Internalships Develop Talent from Within

May 7, 2012 2:50 pm Businessolver Buzz, Industry News

Nate Saul is checking out Process Excellence. Rachel Pirkl is exploring implementations. Tori Peterson tried her hand at recruiting for HR. All three are current Businessolver employees, taking part in a unique “Internalship” program which introduces employees to different areas of the company to help them understand their current positions more thoroughly and also give them an opportunity to visualize their own role and growth within the company.

“Our Internalship program is an opportunity for current employees to see other aspects of the business,” said HR Manager Mimi Kelly. “It allows the business not only to get extra help from someone who does not require an onboarding” plan, but also allows us to better utilize the ebb and flow of work volumes in different areas. “

Kelly said that another great feature of the program is the opportunity for people to work with others within the organization who may have a different perspective on how or why things are done. “This allows us to collaborate on better ideas and to information and process share,” she said.

“The job is bigger than I expected,” Saul said of his experience. He has been with Businessolver for about a year, as a Service Center representative. He is working with Shari Naughton in the Process Excellence area, helping to develop process documentation. “I have been taking completed documentation and picking it apart,” he said. He is testing and editing the documents before they become part of the Helpsolver tool found on the Benefitsolver platform.

“I knew there was a lot to learn,” Saul said, “but I didn’t realize how deep it went.” Saul sees this opportunity as a win/win. “Here I am, 23 years old, at the beginning of my career, and I’m being given this opportunity to explore other areas of the business without having to change jobs, and the company gets the added bonus of getting new content.” Saul Internalship is expected to last about three months.

Rachel Pirkl, another first-year Businessolver employee who works in the fulfillment area, is learning about the implementation process as part of her Internalship with senior implementation architect Amy Wilson as her mentor. As part of that process, she has met and worked with the Implementation Architects and others on the Client Centric Teams. “It’s given me the opportunity to put names with faces and make sense of what they do,” Pirkl said. She is helping review last year’s implementations to help improve the processes for those going forward. “Seeing it broken out in all the steps that they take is really amazing,” she said.

Tori Peterson has completed her Internalship as a recruiter for HR, and her experience led her to a new position within the company. During her Internalship, she helped recruiter Lori Vander Zyl with phone screens and other recruiting processes. “I’m definitely sales oriented and I loved helping to sell our business,” she said. I learned so much about Businessolver and the other areas in the company.” Her Internalship also helped her gain confidence and build communication skills, she said, which she believes helped her earn a new position with the sales team. Like Saul and Pirkl, Peterson has been with the company for about a year.

Businessolver Teams Stand Up for Client Delight

April 26, 2012 9:42 am Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Walk into any company and you will probably see their mission statement printed and hung on a wall. But are these more than words on paper? How do these missions come to life?

Businessolver follows “The Businessolver Way” as a guiding set of principles to help us reach our mission: Grow our business, Delight our customers. One way Businessolver is making our mission come to life is through our daily Stand Up meetings. The goal of each meeting is to make sure we are driving our business forward and sending a consistent message across the organization.

When team members hear Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” every morning at 8:25 they know it’s time to do just that. Teams head to their meeting rooms to begin discussing the day’s activities, challenges they face, and successes they are experiencing.

Any onlooker will quickly notice, these are not your typical meetings. Employees are engaged and the energy in the room is contagious. Each team receives an agenda each morning, following a similar agenda each day.

First up, team members share one success from the previous day. This can be something positive that happened at work or in their personal life.

Next, team members discuss any events happening in the company such as client visits, events within the company, etc.

The third agenda item is called Raving Fans. A testimonial or piece of client feedback is shared. Hearing this positive feedback is highly motivating. It congratulates the teams for going above and beyond for our clients.

Next up is Feature Flash. This is where one piece of functionality in the system is discussed. System knowledge is incredibly important to providing superior levels of service to our clients. This agenda item allows team members to learn something new or interesting that our system provides and how it can help our clients.

