In This Episode:
Amy Friedrich, President of U.S. Insurance Solutions at Principal Financial Group, wants business owners to get back to the basics when it comes to running their companies. This is a terrific conversation about what it will take for small businesses to succeed in 2023 and beyond.
Key Takeaways from Amy
- Within 30 to 60 days of when the pandemic hit, we were fielding the most questions ever about insurance coverage. Business owners wanted to know, “Do I have any protection at work? Do I have income protection? And, if the unthinkable happens to one of my employees, do I have group life insurance in place?”
- Over the last 12 to 18 months, the resilience, purpose, and culture of small business owners helped keep their companies, and our economy, afloat.
- The successful leaders today do the best job at matching their employees concerns about burnout, wellbeing, and culture, while still setting their companies up for great growth; it’s not an “either/or” situation for them.
- The persistent lessons learned have a direct correlation between taking care of employees and understanding the purpose and commitment to the business.
- If business owners can give their employees autonomy and flexibility, the payoff is employee engagement that is measurably higher resulting in better work product, better customer service, and a better result.
- In our last Wellbeing Index, many business owners believed that a recession was still coming. However, they also said that if it happened, they wouldn’t get rid of benefits, change wages, or pull back on the flexibility they’ve given their employees.
