NetEffects offers new employee benefits
New Benefit Options a 'Win-Win' for Everyone
January 05, 2007
In this ever accelerating business climate, all companies need to regularly evaluate their internal benefits, polices and procedures in order to be competitive. NetEffects has recently completed a major upgrade and has some important announcements that should interest clients and employees.
Starting a year ago, an internal project team was formed composed of office staff, management and consultants. They were tasked with answering the following questions:
- Do our benefits compare to our competitors?
- Can we improve our retention?
- How do we make our consultants more marketable?
- Can we maintain profitability?
- How do we better serve our clients?
These questions go to the very heart of our success as they affect so many facets of our business. Our clients want us to be as competitive as possible and we need to do whatever we can to offer our employees a comprehensive package of benefits…so that they can focus on their jobs.
The team collected information from a wide variety of sources to determine an appropriate level of benefits for our industry…a level that would meet the expectations of both our clients and our employees.
This information showed that while the overall value of our core benefits and compensation was quite competitive there was a segment of the consultant population that preferred to have some of their benefits in more traditional ways. And so, effective January 1, 2007, we are offering an additional employment option that has different benefits.
Paid Time Off (PTO)
The new PTO plan will offer employees a set number of days for them to use for vacation, holidays, sickness or for various personal reasons. The number of days increases based on the number of years with NetEffects.
Bench Time
An obstacle to people joining the consulting industry is the perception that if your assignment ends it will be difficult to find another assignment and the pay stops too. While finding another assignment is a function of the employee’s skills and the market, a new Bench Time Policy will provide consultants a financial cushion while the next assignment is identified. The number of paid bench days is also tied to seniority.
Training
NetEffects has long had a training policy that is focused on meeting the expectations of our clients. With the launching of our new NetEffects University we offer employees the opportunity for online training in many different technical, professional and management areas. Over 1,000 courses are available including various certifications. For more information on this unique opportunity employees need to contact PJ Petracek or Michelle Zipfel at the office.
Other Changes
We have enhanced other areas to improve our overall package:
- Improved the 401K match
- Added a Flexible Savings Account for health and childcare
- Added life insurance buy-up
We are currently are in the middle of rolling this new benefits option out to all our employees. The strong reception it is receiving is a result of the extensive research and planning that went into this effort. One consultant, contemplating the switch, expressed to our CFO “What’s the catch…this looks to good to be true?”
There is no catch! We simply are doing what we have done all along which is to constantly focus on building a better company. We sincerely hope that our employees and clients will appreciate these changes.