Ready. Set. Shop! Earn 10% Cash Back at 1,000+ Stores.
By Joshua Weinstein, Employee Benefits President
I’m a minimalist by nature. I believe everything you own is a relationship you’re in that requires maintenance. That said, many things spark joy and should be kept around, even if they require TLC. When new “things” are needed, I try to maximize my purchasing power. Heck, we so often trade our most precious resource, time, for money, so we might as well earn something for doing what’s otherwise needed. Enter, Shopsmarter.com.
I found Shopsmarter.com on a UPS shipping label for a Best Buy purchase. The ad proposed receiving a $15 sign-up bonus and 10% cash back at over 1,000 stores, including my beloved Best Buy. So, I signed up, and the monthly checks started rolling in. Mind you, there’s a $1,000 cash back limit per membership year and a $9.95 monthly fee, but some simple arithmetic shows I can make sense of this.
New running shoes for my wife and me? ASICS had our favorites on sale, plus we got 10% back, to the tune of $11 per pair. A new refrigerator at Lowe’s? $172.40 cash back. It adds up, especially when stacking store discounts, coupons, and credit card rewards. My favorite stores participate, and perhaps yours do too!
Here are a few of mine:
- Published in Blog
Volunteer Time Off: The Benefit That Gives Back
By Alison Nelson, Sales and Marketing Coordinator
We’ve all heard of paid time off, but what about volunteer time off? Volunteer time off (VTO) is an increasingly popular employee benefit that businesses are offering as a way to demonstrate how seriously they take social responsibility. Offering VTO is also a way to recruit and retain employees. According to this Employee Benefits News article, “75% of millennials expect their employer to participate in social good, either with donations or through volunteering.” Additionally, 51% of employees expect that their employer allows workers to volunteer during work hours.
Encouraging employees to volunteer is a great way to create (or solidify) a caring company culture and represent your brand in a positive light. It’s also an excellent way to promote your business via word of mouth. Employees who have VTO are likely to boast about that benefit and, by extension, their employer.
You’re interested in offering VTO to your employees, now what?
Market it! After you establish your official VTO policy (click here for examples), begin by setting a goal of contributing a certain number of cumulative volunteer hours per year. Then, take to social media for community engagement and PR. Announce your new employee perk and ask the community who their favorite nonprofits are. An example of this could read, “The team at Awesome Company have set a goal of contributing 5,000 hours of community service this year! Comment below with your favorite nonprofit!”
The social media engagement on your post will help boost your company’s page, creating more exposure and brand awareness. Be sure to engage with those who comment on your post for an additional boost. As employees begin to use their VTO, share photos of them (ideally wearing your logo) on social media to keep your followers updated and engaged.
VTO is a great employee benefit to offer and it demonstrates your values as a company. Your employees will appreciate the opportunity and, most of all, you would be helping the community.
- Published in Blog
Workers’ Compensation Trends to Watch in 2021
By Dena Lythgoe, Senior Account Executive & Partner
I can hardly believe it but 2020 has finally come to a very long awaited and welcomed close. With the new year upon us professionals of all industries are offering predictions, trends and opportunities for 2021 and the insurance industry is no different. All business owners need to keep an eye out for the anticipated workers compensation claims trends for this upcoming year and get ahead by implementing changes to their risk management programs to avoid certain types of losses.
Read the article Workers’ Compensation Trends to Watch in 2021 below!
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- Published in Blog
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
By Tonya Mott, Vice President of Operations
My colleague recently turned me onto the book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown: https://gregmckeown.com/book/
I was hooked after reading these two questions:
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- Is your time being hijacked by other people’s agendas?
- Are you busy but not productive?
YES, the answer is, YES!!
After I finished the book I decided it was time to live by design, not by default.
I immediately made the following changes:
- Created distraction-free space to focus only on the essential projects and tasks.
- Tuesdays and Thursdays are distraction free days and are only for focusing on essential work.
- Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are free-for-all days, bring on the chaos and distractions!
- Determine what is essential. I made a list of essential tasks and projects using the project management tool, monday.com.
- Cleaned up Outlook inbox (Outlook is not a project management tool) – Took action on 150+ emails that has clogged my inbox on a daily basis using these categories:
- No action needed > Filed or deleted email
- Needs follow up > Set a reminder to Outlook tasks and filed email
- Project > Moved to Monday.com board and scheduled time on my calendar to complete then filed email.
