Flowers

You couldn’t help but notice the huge bouquet of roses on her desk. “So who got you the flowers for Valentine’s Day?” I asked. She was a salesperson just like me and we had become pretty good friends since starting at the company a few years prior. “None of your business! He’s just a friend. Well, maybe more than a friend!” she replied. “You have a secret admirer, don’t you!” I exclaimed. She nodded happily but still wouldn’t say who it was.

Not long after, I was promoted to my first real management job. After being friends with a number of my fellow salespeople, I suddenly found myself in charge at age 27. On a daily basis, I was learning about behaviors and outlooks that were normal and even acceptable as an “employee” but no longer as part of the management team.

One night I ran into the co-worker mentioned above, now a direct report, and to my surprise she was with a client of hers. The secret admirer was secret no longer. In fact I knew this CFO well (I’ll call him Mark). He was very driven and looking for a different career path. He had actually expressed an interest in joining our firm in a sales role.

With all of the extreme weather we’ve been experiencing lately, you could be forgiven for thinking that maybe the Mayans were just a year off with their apocalyptic prediction. There have been floods, hurricanes and most recently, snowstorms battering the nation from every angle. If you don’t have coverage for extreme weather, you might be thinking that now’s the time to get it. Let’s take a look at what disaster risk measures you can implement to protect against the damaging effects of America’s extreme weather events.

Assess

The first box to tick on your disaster risk checklist should be to assess whether certain types of extreme weather are likely to affect you. Make sure precious items aren’t stored in your basement or any other area of the house that may be affected by flooding. If you do live in an area that could be affected by extreme weather events then you may want to think about getting the appropriate insurance coverage.

There are certain items you automatically associate with workplace safety tips. Whenever anyone offers advice on safety, you assume they’ll be talking about safety goggles, high-visibility jackets, hard-hats and handrails. Those are vital building blocks in creating a safer work environment. Of course none of these measures provide guaranteed workplace safety.

To truly ensure that your employees are safe you need something extra, alongside the standard equipment. There are four key measures you can implement alongside your standard safety practice that don’t require a single piece of equipment.

Training

When I joined Gibson, the first charge I was given was to rebuild and grow our employee benefits consulting practice. It was a smaller part of the company at the time - a little over 15% of our annual revenues.

This was a movie I had seen before.

In my prior role at one of the national insurance consultants, I was responsible for employee benefits sales and service for a multi-state territory. I was in a "player-coach" role where I personally worked with clients and managed others doing the same. We consistently received recognition for not only our financial results but team work and collaboration.

So based on the same formula, it didn't take long for us to re-tool and grow the benefits practice at Gibson. Today employee benefits makes up about 35% of our company revenue.

The term ‘risk management techniques’ automatically brings certain images to mind. You picture safety goggles, staircase handrails and insurance policies. It can be hard to imagine anything other than the standard measures to control risk. You think of a risk, and then you think of something that would protect you from it.

That usually means a physical object, or financial measure that protects your business. What we often forget is that the best risk management techniques are the ones that have a positive long-term effect on the business. That means finding measures that do more than mitigate or prevent risk; measures that improve productivity, morale, efficiency or simply make the workplace better.

Early In My Career
A number of years ago, I worked at a fast-paced, growth-oriented public company, many times larger than the employee-owned organization I’m a part of today. The CEO of that public company himself came from one of the largest companies in the world where he was a key lieutenant for a number of years. While the CEO helped spur on some badly needed discipline and structure, he also ushered in a major change in values and culture.

I’ll never forget one of his early gatherings with key leaders and sales talent where he stated unequivocally that our focus would be on the shareholder. He went on to say that many companies mistakenly focus on their clients or their employees. If you don’t take care of your owner, you won’t stay in business long. What good would you be for your clients and employees then?

The word ‘risk’ carries a pretty negative connotation. It’s often used as a catch all term for things that can go wrong in a business. It’s also the go-to word for people who just want to sell you insurance. They tell you about the risks and the damage

Manti T’eo. Today, it's not about his prowess as a sportsman but about a social media hoax. As it stands no one knows for sure what happened. And Manti T’eo will probably never shake the specter of the story. It will follow him forever no matter the outcome.

It's not a common storyline,

The Wellness Council of Indiana (WCI) has received a grant to provide a tobacco cessation program to up to 100 employers of any size in Indiana. The program is called QUIT NOW! It's an easy-to use, web-based program that links organizations with support for tobacco cessation.

Businesses are getting into high gear figuring out how to deal with the new Healthcare Reform requirements that take effect in 2014.