Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
Finalists showcase tactics to find the right employees, then keep them productive
by Andrew Tellijohn Business often comes down to numbers. What are the top and bottom lines and how do we grow revenue and maximize profit?The finalists for Best Practices in People & Workplace focus on the people who drive the numbers, but do so with widely varying techniques: from candy to wellness programs, from offices with pets to offices designed like a dugout.Louise Anderson dons a witch’s cap and passes out tiny bags of hand-wrapped caramels to illustrate her company’s best practice.Hastings-based Anderson Performance Improvement Co. teams with Fortune 1000 clients to help them perform better. She puts together programs that include monitoring the top-performing employees at a business and finding out what makes them tick, then boiling those characteristics down so other workers can emulate those practices and become more successful themselves.“This really works,” says Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Performance, with 45 employees. “It’s called engaging your human resources.”Using its “Leveraging Excellence” program, Anderson Performance Improvement also practices what it preaches, using the same strategies internally to ensure its own employees reach their potential.The program gives employees a voice in company decisions, motivates them to improve and rewards them for achievements with electronic points redeemable for a wide array of merchandise.The witch’s cap is Anderson’s reminder to employers that it’s OK to act silly and have fun if it helps motivate. The caramels are an example of treats Anderson Performance uses internally to reward its employees.How does Anderson keep employees focused on these ideas? By providing constant communication in different forms, including a buck slip, which comes accompanied by that bag of tasty caramels.Careful to hireWhen Rebecca Olson and her future husband were working together at a technology company, they decided to strike out on their own. They knew what kind of business they wanted to run, and the ethics and character with which they wanted to run it.But they soon realized they weren’t quite as sure how to hire other people whose priorities mirrored their own.So they created a formula designed to help ensure that success. The formalized multi-step process makes it much easier for the technology company, which provides server and storage consolidation, the deployment of storage-area networks and other services, to ensure before it hires someone that the person is the right fit.“Yes, we’re a technology business, but we’re also very people-oriented,” says Rebecca Olson, co-founder of Hamel-based Evolving Solutions Inc. “It really helped us define what we wanted.”The steps aren’t complicated, Olson tells attendees. When the company begins looking to hire, managers narrowly define each job position and key qualities a hiree should possess, and create a list of current and future expectations.Then Evolving Solutions communicates its “ideal employee” profile internally and externally before beginning a strict selection process that includes having candidates meet with multiple current employees.Once someone is hired, the person will receive ongoing training and communication from superiors who are open to feedback and suggestions.Most importantly, Olson says, the employee must share the corporation’s values and beliefs.“They needed to agree that was something they think is important,” she says.Playing aroundSome people learn all they need to know in kindergarten. Others learn later. Barb Epstein, founder of Marketing Midwest Inc., says exit interviews have been her learning tool.She founded the media planning and buying company 16 years ago with a desire to raise the ethical and excellence standards of her industry, while creating an environment where going to work was fun and exciting.After some turnover, Epstein realized it would make more sense to be proactive, and try to reduce turnover by taking what she was hearing and implementing it in the office. As a result Epstein began allowing more flexibility. According to company policy, now, “well-trained children and pets are always welcome.”There are games, such as jacks, and videos for the kids, who also are given age-appropriate activities to tackle, such as passing messages from one employee to another.Rumor has it that some members of the office staff take breaks by playing “fetch the Arbitron ratings book” with some of the office pets. And with the flexible dress code, it’s not unusual for buyers to go from high-heel shoes to leopard slippers throughout the day. The atmosphere even rubs off on clients who frequently “ask to see the rock-star-hairstyle poodles,” Epstein says.While the casual atmosphere might not work for staff at every company, Epstein says: “I think the lack of intensive management has resulted in their taking more responsibility for their work.”Hanging outThe Next Level Café Inc. isn’t a restaurant. With 25 employees, the Savage-based company provides technical service and support to small- and medium-sized businesses.But company officials want their employees to be happy at work and feel comfortable, as though they were hanging out at a café.“Our most satisfied customers were the ones that were serviced by our happiest employees,” says CEO Richard Anderson. In the last year, the company restructured into what it is calling a CIO — a Continuous Improvement Organization — in which employees are encouraged to offer suggestions that will improve the way they work. To date, Next Level has implemented more than two dozen initiatives, the vast majority of which were suggested by employees. “What we found is that the employees who participate in those initiatives were the ones that were most likely to adopt them,” Anderson says.One such project is a weekly company “check-in,” where co-workers celebrate everyone’s weekly successes. A second allows employees to customize their work spaces. Four workers turned theirs into a dugout, complete with the Minnesota Twins logo. Anderson and his business partner created a jazz club theme with theirs.“We’ll help them get it approved, as long as it improves their attitude,” Anderson says. “Get the employees involved and then get out of their way.”Healthy habitsResource Training & Solutions in St. Cloud believes in keeping its clients and its employees healthy.The non-profit provides a wellness program that rewards staff for taking care of themselves and taking preventative health care measures, such as mammograms, colon screenings, physicals and eye exams.Encouraging such behaviors and focusing on healthy living can detect or prevent health issues before they become problems.“We need to look for ways to achieve that balance,” says Rob Cavanna, executive director and CEO.The organization doesn’t stop at offering this program in house. The tactics have been popular with the group’s lengthy list of customers as well. For the past decade, the company has offered a Regional Wellness Program that this year provided 246 grants to 40 school districts serving more than 23,000 people.Another 22 grants were provided to 15 cities, counties and government agencies in central Minnesota. The program is provided at no charge to members participating in the Resource Training & Solutions health insurance pool, which includes several Minnesota school districts. Providing these services for customers pulls the two organizations closer together and “has enhanced our role as being seen as a helper,” Cavanna says.In addition to wellness programs, Resource Training publishes newsletters and hosts evening seminars on several topics, such as parenting solutions, health and safety issues, and other issues of the day. This year the program added a “Smart Steps For Healthier Living” program that provides incentives for participants who seek preventative care.Each activity earns a number of points that can be redeemed at a certain level.
[contact] Louise Anderson, Anderson Performance Improvement Co.: 651.438.9825; www.andersonperformance.com. Richard Anderson, Next Level Café Inc.: 952.883.0602; www.nextlevelcafe.com. Rob Cavanna, Resource Training & Solutions: 320.255.3236; rc******@**************ng.com; www.resourcetraining.com. Barb Epstein, Marketing Midwest Inc.: 952.351.0607; ba**@**************st.com; www.marketingmidwest.com.Rebecca Olson, Evolving Solutions Inc.: 763.516.6500; in**@*********ol.com; www.evolvingsol.com.
Cannabis-based products have been increasingly available in Minnesota over the last six years. The opportunities in that space became even more prominent last year when the state legislature voted to become the 23rd state to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana for Minnesotans over 21.
When Super Bowl LII was played at U.S. Bank Stadium in February 2018, Alex Tittle didn’t play a down on the field, but he had more than three-years of impact on the experience.
Unemployment in Minnesota sits below 3 percent. Labor market participation is high. Airport traffic counts across the country are approaching and even surpassing pre-pandemic levels, so consumers are still spending money. Consumer confidence, reportedly spurred by the strong labor market, also seems at least cautiously on the rise.