Each day a principle from The Businessolver Way is selected for a discussion or activity. The next agenda item focuses on an activity or discussion around this principle. For example, active listening was chosen at a recent meeting. Team members watched a quick video and completed an interactive exercise to work on their own active listening skills.

The last agenda item focuses on the team and individual operational metrics. Teams are given an update on their metrics, such as how many outstanding projects they have, what the call volume is, and client satisfaction levels. Next each team member gives their own personal metrics. This is a great example of the teamwork that takes in Businessolver. As members share their personal metrics, they are given the opportunity to ask for feedback, solicit help on a difficult project, or offer support to other team members who may need it.

As the meeting finishes and team members head out to tackle the challenges of the day, a real sense of accomplishment has already been established. These meetings further our culture and our common language. Team members have their goals aligned, they are motivated by successes that are occurring across the organization, they have built a camaraderie and trust with one another, and they have new knowledge that will allow them to better assist their clients.

A lot of powerful and useful information is shared during these 30 minute meetings, and they happen every day at Businessolver. Contact your Businessolver representative to talk about putting our culture to work for you.

Businessolver Payroll Functions: An HR Exec’s Best Friend

April 23, 2012 7:48 am Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

You know you’re paying premiums to your carriers on behalf of some employees that haven’t paid, for various reasons. But your system doesn’t have the ability to calculate retro adjustments. What’s an HR exec to do?

Businessolver’s online enrollment platform, Benefitsolver, can automatically calculate retros and apply the necessary adjustments to your payroll file. Or, if you’d rather, we can track the differences without adjusting them and let you determine whether or not to alter the deduction amounts. “Many of our clients would be surprised at how much they can recoup,” says Businessolver payroll expert Lisa Curtis.

Another system feature that has helped clients recoup costs is the Payroll Comparison tool. “Whaaaat?!!!” you may be thinking. “But how does it work?!” Businessolver can import your payroll file containing actual deductions taken, and run a quick comparison against the deduction file generated in our system. Any discrepancies identified are reviewed and brought to your attention for correction.

The Payroll Comparison feature is really crucial during implementation, Curtis said. Data discrepancies are identified right away and corrected before the system goes live. Having a clean file at go live helps keep discrepancies to a minimum down the road. Like our retro calculation feature, Payroll Compare can help you save money due to errors that might not be caught elsewhere.

Retro Adjustments and Payroll Compare: just two of the features that help Businessolver stand out from the crowd.

Find Your Strength with Businessolver

April 20, 2012 1:46 pm Businessolver Buzz, Industry News

Imagine. Your company is in the final stages of selecting a strategic business partner for benefits processing. Your team is invited to visit the provider’s corporate office for a finalist presentation. Several weeks before the scheduled meeting, your account executive sends a copy of a book to each member of your team, invites you to read the book and participate in an accompanying activity online. The book and exercise are part of Gallup’s acclaimed Strengthsfinder program; many companies today are utilizing its tenets as part of their strategy, but few take the concept as far as Businessolver.

After your team completes the Strengthsfinder exercise, the results are sent to Businessolver. When you sit down to meet your potential business partners for the first time, Businessolver has selected an internal service team, based on, among other factors, the various strengths of your team, and introduces their internal team to you along with a strategy for best integrating the strengths of both teams.

“We walk the talk,” says Josh Wolk, quality and development coach at Businessolver. Wolk says that in some companies, employees will take the Strengthsfinder test, hang up the strengths poster in their cubicle and leave it at that. But Businessolver lives it. “Strengthsfinder is embedded into the organization. We have really made this part of the culture.”

The graphic below is a slide from a recent finalist presentation at the Businessolver headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa. As Wolk and the team presented this portion of the presentation, the strengths were discussed and dissected.

