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What Employees Really Want Isn't a Raise · Business Roundtable

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Business Roundtable podcast. I'm your host,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: David Carr, Founders Seward of your Business wherehere you can
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: bring you great guests week after week, and I'm super
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: excited to get into a brand new conversation. I'm pretty
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: sure you've never heard or talked about in this particular way.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: I think it's very timely because we talk, we're talking
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: about something that affects almost every business owner and leader
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: right now, and it's really how do you attract, retain
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and generally support those great people in today's economy and
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: what we're facing with all these different changes and because
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: many employers, one of the biggest sources of stress employees
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and employers is really not the work itself. It's actually housing.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: It's affordability. It's financial uncertainty and wondering whether or not
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: they can actually.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Build sustainability, stability if you will, for their future.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: And that's where I'm excited to have our guests on
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: here rethinking and challenging that entirely. Today I'm joined by
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Larry Salazar, President and co founder of next Steps. Be
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: sure I get that right, Larry, an innovative platform really
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: helping companies turn home ownership into an employee benefit. So
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: this is kind of something I hadn't heard before, and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: I thought you as our listeners, would benefit from Larry's
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: decades of experience. He's led marketing, product strategy, growth initiatives
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: across fintech, healthcare, software as a service benefits organizations, and
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: now he's focused on helping employers strengthen their loyalty, their retention,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: and workforce wellness through accessibility.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: So I'm excited about that. Larry, Welcome to the podcast.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here,
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: for sure.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Definitely, Larry Well, I you know, I think one of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the things I found and what you know, what you
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and I connected on LinkedIn and we're going to include
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: this all in our profile, Larry's profile here and whatnot
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: in our show notes.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: But one thing I connected.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: With you, Larry was this idea around leadership, culture and
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: employee retention. And you know, it's been very important to
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: me and it's something that I'm passionate out and steward
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: your business, and so I want to get to the
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: root the problem. The challenge here is why has housing
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: from your perspective, become a business.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Issue not just a personal issue. What are you seeing
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: in the marketplace? What do you know?
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Because this is what has got you created nest steps
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and if we impact this.
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  Speaker 3: Well, let me just start with with this. Look, the
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: cost to replace an employee is somewhere around fifty percent
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: to two percent of that employee salary. It's a lot
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: of money. And beyond the dollars, the impact is just
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: far reaching. Right, We're talking about you know, teams getting stretched,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: institutional knowledge sometimes disappearing qualities, sometimes suffer day to day operations,
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: experience gaps, and one of the leading causes of employee
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: turnover actually is financial stress. Well, it turns out housing
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: is the single largest contributor to that financial stress because
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: it accounts for roughly thirty four percent of household expenditure.
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: And if you're living in places like in the Western region,
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: like California or even yeah, it's a lot more expensive
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: even there. Right, So the problem is it's not getting
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: any better. Housing costes are going higher and higher and higher,
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: and so I think that's one of the big challenges
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: that we're seeing. I mean, there was a study that
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: was done by PwC a couple of years ago, and
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: they said that financial stress affects three out of ten
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: people in the way that they spent three hours every
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: single week dealing with personal financial matters during work hours. Now,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: that may not seem like a lot, that's roughly about
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: nine percent of your you know, your time at work
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: every week. That's a lot of time that's gone to
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: lost productivity and so that cost companies a lot of money.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: And in order to address those issues around productivity or
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: employees who are leaving the organization because they are looking
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: for higher pay, to pay you off bills, to get
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: where they want to be, they need to think about
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: beyond what happens in the workplace, they need to think
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  Speaker 3: about what's happening at home.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think that's so important.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I think as you say that as a business leader,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: you know, and maybe underestimating that emotional weight that employees
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: are really caring and you're what you're saying is think
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: about that and it's show.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: It is showing up. And I'm grateful that you're sharing
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  Speaker 2: these statistics.
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  Speaker 1: And I think sometimes we don't realize nine percent every
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: week of their time three hours or weather case, that
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: does take a toll. And I know, you know, the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: mandate to go back to work quote an quote driving,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and that's additional time, additional costs that they have to
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: drive to and from you know, some for if some
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: folks are fortunate that they can work from home. But again,
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  Speaker 1: all of these stresses that are building up, you know,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: like I said, if they want to I guess what
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  Speaker 1: I'm hearing too here, Larry, is that if an employers
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: can keep those folks and find a way of like
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: well I've got to go get more money, or got
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: to move away or something like that, how can they
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: find a way to you know, keep them and keep them.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: And talk a little bit more about you had this
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: vision with nest steps. How did that first come together?