- Communicated the plan to my colleagues – Let them know if they have an urgent matter on Tuesdays and Thursdays to text me and I’m be happy to help.
The way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time, it’s about getting the RIGHT THINGS done. It’s a discipline not a time management tool or productivity technique.
Since implementing this new discipline my inbox has been at zero by the end of every work day for the past 5 weeks. For the first time in a long time I feel like I’m getting meaning full work done and I’m available to help my team without feeling stressed.
A pic of my inbox as proof that it seems to be working:
- Published in Blog
Virtual Workplace Holiday Parties
By Dena Lythgoe, Senior Account Executive & Partner
All of us throughout the world have experience vast changes in 2020. The world is not yet back to the ‘normal’ we have grown knowing and now with the holiday season upon us we seem to be searching for ways to remain close to our loved ones near and far. The struggle is REAL!!
To have, or to not have a party? Companies are also struggling with how they should share holiday cheer with their employees. How do you transfer that warm and cozy feeling an in person holiday party provides to employees virtually? Check out this article for some helpful hints and suggestions.
No matter how you choose to celebrate your holiday season, all of us at RISQ wish you the happiest and safest of holidays.
Click here to view the article Virtual Workplace Holiday Parties
- Published in Blog
Cruise Season Cancelation
By Dena Lythgoe, Senior Account Executive & Partner
Alaska offers majestic mountains, abundant wildlife, and outdoor adventures which bring tourists from all over the world primarily by cruise ship. In 2019, two times the population of Alaska residents came to Alaska on a cruise ship. In 2020 all cruising was put to a screeching halt due to COVID causing communities dependent on tourism to miss out on 1.8mm travelers. The cancelled cruise season wreaked havoc on the livelihoods of those dependent on the tourism season in many rural communities. Read the latest fact finding economic impact report and how the cruise industry, or lack thereof, has impacted the Pacific Northwest.
- Published in Blog
How to Tell if Distance Learning Is Working for Your Kid
By Casey Kirkeby, Strategy Consultant
2020 is a crazy time to be alive. We’re dealing with a pandemic, politics, economic uncertainties, and so much more. This article hit home for me because I have a kid in school and, like many others, we are doing distance learning. My son is going to be 8 years old and is in 2nd grade and when a child is younger, you need to spend more time with them to make sure they understand the lesson.
Pre-pandemic, teachers, who I deeply admire, were able to build out creative curriculums and bring energy to their classroom every day, in person. This has changed and now parents need to step up to make sure their children understand their homework, are completing lessons, and know how to send documents in PDF format to their teacher. How can we, the parents, make sure that this is effective? How will we know if our child is learning anything this year?
Don’t be alarmed folks because after reading through this article, I felt a little better about the current arrangement and how I can be more proactive for my child in this digital learning environment.
- Published in Blog
A Layman’s Guide for When Sh!t Hits the Fan
By Jennifer Outcelt, Account Specialist
I think we can all agree that this year has been comprised of many fans, and many propelled sh!ts. It sucks, and we are all struggling to wipe ourselves clean. Many of us are now struggling in a way that feels SO unfamiliar that it’s difficult to identify how we feel and what we should do about it. While attempting to wade through my own splattered muck, I was given this article to read by someone well adept at fostering self-care.
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/routes-of-safety-model
It’s a simple fact; you are now experiencing your life with more trauma than you did before. You have been distanced from the people you share a community with and have probably felt a decline in the safety you previously took for granted. This article outlines the various “Routes of Safety” to help us “understand how we get to and access safety.” It mirrors the construction of the Love Languages model, asserting that not all self-care looks the same. This tool helped guide my own path to feeling safe in my new environment. It helped my needs feel less abstract and more achievable. So stand up, wipe yourself off, and grab an umbrella; it’s time to take care of you.
- Published in Blog
Stress Is a Mess, it Plays to be Board
By Bailey Penrose, Employer Services Account Manager
I’ve been fighting heartburn the last few days (weeks, months, etc.) Stress has been a constant, and inconsiderate, guest lately. Quite possibly most of us have had to reach liberally for the Tums, Rolaids, or stomach soother of choice this year.
As we get ready to head indoors for the winter, why not consider a few fun games to while away the hours and get that stress to tone it down for a while?
Games for Friendly Competition
Cooperative Games
Virtual Games
Games to Play Solo
- Published in Blog