“We take the Strengthsfinder concept farther into some of the practices found in the book, Strengths Based Leadership and map the talent of the teams,” Wolk said. “We examine, within each team, ‘how many executers do we have, how many influencers, relationship builders, strategic thinkers’,” he explained. “This is a really important step in building a cohesive relationship between Businessolver and our clients.”

The graphic below is an overview of how the two teams mesh.

“If there are a lot of strategic thinkers in a group but not a lot of relationship builders like in this example, we just need to be mindful of that,” Wolk said. “If there’s a lot of strategic/intellection, we might have to say, sometimes, ‘it’s time to not overthink and just execute’ It sometimes challenges us to leave our comfort zone in order to make a stronger team.”

Businessolver utilizes the strategies internally as well. Each employee takes the Strengthsfinder assessment and then completes a one-on-one training session with Wolk to help see how their strengths can help them in their position. “We can start to recognize what the talents look like when you use them,” he said. “I help the employee to see ‘how this is reflective of my talents’ and ‘this is what talent I’m using when I’m engaged in my work.’ ”

The Strengthsfinder culture is very visible within Businessolver offices, with employees displaying their strengths poster; some have attached their strengths to their email signatures as well.

“Businessolver is an industry leader in its internal training program,” Wolk said. “We support conceptual knowledge. We educate our employees not only the step by step information to get them up and running in their specific job but we also educate them with general knowledge about the industry and the field we work in.”

Focus on Client Delight: Jersey Drives Quest to Be Like Mike

10:50 am Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

The jersey sat in a heap in Ryan Eagle’s basement for months before the idea hit him. Businessolver’s Team 4 Lead had rescued Number 23 from a colleague’s ebay pile several months earlier and wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with it. Instead of framing and hanging it on a wall, as he originally envisioned, Eagle presented the shirt, along with a leadership concept, at a daily standup meeting with his team.

“Michael Jordan was an example of determination and dedication,” Eagle told Team 4 one day during March Madness. “He lived those values every day. On the court there was nobody better, nobody who made their team better, than MJ,” Eagle said. “He pushed himself to the limit and always made his team better.”

Eagle’s strategy was this: each day a different team member wears the jersey. It’s presented in the morning standup. “When you have this jersey,” Eagle told the team, “you are to be the best you can be. Push yourself to learn more, and do everything you can to make your team better that day.”

Has it worked?

“It’s been brilliant,” Eagle said.

For example, one team member, Larry Kalvig, got the jersey on his first day back from vacation–a cruise, no less. “I could see the look on his face that morning when he got it. He knew what it meant,” Eagle said. “But it gave him an extra boost that day.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be me that day,” Larry admitted. “I was tired, I was missing being on the cruise, I knew I had thousands of emails and lots of work waiting for me. But when it was me, I graciously accepted and it gave me a better perspective of the day,” he explained. “It gave me an energy. Rather than dreading the rest of the day, I ended up performing better than I probably would have.” Larry says the jersey idea really helps solidify the team concept at Businessolver.

The jersey is presented toward the end of each morning’s standup, after each team member has given a rundown on the upcoming day.

“Today it was me,” said Mark Schultz of a recent experience. “I kind of thought I had a shot at it because I have a lot going on today and I have an all-day training tomorrow so I’ve had to work extra hard all week to be prepared to be away from it for the day.”

Mark said he arrived at work with a “minor panic situation,” and rather than waste time worrying about it, he attacked the problem head on immediately after the standup meeting where he was presented with the jersey.

Megan Riedel got the shirt on a day that she was working on three implementations. “I got a lot done,” she said. “It definitely helped.”

When you partner with Businessolver, whether or not Team 4 is your team, you get motivated and creative leaders like Ryan Eagle. Every day. You get top performance. Every day. You get individuals contributing to strong teams. Every day.