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: As you're as you're seeing the way to this problem.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: Well, honestly, I've had a passion for the home since
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: I was a kid. I've always known there was something
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: special about the hemet. And the reality is this is
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: where everybody has their fondest memories. This is where it
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: all starts. But it was about twenty five years ago.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: I was working for a great company, working for Boeing
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: as a matter of fact, down in southern California, and
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  Speaker 3: at the time, my wife and I we were renting
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: a home. These brand new condos came on the market,
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: they got listed, and they were for about one hundred
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: and fifty thousand dollars and we were living near We
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: were actually in Cypress near Huntington Beach. So this is
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: a great opportunity for us to go purchase a home,
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  Speaker 3: our first home. But we didn't know what to do. Okay,
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: we didn't know what the process was. We weren't sure
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: if we were going to be able to afford the
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: home or qualify for our loan, and so we left.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: We left the company about two years later for a
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: position that paid slightly more in a much more affordable area,
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: and as a result, I bought my first home in
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: this new area. But I think the reason why I'm
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: bringing that up is, look, I loved that company. I
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: love the culture, the people, the work. But what tugged
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: me away was something I was even more passionate about,
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: which was the home. And I would argue that there
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: are a lot of people, and the data clearly shows this,
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: that a lot of people will find greater loyalty to
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: their home and their own aspirations and needs then they
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: would be to their employer. The key here is to
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: bridge the two pieces right and that's why employers need
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: to get involved. So for us, you know, when we
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: started next Steps, that was one of those moments where
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: I realized how powerful home ownership was. But it wasn't
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: for for years later after I started working at Health Equity,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: when I was you know, doing benefits, doing product marketing
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: for our benefits company, and then later on worked for
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: another company that was in the fintech space, that I
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: finally realized, Hey, something is connecting. All these different points
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: are connecting. By then, my wife and I had already
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: launched a real estate brokerage, and suddenly all the dots
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: now became understood right, and now I understood what the
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: big picture was, and which was we can help employees
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  Speaker 3: to achieve home ownership and then process achieve financial wellbeing.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: We can help them feel more productive at work, we
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: can help them feel more loyal to their employers, and
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  Speaker 3: as a result, we can help employers cut costs and
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: really focus on building their organization and not worrying about
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: backfilling people who have left. That's kind of where it
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: all came together. It wasn't any one moment in time,
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: but it's just lots of different data points along the
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  Speaker 3: way that really created the snowball effect and realizing nest
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: steps is the answer.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I love that, and hopefully if you're a business
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: owner leader leading in realize it's not necessarily just one
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  Speaker 1: aha moment, like Larry said, it's these these stepping stones
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  Speaker 1: that kept pointing this direction.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's some important Larry, is that we
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  Speaker 2: can pay attention.
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  Speaker 1: And that's one of the reason why we have this
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: podcast is we want to have some different voices and
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: hopefully you're learning from these folks that have come before
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: you and say, oh man, I didn't think about that,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: and in fact, what you just sparked to me, Larry,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: especially when you're talking about first time home buyers. You
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: know how as a business owner, you, like I said,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: you can help educate, share and some knowledge as to
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: what they're gonna need to because as you and I
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  Speaker 1: know you're real estate and a broker, you're gonna have
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: to you know, refer back.
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  Speaker 2: What's my income, how I'm coming in and how would
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: I be qualified? What does that look like?
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  Speaker 1: You know, and your employer is probably your greatest source
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: of income. Yeah, you know, so they're gonna be your
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: main person. Then you're gonna have to get information on
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: so that you can show that you qualify and all
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: of those things for alone and things like that. So
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: thinking a little differently about helping those people, particularly for
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: first time home buyers, but I think other otherwise too.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: I liked your story about like I didn't even understand
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  Speaker 1: and I had to like go somewhere else. We didn't
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: know where to what that look like, you know, And
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: so you're like saying, how do we keep our people
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: here from moving away? Especially when you're talking about I'm
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: thinking about the generation. I'm fifty two, so you're thinking
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: about these younger generations, the older younger millennials, of the
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: gen zs of like, okay, because some of them are
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: for going. You don't even know, Like I don't think
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  Speaker 1: I can afford anything, So now what am my job?
