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