each
department at Strategic Employee Benefit
Services gets its own appreciation week.
The company treats members of the group to
a different appreciation activity each day,
including a nice breakfast, a lunch outing, a
happy hour after work, sweets and fresh flowers.
The leadership team also cuts out headshots of
the honored group’s members and pastes them
onto pictures of rock stars. The week concludes
with employees working a half-day before being
whisked away to a surprise off-site destination,
such as Ship Island in Mississippi.
“They really go all out and take it to a new
level,” said Alena Vinet, a voluntary internal service
representative. “It feels like Christmas morning.
... Normally (at most companies), appreciation
is just a lunch.”
The company also rewards employees for
their performance. SEBS’ annual bonus plan
pays employees 10 percent of their salary as a
bonus if the company’s sales goal and individual
sales goals for the year are met.
That dedication to showing staff how much
they are appreciated is part of SEBS’ core
beliefs, beliefs adhered to by everyone from
executives to staff members, employees say.
“We’ve learned one thing — how you treat
your employees has a direct correlation to
how your employees will treat the clients,”
SEBS President Kevin Gardner said. “We try
to look at our employees as clients and treat
them that way.”
“They (the leaders in the office) take more of
a coaching role than a management role,” said
Rachel Hamann, a benefits consultant.
“They’re there to assist, not micromanage.”
The giving, appreciative attitude extends
from employee to employee as well. When one
branch of the office is busy, other employees
pitch in to get the work done, Hamann said.
Even with nonwork matters, employees help
Nature of business: employee benefit consulting
Where based: Metairie
Employees: 69
Average starting salary: $32,000 for staff, $55,000 for
licensed benefit consultants
Median salary: $39,500 for staff, $72,000 for licensed benefit
consultants
Average employment time: six years
Benefits: health care with 80 percent coverage, dental, vision
and prescription plans, 401(k) with 3 percent match, continuing
education program, flexible hours, employee recognition program,
fitness program
Wait time for benefits: about one month
Paid days off: 29 on average
Web site: www.neworleans.strategicebs.com
each other out. One SEBS employee teaches
self-defense on the side and held a free course
for the women in the office.
When Vinet started working for the company
a year and a half ago, her division was a startup,
and her role was initially unstructured. Her boss
was in sales, so she was often out of the office.
At first, Vinet was a little intimidated and
had to find her way around the job, but her coworkers
immediately set her mind at ease.
“I would have been lost if they hadn’t been
so helpful,” Vinet said.
And that behavior becomes self-perpetuating.
“We don’t do anything individually,” Vinet said.
“Everything is team-based. Everyone enjoys what
they do, and it comes off in the work.”•
— Fritz Esker
December 14, 2009 43