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah? I know? Yeah, And that's a great point. Let
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: me just back up for second, because you're right, a
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: lot of them think they can't afford anything, right, and
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: as a result, for them, it seems like the American
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: dream is kind of dimmy. But the truth of the
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: matter is it's not dimmy. The reality is that there's
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: just strategies that you can leverage in order to get
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: into homes. Now, through a brokerage side of our business,
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: we're able to help people get into homes. And there's
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: some of these people are in their early twenties. These
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: are young young people who are getting in and in
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: those cases, you know, some of them are just going
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: out there and doing house hacking, where they buy a home,
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: they'll rent out some rooms and so forth, and they'll
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: stay there the very couple of years or so, and
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: then eventually they move on to build buy a second
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: home and so forth. And so they're building wealth, they're
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: achieving financial wellbeing, and they're getting into homes. And what's
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: important about this whole situation is they're not just renting
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: and throwing away money. Now, some would argue it's it's
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: not throwing away money because it does give them a
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: place to stay, and that's fair. But I would make
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: this assertion that everyone is buying a home. I don't
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: care if you're renting or you're actually holding mortgage. You're
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: buying a home. The only difference is you're buying a
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: home for yourself or you're buying a home for your landlord.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: And so the idea here is to get people in
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: a situation where they're going to be able to benefit
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: from all the cash that they're actually putting out toward
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: the home, right, get some returns out of this so
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: that they can get ahead in life. And the help
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: from the employer is going to create an anchoring between
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: the employer and the employee and everybody wins out of
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: this situation.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Well, I think one thing I see through your business
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: is that healthy businesses usually are built by leaders who
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: understand people holistically like you're saying, and looking at their
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: whole situation and not just operationally.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: And I think if you're not looking at that way,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: I want to challenge you.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: And if you've bet you've listening to this podcast, you
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: most likely are and you're saying, Okay, how do I
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: take care of my employees better?
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: What does that look like?
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: And I will say, Larry, I think that your point
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: of you know, I think laying all these things down
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: on the table, traditionally have healthcare where you have retirement,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and we have these things, but maybe they're not all
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: co equal and we need to reevaluate where we're directing
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: these funds. Because I've had conversations quite honestly with especially
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: the younger generation, like I would rather forego benefits, you know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: for something else, you know, more or more vacation, there's
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: different lifestyle. So talk a little bit about how you've
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: approached this, because I'm sure you've had some resistance, But
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about, hey, we're introducing a new
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: benefit that's additional burden or does it mean we do
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: we treat everything the same? Talk about how you've started
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: to bring this into the marketplace, Larry.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: Well, I think our focus primarily was really on hammering
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: the pain points that employers have, right, and their pain
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: point is really around the enormous costs to them in
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: terms of turnovers and lost productivity. That's how we've approached
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: the market because that is really what we're trying to
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: help solve for, at least with the employer that said
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: you bring up the point about retirement planning, health insurance.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: These are both really valuable benefits that already are offered,
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: and they are cornerstones for benefits in most companies. And
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: I think the reason why they are so valuable, and
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: I point this out to employers as well, is because
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: they don't just address workplace experience, they address the whole person.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: This is a very critical key difference here you see
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: in the past, and look, your audience is seen as
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: probably a lot in recent years. Right. You go to
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: interview for a job and they show you around. They've
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: got ping pong tables over here. Right, they've got sudy
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: machines and their kitchen stock and they say, oh, we
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: also provide for you know, free breakfast every Thursday or
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: whatever it is, or taco Tuesday, whatever it is. Right,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: all of that stuff is great, don't get me wrong.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: All of that stuff is very appealing. But it's the
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: retirement planning, it's the healthcare that really addresses the whole person,
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: and we need to think about that. Right, that's how
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: we approach the employers. We need to think about the
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: whole person, not just the work place experience. And there's
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: a reason for this. You probably know this. You go
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: to work, you have struggles at work, You're going to
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: take it home with you. Right, who doesn't talk to
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: their spouse or partner about it. You have problems at home,
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: you take it to work. You may not talk about it,
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: but it shows up in your productivity, it shows up
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: in your decision you're distracted and so forth. And so
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: when we approach to the market. We're trying to explain
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: to them, we need to find a better way to
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: take care of the employees, meaning take care of the person, right,
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: not just the employee who's there those eight hours, nine
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: hours or whatever it is. We need to find a
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: better way and that means addressing things that could affect
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: them at home. And that is the reason why health insurance,
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: that's the reason want retirement planning continues to be of
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: value to employees because they all know that it has
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: a greater impact on them beyond what happens in the office.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: M H Yeah, no, I and I absolutely that makes
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: total sense.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Again, here we've got those cornerstones of health insurance and retirement,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: and then you've got these other other elements. Like you said, okay, fringe,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: I would say fringe benefits, but you know what does
