The “Top Place to Work” Culture at New Benefits

Posted on: November 2, 2018 at 12:51 PM by Ashtyn Williams

The average person will spend about one-third of their life at work, which gives employers a huge opportunity to positively impact their employees. At New Benefits, we don’t take this lightly. Building and maintaining a strong, engaging workplace culture is as essential to our business as selling non-traditional benefits.

This year, we’re honored to be recognized as one of the Dallas Morning News’ Top 100 Places to Work. While we pride ourselves in the work we accomplish, we’re even more proud of the people who make up our organization. From our CEO and senior leadership to our newest hires, the New Benefits culture is a group effort built over almost three decades of hard work, collaboration, and fun.

New Benefits FLIIPs Out Over Core Values

To get a sense of the New Benefits culture, you simply need to walk through our halls. Every person you pass greets you with a smile, conference rooms are filled with excited, eager discussions, and coworkers are sharing good conversation and laughter. Every interaction stems from our core values: Flexibility, Leadership, Integrity, Innovation, and Passion (aka FLIIP).

We emphasize our core values from the start, assessing job candidates not only for their strong skill sets, but also for culture match. We look for a “sparkle.” New hires go through core value training during onboarding, then, at the 90-day mark, they share the value that resonates with them the most at our monthly Town Hall meeting that celebrates big accomplishments and provides business updates.

We’re constantly encouraged to FLIIP for our customers and for each other. When employees are seen FLIIPing above and beyond what’s expected, coworkers and managers can nominate them for our MOE (Merit & Outstanding Effort) Money recognition program. Employees who are nominated for MOE Money are praised in Town Hall and given a cash reward on the spot.

If “culture” is a workplace’s personality and character, New Benefits’ is driven by FLIIP. Everything I consider part of an ideal workplace culture – the cliché “work hard, play hard,” collaboration, camaraderie, flexibility, and fun – are all embraced by our core values.

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Flexibility

New Benefits is flexible with employees who need help improving their work/life balance. Our employees have options for their work schedule, so their hours can be adjusted if they need to arrive later or leave earlier. We offer remote working options on a case-by-case basis. If a particular resource would make an employee’s job easier, we try to provide it.

Job roles and career paths are also flexible. Employees are empowered to transform their own position into something new based on their strengths and interests, and the needs of the company. They can also request a transfer to another position they feel better suited for. There’s no rigid, singular career path to follow; you can create your own future at this company. Terry Ray, Chief Leadership Officer, says, “Several employees are in their current roles because they saw a need, had the skill set, and created their next position.”

Dulce Bozeman is a prime example. She started almost 20 years ago in our call center, innovating and working hard, and is now our company President. There are similar stories of cultivating potential from within the company with Amanda Franklin, EVP of Operations, Kendall Mason, Director of Marketing, and me. Regardless of where an employee starts, if they work diligently, prepare for the next step, and think big, they have the opportunity to pave their own career path.

Leadership

Something unique I love about New Benefits is the sense of empowerment we all feel. I’ve worked for other companies where there’s so much red tape, you feel like you can’t really make a big difference. Here, executives encourage employees to share their ideas and lead from every chair.

Our CEO, Joel Ray, wants every employee to be a significant contributor to New Benefits. He says, “My leadership philosophy is based on transparency and collaboration. We keep everyone in the loop with the company’s direction and invest in them through various programs like Emerging Leaders and Dare to Dazzle™. As a result, we’re equipping employees to be leaders who take risks and make calculated decisions for the betterment of New Benefits.”

Our employees are our biggest asset, and also our biggest investors. I love seeing how everyone champions this company, working hard to make it thrive. When each employee is called to contribute and lead, the business profits and employees prosper.

Integrity

We’re invested in the success of New Benefits, so we all put in our full effort for our clients, vendors, and coworkers every day. Joel started this company with an idea he learned working for his father: “You can never be wrong by doing the right thing.” As long as we continue to innovate, work hard, deliver what we promise, and treat others with respect, the business will always move in the right direction.

Integrity is also about strength in unity. New Benefits employees call ourselves a family, and we mean it. We’ve built an environment of trust and camaraderie, and maintain it by hiring people who exude positivity, have a desire to collaborate, and exemplify our core values.

Innovation

Innovation is contagious around here. Our culture embraces change and taking risks, and even as a 28-year-old company, employees say New Benefits has the energy of a start-up. Every employee has a voice and is encouraged to bring new ideas to the table, no matter how unconventional. Joel wants New Benefits to disrupt the industry, and he emboldens us all to lead the charge.

Innovation is not a competition at New Benefits. Everyone here brings something unique to the table, and we do our best work when we work together. Our employees collaborate within teams and across departments, allowing us to see how each piece of the puzzle is vital to the big picture.

Passion

I’m fortunate to work with people who are passionate about the work they do for this company, and each other. We embrace the challenges with enthusiasm because we feel like we’re contributing to something important. New Benefits rewards our fervor with company-wide parties, food trucks, work anniversary gifts, and fun raffle prizes like spa days and concert tickets to Bruno Mars.

Our leadership are huge advocates of our positive culture, making consistent effort to show employees how valued they are. For example, Dulce says, “happy and engaged individuals produce quality work, not because they have to, but because they want to. If they believe in what they do and for whom they work, everyone wins.”

Top Place to Work

I think I speak for everyone at New Benefits when I say we are so proud of being recognized as this incredible company. We earned the Top 100 Places to Work distinction because of our employees’ happiness and overwhelming participation. We needed only 35% of our workforce to complete the anonymous satisfaction survey to be considered for the award - we had over 90% participation!

A culture like this isn’t built in a day. We take all the aspects of our workplace culture seriously, which helps keep our focus on the right things, like cultivating better corporate citizens. With leadership support and employee commitment, New Benefits is absolutely a Top Place to Work.

If you’d like to join the New Benefits family and experience our culture for yourself, visit our careers page at http://www.newbenefits.com/careers.aspx to see our current openings.

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