2010 Choice Employers, 301+ Employees No. 4: American National Property & Casualty Co.

American National Property & Casualty Co. pays more than half of health insurance premiums for its 845 full- and part-time employees. ANPAC offers tuition reimbursement for employees, and an employee mentoring program. More than 90 percent of those in management roles at the company were promoted from within, and employees can give feedback on managerial performance as frequently as needed. ANPAC employees have access to on-site benefits such as health screenings, a walking path, weight-loss support group and yoga. The company is active in the community, with an annual car show that raises funds for United Way. 


Chairman, President & CEO Greg Ostergren answers SBJ’s questions:

How would you describe your company’s culture?
As a family-oriented meritocracy. ANPAC encourages a culture of alignment, focus, accountability and appreciation. Using the balanced scorecard approach provides a consistent management framework that drives this culture, and focuses ANPAC team members on strategic objectives such as outstanding service to our clients. Operational measures and actions are linked with strategic objectives.

What methods do you use to involve employees in benefit decisions?
There are several surveys distributed each year... Managers have regularly scheduled meetings with their teams, during (which) team members are encouraged to provide continuous improvement ideas in regard to any aspect of their work environment, including benefit programs and options. Team members also have day-to-day interaction with management and the human resources division.

How is health reform affecting decisions about your company’s benefits?
We are starting to see adverse impact of health reform for our team members. As of Jan.1, purchases of most over-the-counter drugs and medicines cannot be reimbursed or paid directly under a flexible spending account without a doctor’s prescription.

Give us some examples of how your benefits package has evolved to meet work-force needs.
The wellness program has been the largest recent evolvement of ANPAC’s benefit package due to continual increase in cost of health insurance benefits. This program helps team members manage their own well-being and control (their) health costs. Participants are financially rewarded after completing the program requirements.

How does your company support professional development?
All team members have an individual development plan based on their personal goals and ANPAC’s strategic objectives. A team member’s IDP may include a variety of development activities such as classroom training, on the job training, mentoring, job shadowing, stretch assignments and team leadership. ANPAC pays up to 100 percent of tuition for job-related courses, and career paths are available that detail the training/education requirements for positions.

Just for Fun
If there were no limitations – budget or otherwise – what benefit would you begin offering employees tomorrow?
A child-care center, and an all-expense-paid medical plan with participation and achievement in the wellness initiative; extreme flexible work hours meaning employees could work whatever hours they wanted if they got the job done; a place or room with a few computers that had Internet access so employees could check personal e-mail or bank accounts or pay bills while at work on lunch break. Unfortunately, the largest impediments to most of these benefits are onerous laws, regulations, and our litigious society.[[In-content Ad]]