Want productive employees? Keep them happy

n a memo to staff dated Aug. 30, Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane announced that the company would cut insurance benefits for those who log fewer than 30 hours a week. Bane said the company will cut part-timers a check for $500 in January and assist them in finding a new insurance plan under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In a statement to Huffington Post recently, a spokeswoman for the company said the changes “will be a benefit to all Crew Members working in our stores.” I’m not so sure the “Crew Members” feel the same way. It doesn’t take a Wharton grad who also doubles as a health insurance expert to figure out that this is — solely — a benefit for the corporation. Trader Joe’s, along with other companies, are using the Affordable Care Act as a scapegoat – an excuse to abolish benefits. True, it may not be cost-effective for the company to continue offering health care benefits, but it keeps employees happy. And luckily, there are actually a few individuals out there who realize that happy employees are critical to success. A few days ago, Robert Crisan, senior vice president for health care reform and strategic growth at Hylant, told me: “I recently worked with a 283-employee company that determined it would pay $506,000 in yearly penalties if it decided to drop health care benefits. Those fees would be a relative bargain compared to the firm’s current annual net cost of $1.8 million for employee health care. However, the company will likely stick with its current benefit offerings to keep its employees happy. If you’re the employer next door and you offer benefits, you’re going to get your pick of those employees.” Unhappy workers are unproductive workers, and, over time, unproductive workers cost even more money than what a company such as Trader (also known as Traitor) Joe’s may have forked over for health insurance for all workers. Want productive employees? Keep them happy.