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: that look like? And so what I'm hearing you say,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Larry is thinking a little differently. I'm you know, pizza
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: on Friday or whatever not or even I'm thinking, you know,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: for those companies that have some kind of profit sharing
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: or employee ownership, you know, you have a certain as
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: an employer, you have a certain pool of money you've
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: set aside. But to your point too, Laire, I think
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: that it's important that the others are set side. We
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: pay for benefits, but look at the cost if we
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: I think this often gets overlooked. Look at the cost,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: like you said, of if I lose this employee, how
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: much money well I have to spend in order to
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: get that person back up and running. And and to
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: your point, you know, I've got I've got a return
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: on investment and calculator if anyone wants it, of like
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: what does that cost for you based on your company
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and how they share that with you.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: But to your point, Larry, I.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Think that they don't generally think about that, and then
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: they have the turnover, like you're saying, the employees are
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: they're stressed, they're bringing back home and they're like, I'm
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: just going to go somewhere else. I'm gonna try and
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: find make this work. And then they lose that employee.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: And how in your experience, I'm curious because I think again,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: the employeers that are addressing this issue bring it to
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the forefront. I'm sure they're hearing from their employees, but
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: are like, hey, how many of you are struggling with
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: home home ownership or where you're living and you know,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: trying to help them get a gate gauge so that
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: they can be more proactive. Again that the employee feels
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: more you know, taken care of. They feel like, hey,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: they're looking after me, not just not just being purely transactional.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: Right, yeah, absolutely, there's you've heard of the Maslow's hierarchy
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: of needs. So you understand the pyramid diagram that explains
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: human motivation. It goes from needs right all the way
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: to aspiration, self actualization, all the types of things. Right.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: Some people might think home ownership is a need, it's
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: a shelter. In reality, it's aspirational. It goes all the
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: way up to the top of that pyramid, right, And
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: so you know, being able to offer something like that
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: does create this connection, this anchoring between an employee and
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: an employer. And there's proof of this, right. We actually
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: just did this nationwide study. We completed it literally last week,
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: and we haven't compiled all the information yet, but I
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: could tell you some of the key things that we
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: found on that, right, one of which is seventy eight
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: percent of employees would switch employers for home ownership benefits
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: offered by another employer. Seventy eight percent. That's a huge
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: chunk people who would do that. Eighty nine percent said
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: they would stay even after receiving home purchasing assistance. In
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: other words, they're not just saying, hey, give me the
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: money I buy a home. Okay, I'm not loyal to
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: you anymore, right, They're saying that they actually will stay
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: even after that. It tells you that emotional connection that's
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: happening when an employer invests in the employee in such
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: a manner. That's an important piece.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: So if you know, if they're thinking about this, Larry,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: and they're like, okay, what walk me through a little
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: bit about what does that look like? After they hear
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: this concept of like okay, well how would I what
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: does nest Steps actually do for me?
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: Like how does that help me?
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: You know?
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So like if you're an employee, here's here's what
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: would happen. Right, So, if you're an employee, would enroll
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: in a program like this, right, you sign up for it,
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: and then we would put you on a platform and
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: a financial management platform. That's the first thing we do,
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: and this is really critical because we want to help
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: you to not only get into a home, but we
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: want you to be financially healthy and stay in that home,
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: and so the platform will help them better manage their
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: finances and it will eliminate as much as possible unconscious spending,
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: which is the reason why a lot of people can't save. Okay,
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: So that's the first piece. During the process of getting
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: all set up with that platform, you the employee go
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: through a series of educational workshops that we hold live
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: within an organization. We typically do six of them, and
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: to prepare that employee for home ownership. And if that
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: employee already owns a home, we help them understand what
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: can be done to ensure the value of your home
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: continues to increase and how can you leverage that home
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: to ensure long term financial stability. So those educational workshops
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: are paired up with one on one guidance from licensed
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: professionals that we provide. Right, these professionals are going to
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: help you to set your budget, to help you stay
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: on course. If you have a goal to make a
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: down payment on your second home even right, they'll help
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: you stay on course and just give you all the
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: guidance that you need to go through that entire journey.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: And then the third component will be when you're ready
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: to purchase a home, right, you're going to be able
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: to request a contribution directly from the employer, and the
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: employer will then provide that amount. After seeing that you're
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: eligible and you've completed all your different parts of the program,
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: they'll send money directly to the title company in order
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: to help you pay for that benefit. I'm sorry for
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: that home. So for us next steps, what we actually
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: also do is we contribute one thousand dollars directly to
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: the purchase of a home. So everyone who goes through
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: that program, if they purchase at home through our our program,
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: then what will happen is will contribute the same way
