The strategy of the City was to counter the negativity of the national economic crisis and the challenges of Nature with a program that promotes the overall well-being of employees and improves their morale.  Consequently, the City’s HR department developed “Have a Career – Make a Life”.  This program aimed to engage employees in short-term and long-term thinking and actions that affect their day-to-day and long-term health and financial security.  Twenty-four employees from all departments volunteered to participate in a Staff Development Committee to develop programs that create financial rewards, both for the employees and the City.  Measurable results of the “Have a Career – Make a Life" initiative are as follows:  85% of the employees participate in the Health Risk Assessments program, and 70% of employees are active in some personal or City wellness program.  The City has saved significant dollars in claims to its self-funded insurance plan.  40 new employees invested in a 457 tax-sheltered annuity account, 54 employees have invested in a Roth IRA account, and 75% of employees have participated in one-hour workshops on subjects such as: “How to Invest with No Money, How to Evaluate a Mortgage,” and “Things to Consider when your Investments are in a Volatile Stock Market.”  A 60% decrease in personal injury and workers compensation claims has been realized.  Even though the programs are coordinated by the Human Resources Department, it is the active involvement of the Staff Development Team that continues to make this effort successful.   

 

 

American Family has taken a bold step to differentiate itself from the competition.  It seeks to become the most trusted and valued service-driven insurance company and #1 overall in customer satisfaction.  A key phrase found throughout the 2009 HR Business Plan is “Mission: Alignment.”  As the company faces the challenges created by the economic crisis, HR’s alignment to the mission and strategic plan is crucial. Several projects our HR Department will tackle in 2009 are designed to help the organization deal successfully with the current business environment, while others are designed to position American Family for growth when the business climate improves.  The projects include:

 

Wellness -- Our wellness initiative is branded as “Raise the Roof on your Life!”  We’re expanding our already wide range of free health risk screenings, informational presentations and wellness events which ultimately help reduce overall health care costs.

 

Benefits -- We call it Benefits Web 2.0, and it involves creating a new web site for benefits education and communication.

 

Leadership -- New manager online resources will provide coaching and instructional content to help managers understand their unique role.

 

Diversity -- Our Women’s and Multicultural Business Resource Groups are affinity-based, diverse employee forums that offer opportunities to share perspectives and build relationships.

 

Onboarding -- This project will create an engaging onboarding process, which ensures new hires feel welcomed, learn our organizational culture, and are ready to “hit the ground running.”  

 

Technology -- Upgrades to our HR systems will allow us to further automate business processes and increase efficiency.  

 

Organizational Design -- HR experts are participating in a collaborative effort to align American Family’s organizational structure to its customer-focused mission.  HR is providing project leadership, consulting and subject matter expertise to this initiative.

 

Social Media -- HR’s Sourcing & Social Media project is an effort to reach out to new talent pools using Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and social networking sites like Facebook.  

 

Work-life balance -- We are considering ways we can offer our employees even greater flexibility in their schedules to enhance work-life balance.  

 

Employee Engagement -- HR is leading a Workforce Engagement initiative aimed at placing American Family on the Fortune 100 list of “Great places to work”.  

 

 

Under the strategy, all employees, including our owners and top executives, will choose a one-week layoff period each quarter.  We executed this program in 2001 when the economy hit a lull and found that, because it was an "equal" hit for all employees, everyone bought into the plan.  In the fall of 2008, we held company-wide meetings to update everyone on how our business had been impacted by the downturn and our plan to implement again the 2001 layoff strategy.  Our employees understood the need for this action and are supportive.  Our fiscal year runs from October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009, and our layoff strategy will start in the second quarter -- January-March.  All laid-off employees will be eligible to apply for unemployment.  Since we have approximately 170 employees, we will save a significant amount of salary costs.  Following their short layoffs, employees will be caught up on their health insurance, life insurance and other benefits.  A layoff schedule will be posted on the Dorner intranet so everyone can see when employees are scheduled to be off from work.  Employees can choose their layoff weeks and our managers will work to honor their requests.