Wild at Work Welcomes in a New Year

We at Wild at Work want to thank you for your continued support of our program. We are soon concluding another great year of savings and are looking forward to 2010. The new year will bring exciting additions to the program, including more options in our Ticket Store, to go along with our current valuable savings. We are also excited to announce some great ticket and vacation giveaways we are preparing for you and your employees.

As always, you can find all our offers and programs at www.wildatwork.com.

4 Ways to Start Fresh for 2010

Author: Michele O Donnell, M.S. Human Resources Management

With the dawn of a new year approaching it is time to start planning the organizations HumanResources priorities for the new year. This can be a daunting task and quite a large undertaking for many employers. Many Human Resources initiatives involve long time lines and careful planning is always advised. If you have identified your organization’s Human Resources needs or initiatives for 2010 make sure enough time is allotted for the planning, research, development, and implementation of those initiatives to allow for the smoothest implementation possible. A few good guidelines to follow are discussed briefly below.

Employee Handbook: Review your currentEmployee Handbook and ensure the included policies are still in line with your business practices and mission, and revise when necessary. It is also a good idea to update existing policies to reflect any federal and/or state employment regulations since your last update; for example the expanded Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) language regarding Military Family Leave entitlements. Remove any policies that are no longer applicable, if any. A few key areas to review are paid time off policies, leave of absence policies, non-discrimination policies, anti-harassment policies and attendance policies.

Employee File Review: Ensure current addresses are on file for W-2 purposes. File any outstanding paperwork, so you can begin the year fresh. Additionally, you should make sure the information contained in the file is up to date and accurate, such as job title, pay rate, attendance record, etc. You may consider purging employee files that you are no longer required to keep by law, make sure you know the federal and applicable state requirements for the length of time files are required to be retained. If it is not your practice to purge files you may consider putting those files in long term storage.

Training Needs: If training needs have been identified, plan out a training schedule for 2010. Schedule trainings required by your industry, licensing requirements, or state and/or local governments. For example: California requires Sexual Harassment Prevention training for supervisors on a bi-annual basis. If training needs have not been identified work with staff andmanagers to determine what trainings will be of benefit to the employees and organization as a whole. Develop a plan and establish a budget to address those identified needs.

Staffing Needs: Many employers have had the unfortunate circumstance of having to lay off employees in the last year or have had to implement cost saving measures in regards to staffing such as reducing work hours. Now is the time to look at the current state of your business and determine if those staffing decisions are still applicable. If you have open positions to fill consider recalling employees that were previously laid off.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/4-ways-to-start-fresh-for-2010-1590280.html

Build a Better Company Newsletter

As your company's benefits director, we are aware that you are in charge of keeping your employees up to date with all your workplace benefits, news, and events. Whether you utilize a newsletter, company web page, or basic email, the article below will provide some tips on an effective communication.

Be sure that you include all the incredible savings at www.WildatWork.com

Twelve Employee Newsletter Tips, Ideas, and Articles for Corporate Wellness and Health

Getting employee newsletter ideas and employee newsletter samples are half the battle when producing an in-house employee work-life-stress-productivity newsletter for your workforce. You need to short-cut the frustrations on this type of project and avoid the pitfalls that can lead you to real frustration.

It's important to ensure that you employee newsletter refers and makes mention of your company's EAP or Employee Assistance Program. This is the source of help approved by your company. Don't refer employees to helping services or professional treatment resources in your newsletter articles because liablity exists for doing so outside of this channel.

If you have been assigned the grueling task of producing an employee newsletter monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly, you will eventually come to hate your job without having some tricks up your sleeve and systems in place to do this with as little effort as possible. Don't panic. There are great solutions to be had.

This project has most likely been assigned to you along with your other duties. With some preparation, you can avoid what I call newsletter prison. Newsletter prison is never being able to relax or escape from the awareness that your newsletter is due now, due soon, or behind.

Generating your own content is not difficult, but it takes discipline and organization. It is difficult to stay on task because procrastination is your enemy when it comes to newsletter production deadlines if you don't do it full time.

Generate content for your newsletter by focusing on 12 areas of concern, each of which affects employees greatly in your organization. Make manila folders and label them as follows, then toss sticky note ideas into these folders labelled as follows.

- Improving Coworker Relationships

- On-the-job Worker Productivity Tips

- Balancing Work, Family, Home, and Community

- Improving Personal Fitness and Effectiveness

- Bad habits, substance abuse, and intervention

- Team Building

- Work-Life Topics in the News

- Stress Management Tips

- Improving the Relationship with Your Supervisor

- Workplace Safety, Injury Prevention, and Recovery

- Customer Service

For graphics, use clipart from a clipart subscription services company that offers an annual subscription rate or use FREE photos and clipart from Microsoft Online Images. There is a link on your MS Word page or MS Publisher page. They have great, free graphics.

Choose MS Publisher to create your newsletter. It is easier to use than MS Word! It will only take you a couple hours to get used to it.

Author: Daniel Feerst

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Twelve Employee Newsletter Tips, Ideas, and Articles for Corporate Wellness and Health

Benefits of Employee Discount Programs

In our nation's financial climate, employees are struggling to grant their family's Christmas wishes on already stretched out budgets. Fortunately, with programs such as Wild at Work, employees can save money on all their holiday needs from travel to shopping.