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: as well. And we'll do that for a couple of years.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: And then after that, what will happen is if the
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: employer decides to keep that program, we expect them to
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: contribute in some way, shape orform, because the value is
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: for them right right, We want them to build that
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: anchoring and so we'll still match up to one thousand
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: dollars for them. Now, if they give five thousand dollars,
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: we'll still match up to a thousand. If they give
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: three thousand, will match up to one thousand, and so forth.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: But the point of it is we want them to contribute,
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: to contribute in some way, shape or form, because this
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: is how you build that relationship with the employee. So
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: that's how it basically works. For the employer side. They're
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: actually looking at the same platform. They can't see certain
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: data right of the employee. You don't want that, right,
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: there's compliance issues there. But they can see how the
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: program is actually impacting the turnover rates, and they'll see
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: how they're performing against their peer organizations that are out
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: there right. So so there's a little bit of a
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: competition going on amongst employer groups, but there's also real
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: data to show them how it's actually moving the needle.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Because most benefits will give you data on utilization. They'll
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: give you data maybe from sub surveys, but they don't
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: really show you how it directly connects to retention or
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: even talent acquisition. That's the whole point. We're trying to
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: create a benefit that actually moves the needle because we
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: believe it can do such a thing, and the case
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: studies in the past show it absolutely does.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, just ask theary. So once they so employers, I
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: can see the benefit of like you're giving them education,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: you're informing them, you're creating a platform in a way
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: that they can get checks and make sure, Hey, am
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: I on target. Somebody's essentially you know, and they're they
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: don't like correct me if I'm wrong there, But you
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: have so you're outsides.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: You're not.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: There's no it's not like a realtor somebody else where
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: they're like, hey, I want you know, I'm gonna get
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: money on this.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: I'm selling or buying the home.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: But you're going a third party that's basically trying to
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: help educate you an understanding so.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: That they can see, Okay, we're making progress. As an employer.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: That's helpful for me too to think about, Hey, the
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: money I'm going to invest whatever, the thousand and five
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: thousand whatever that I was like, I feel like it's
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: well invested because they're putting in time and effort and
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: I'm putting time timever it's too. It's not just one
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: or the other. As that's f I hear.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: It is it is. There is. Look, there is a
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: component of realtors, right, but our program is that we
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: train and it's purely educational. This isn't a realtor coming
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: in and say, hey, I've got twenty boxes of pizza.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: Come listen to me, tell you about my services or
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: anything that right, right, right, education, the hope is that
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: they the employee will not go to their cousin or
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: their next door neighbor, but they'll actually use our folks
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: ultimately to go purchase a home. And so that way
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: there's a separate engagement outside and beyond you know what's
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: happening in the office.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: So that's why we don't Actually, that's why it doesn't
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: actually cost employer a whole lot of money other than
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: their investment in the employee.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: So again, if an win, do that a thousand dollars
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: match as well.
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. There's a lot of companies who who
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: may not have planned for something like this in the beginning, right,
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: but they hear about it, they want to do something
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: about it, but they don't have the budget. It's okay,
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: we'll give you two year runway if you need it.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: And then there's companies who say, i'll contribute right away.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: That's fine, we'll still give a thousand dollars. So in
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: that first two years, we'll give a thousand dollars in
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: place of, or in addition to what if the employer
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: actually contributes.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Is there so when employers are looking at benefits, sometimes
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: it's regulated and like, you have this many employees, therefore
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: you need to do this. Where have you found this
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: to be most effective in organizations, Larry, that you've been
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: working with where it's like, okay, you know, maybe not
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: five employees, but maybe when you get to ten or twenty,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: really becomes a differentiator in the marketplace.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Is what have you been seeing?
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: I think over one hundred is really where it starts
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: to get. Yeah, it starts to get really good for
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: the employer. It's they have the budget to move things forward,
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: they have enough people to work with. But there's a
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: lot of employers that are smaller. And so what we've
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: done in order to fill that gap is we started
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: working with PEOs. And I'm not sure if you're familiar
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: with Professional employer organizations Larry.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: So these are basically businesses that allow for small businesses
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: to use their EI in and as a result, with
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: the aggregation of all these small businesses, they're able to
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: provide better rates on different benefits, insurance and so forth. Right,
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: and so they're basically lending out their EI in and
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: so when we're working with a PEO, they can literally
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: group a number of small businesses together in order to
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: achieve the same results as a larger employer would be
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: able to achieve. And so for us, that's when we
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: can provide the education, we can provide the contributions, you know, similarly,
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: but it's just there may be multiple different businesses that
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: are you know, coming together in a single group.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: That's a great another option.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: So again, if you're listening to this and you're a
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: business owner, you're not a hundred plus employees, you're you know,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: but you're like, hey, how could I take advantage of that?