And growing, and growing…

April 10, 2012 10:16 am Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Rachel Wegmann

Rachel Wegmann joined Businessolver as a Training Specialist on April 9th. Rachel holds a BA in marketing from UNI. She comes to Businessolver from Liberty Bank where she was Operations Training Manager; she has also been in corporate training at Nationwide. Rachel is thrilled to be at Businessolver where she can “fully embrace the creative chaos going on all around.”

Cheryl Wiese

Cheryl Wiese joined Businessolver as a National Accounts Executive March 26. Cheryl most recently worked as a Senior Account Manager at Principal Financial Group managing large client relationships as well as relationships with carriers and brokers. Cheryl has also been employed by Marsh, CIGNA and Coventry Health Care. “I have so much respect for an organization that really lives their values – and I’ve been around long enough to know it’s very rare,” Cheryl said.

Growing Businessolver to Delight Our Clients

March 21, 2012 3:42 pm Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Businessolver’s motto is “Grow Our Business, Delight Our Clients.” We’re sticking with that plan, adding 10 new employees recently, and we’re delighted to introduce them to you.

Matt Bower says he has never worked for a company that values its employees as highly as Businessolver does. Joining in March as a Client Services Manager, Matt graduated from the University of Dubuque with a degree in flight operations and spent the early part of his career as the primary flight instructor at Exec 1 Aviation in Ankeny. He has also been employed by Holmes Murphy and Marsh. Matt is especially impressed by the Businessolver concept that “delighted employees delight clients.”

Doug Hibbs joined Businessolver March 12 as an Anaylyst. Doug most recently worked at Fiserv as a conversion coordinator. He has also been with Boatmen’s Bank in the roles of merchant processing and credit card representative. “I’m very excited about joining Businessolver and this ‘Client Centric Team’ environment,” Matt said. “I’m anxious to help delight our clients!”

“The genuinely open and honest environment” was what attracted Jeremy Lind to Businessolver, “along with the focus and core value of ‘delighting the client’ rather than just focusing solely on quantity metrics.” Jeremy joined Businessolver in March as an Analyst. Jeremy was the creator and developer of CycloneFanatic.com which became one of the top five most visited websites in the state of Iowa at the time of its sale. He spent eight years at Marsh where he was most recently a senior business analyst on strategic initiatives.

Stacie Mosely, who joined us March 12 as a Client Services Manager, most recently was youth program coordinator for the Waukee YMCA. She holds a BA from Iowa State University in sociology and psychology. Stacie has also been employed by Great-West Healthcare and Lutheran Social Services. “I love Businessolver because of the outstanding people and the focused culture and work they produce,” Stacie said during her third week on the job.

Jason Monroe, whose first day at Businessolver was March 12, came from Allscripts, where he was an interfaces project manager. He has also been employed by MediNotes and Mediacom. “The people at Businessolver are genuine and open,” he said, “a true credit to the organization and the culture that has been established.”

Businessolver’s “family” feeling is what Melissa Noble likes about her experience so far. She came to Businessolver as a Client Services Manager in March with six years of experience; the past four years she was with Marsh in the roles of program specialist, account manager and service account manager. She holds a BA in criminology from the University of Northern Iowa. “I’m excited to be here with Businessolver to be a part of an innovative, growing company!”

Diane Pohlmeier, Director of Client Operations, came to Businessolver in March from Marsh where she was VP of Premium Accounting. Diane has earned numerous designations throughout her career and has a passion for personal development and continued learning. Diane is thrilled with the warm welcome she received at Businessolver and looks forward to expanding her knowledge and building relationships with her new colleagues.

“Every day brings new and different challenges,” to new RFP Manager Sarah Sinclair, who joined Businessolver in February. “There are so many opportunities to become more involved in the company.” Sarah graduated from Iowa State University with a BA in advertising and speech communication. She spent three years at Aviva Investors as RFP coordinator. Sarah has also been employed by GeoLearning (now Sum Total); Sunbelt Business Advisors and The Des Moines Register.