Below is an article regarding the benefits of offering employee discount programs. The backbone of Wild at Work is our directors. We would like to reward you for your support. Comment below on how to you promote Wild at Work and be entered into a drawing for a pair of SAN DIEGO ZOO tickets.

Employee Discount Programs Offer Great Benefits to Organizations

Author: Alexander Baink

Many corporations are recognizing the benefits of offering their employees access to great discounts and corporate perks on products and services they normally buy anyway. A fast-growing trend among US corporations is to provide what are referred to as employee discount programs, or employee discount incentive solutions, for employees. The purpose of offering the employee discount opportunity is to create greater employee satisfaction and retention. The reason many companies are using this route to help build employee loyalty is that it is generally one of the more cost-effective employee perks that a company can offer.

Employee discount programs give employees the ability to search through various product deals from many merchants. Employees can generally search through the providers and deals and select discounts for the products that are the most appealing to them. Some of the top employee discount solutions are said to save company employees over $1,000 per year for products and services they would normally buy. Merchants view the discount programs as a way to target their message to a focused audience and often offer savings between 10-50 percent off normal prices.

As part of the general movement toward the provision of discounts for employees, many corporations are also outsourcing their employee discount programs to companies that specialize in developing and managing them. There are many benefits to corporations that outsource their programs. Many HR providers say that the cost for specialized services is well worth the investment considering the time and resources saved for the employer, as well as the advanced benefits made available to employees.

Top providers of corporate perk programs usually maintain relationships with hundreds of leading national brand merchants. This vast network of relationships with discount providers allows these discount program providers to offer the broadest and best deals for employees. Additionally, leading developers of employee discount solutions offer advanced technology platforms that enhance the experience for the company and end users. Many offer users the ability to search through a customized web portal in a matter of seconds to find their preferred employee discount.

With the competition for top employees high, corporate image and reputation are important. Companies that can offer better employee perks have a competitive advantage. One of the best benefits of high quality employee discount programs is the ability to monitor stats and usage. HR representatives can review the overall success of their programs while also getting a better sense for which corporate perks are most desired by employees. This enables them to provide the best program for employees and enhances their ability to improve satisfaction and retention.

About the Author:

Alexander Baink: LoyaltyEngine.com offers a comprehensive and inexpensive turnkey solution to employee discount program and HR administrators that eliminates the burden of merchant management, builds program awareness, and takes care of customer service responsibilities. Add a wealth of employee perks to your corporate offering, easily and inexpensively, by enrolling your company today at LoyaltyEngine.com – we do all the work, you get all the credit!

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Employee Discount Programs Offer Great Benefits to Organizations

Empower your Employees with Our New Employee Purchase Program

With the tough economic times and the holidays just around the corner, we have a valuable program to offer your employees. We have partnered with a premier purchase program that allows combined payroll deduction, automatic qualification and no interest financing on Computers, Electronics, and Home Appliances.

According to a detailed study on home Internet access from The Nielsen Company, more than 80% of Americans have a computer in their home. Computer use has also grown extensively amongst children and young adults. In High Schools and Colleges across the country, students have replaced traditional pen & paper note taking, with the latest laptop or netbook. Your employees and their families can now stay ahead of the technological curve. In addition, it will serve as a more efficient way for employees and their companies to stay connected via, email, net-meetings, or through the company's website.

We know a lot of employers are dealing with the rising costs of their core benefits, as well as, having to cut some benefits out of their portfolio. However, employers still want to add to their benefits portfolio, and give something of value back to their employees. I know this program has been able to help address these exact scenarios, and our program helps line up with a lot of companies business objectives: retention, employee self service, work life balance, and education.

As a Wild at Work member there is no cost to your company to participate in this valuable program.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW & HIGHLIGHTS:

* A voluntary benefit where employees use payroll deduction to purchase name brand computers, electronics, appliances and other products

* Convenient and easy qualification without a credit check.

* Complements existing EPP plans such as Dell

* The program handles employee eligibility, marketing costs and payment processes from start to finish

* 5% -10% consistent annual participation

* Over 60% repeat buyers

EMPLOYER BENEFITS:

* No employer liability to purchases

* No implementation fee or participation requirements

* No cost

* Increase participation in employee self-service initiatives

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS:

* No credit check required

* Employees qualify based on their jobs (tenure, employment status and income), not their credit score.

* Employees avoid complex requirements, high interest rates and long term obligations

* Employees never have to worry about a down payment or late fees

* The program uses a credit matrix and credit limits to prohibit employees from overextending themselves.

* Variety of products from trusted brand name manufacturers.

* Over 90,000 satisfied customers

* Simple and secure online shopping with convenient home delivery.

* Convenient 12-month payment plan via payroll deduction.

For more information please email hcarr@wildatwork.com or call Wild at Work's Customer Service at 858-558-6890.

Welcome to Wild at Work's New Director's Blog!

We are excited to launch our first official blog! As you can tell from our Facebook and Twitter accounts we have expanded the way we stay connected to our Wild at Work Directors & Employees.

Here you can stay informed on all our latest employee discounts and valuable programs. Be sure to check back often so you don't miss out on our contests and sweepstakes.

As always, thank you for your continued support!

For all the latest employee discounts wisit www.WildatWork.com