The family atmosphere is what attracted Client Services Manager Cheryl White, whose first day was March 12. Cheryl graduated from Drake University with a BS in business administration/ marketing, and most recently worked at Commercial Resources Inc in Centerville. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to get to know employees on both a personal and professional level,” she said.

Event: Workplace Benefits Renaissance

February 15, 2012 6:11 pm Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Workplace Benefits Renaissance
Feb. 27-29, 2012
Atlantic City, NJ
Trump Taj Mahal

Learn more or register here.

EXHIBIT SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Claim & Medical Bill Audits: New Business For You, Big Savings For Clients
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Key Trends: Voluntary Benefits
9:15 a.m – 10:00 a.m. Hottest Benefit: Defined Contribution Flex Benefits Plans
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Innovations in Personalized Benefits Communications
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Welcome & Introduction
10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Keynote Presentation: Forecasting the Future of Health Care Reform and Broker Community Response
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Keynote Panel: The Role Of The Broker In An Exchange Environment
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. How To Set Yourself Apart From Your Competition
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Debit Card Technology: The Key to Success with Consumer Driven Health Plans
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Payroll Services
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Viewing Enrollment as a Strategic Advantage
3:30 p.m – 4:15 p.m. Adviser’s Top Five Compliance Challenges
3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Avatars: They are Finally Ready for Prime Time!
4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Keynote Presentation: Winning the Large Account
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Opening Wine & Cheese Reception

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Bridging the Gap Between Employer and Employee Perspectives Of Voluntary Benefits
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Rainmaker Panel: Million Dollar Voluntary Benefits Agencies – How They Do It
10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Keynote Panel: Mergers, Acquisitions, & Strategic Relationship Options
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Employee Benefit Portals
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Advanced Concepts In Voluntary Benefits
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Improve Your Internet Presence: Web, Social Media & Mobile

For the Love of Bacon

February 13, 2012 8:04 am Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Businessolver is a proud sponsor of the 5th Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, “Baconpocalypse Now: I love the smell of bacon in the morning” taking place February 18th. And we want you to know that we’re always looking for a few good bacon lovers. Seriously dudes, seriously.

The prestigious event features a Bacon Showcase, Bacon Lecture Series and bacon eating contest. Were you lucky enough to snag a ticket?

Businessolver Addition to Develop Strategic Partnerships

January 5, 2012 1:29 pm Businessolver Banter, Businessolver Buzz

Businessolver will continue to develop strategic partnerships with HR and benefits-related organizations with the addition of 25-year HR outsourcing vet Jeff Mortland.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Des Moines, Iowa - Businessolver, a West Des Moines-based benefits outsourcing company, will continue to develop strategic partnerships with HR and benefits-related organizations with the addition of Jeff Mortland.

Mortland brings nearly 25 years of HR outsourcing experience to Businessolver. He will leverage that experience as Assistant Vice President of Alliances.

“We’re excited to leverage Jeff’s strategic alliance experience to accelerate our alliance focus and opportunities,” said Businessolver Vice President of North American Sales Loren Brockhouse. “We’re relying on his experience to develop formal relationships with organizations that align well with our business strategies.”

Mortland’s experience includes HR, benefits administration and payroll outsourcing services. He led sales groups for Ceridian, ADP and HR XCEL before joining Businessolver.

“It’s exciting to be a part of an organization that provides top-notch technology and industry-leading service to support it,” said Mortland. “The technology provides a lot of opportunity to connect with other leading providers and offer our clients an even more complete solution.”

About Businessolver
Businessolver is a provider of online benefits administration services and benefit administration outsourcing services. Its web-based platform automates employers’ insurance benefit administration by consolidating multiple insurance carriers into a single platform and customizing the process to meet each employer’s unique enrollment requirements. In addition to Enrollment and Eligibility services, other Businessolver service offerings include: COBRA Services, Billing and Financial Reporting, Service Center, Benefit Advisory Services, Eligibility Verification and Fulfillment.

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