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: That's a great option.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: I've heard of that similarly with medical benefits and other
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: things as well.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: So like getting in on that I think is really important.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: You know, I really appreciate you bringing a different perspective
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: here because the business around table were really all about growth,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: people development, making sure that these are all connected. And
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: I'll just say, if those you guys are listening in
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: and enjoying this conversation, please of course subscribe and follow
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: along and leave comments for Larry we will make sure
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: that he gets them. Or share with another business owner
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: rasiar leader who is maybe wondering, Hey, what can I
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: do differently to help improve the pretension the the place
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: where our plays come in week after week, month after month.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: But talk a little bit about your journey, Larry, because
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: I think you didn't, you know, you didn't come to
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: this overnight that you said there's these stepping stones, and
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: I think you know, can you talk a little bit
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: about your journey and just leadership and innovation and making
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: these changes You've been in so many different industries like
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: your success in this or or or and challenges too,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: quite honestly, but to encourage those that may say, I'm
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: it's another risk, I'm uncertain, and to you know, how
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: you were able to face that and overcome those those
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: risks or challenges that inevitably come up, right.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. Well look it's interesting to me because
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: I always think about this quote from who was the
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: was that founder? And I forgot I just lost the
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: name the founder of Apple?
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Uh huh Steve Jobs.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: Steve Jobs, that's right. Steve Job made a comment at
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: one point and it was a quote that it was
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: very well, Uh just just resonated with me. You can
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: never really connect the dots when you're looking forward. You
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: can only connect the dots when you're looking backwards, right,
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: meaning you're able to finally see, hey, how do all
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: these different pieces fit together? After Well, that's kind of
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: what it was, right. I never thought initially my journey
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: was never to go create nest steps. That was not
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: the point. In fact, yes, I had a passion for
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: the home, but if anything, I wanted to be an
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: architect of all things.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: I wanted because I didn't know what other options there
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: were with the home and so but things didn't work
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: out that way. I became a marketer, I became a
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: product manager and so forth, right, and a growth executive
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: and so forth. But I think once we've decided, Once
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: we decided to make a business of it, it was
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: it was at a point where in my life where
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: I had to take make a huge decision. So that
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: was laid off from this one position. And initially I
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: did what everybody else did, which was go apply for
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: a job. Right, But then I I've always wanted to
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: start a business at one point or another, this is
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: this is the time to do it, and I have
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: an idea, and so we came up. We started doing
• 29:09
  Speaker 3: what we did. Right, We have a business on the
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: side already and we want to start another business. So
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: here we are. We're starting in this business. And that
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: journey was not easy. I'll tell you that starting a
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: starting next steps required so many different components, like the
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: product itself, what's going to work? And I'll tell you
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: that was probably the hardest part because initially we had
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: a third party platform where we're going to leverage. But
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: the third party platform could not scale to what we
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: actually needed to do and it wasn't purposeful enough and
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: so and I still remember this one day, I was
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: taking a shower, and this is where all great ideas come, right,
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: I'm taking a shower. I don't think we need to
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: build our own platform, because only by doing so can
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: we actually provide the key features, the capabilities that are
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: necessarily they're not necessary for driving behavior change. And in
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: this sense we're talking about, you know, healthy financial behaviors,
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: eliminating unconscious spending.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: And so forth.
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: That's what really was perhaps the biggest challenge. Then all
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: of a sudden, I'm having to build a product and
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: I'm bootstrapping, and you know, things always come together, because
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: I think it was like days after that, somebody came
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: to us. It's like I heard about what you guys
• 30:29
  Speaker 3: are building, I want to invest and so capital came
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: flowing in. And the point of it is when you
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: when you have your eyes set on something and you're
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: doing everything you can, sometimes there's going to be gaps
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: that you can't fill and you just got to pray
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: for the best to happen. And sometimes the prayers get
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: answered and people come into your lives and help you
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: to you know, bridge those gaps.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: Mm, well, I think and this is one of them.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, we have one hopefully if you're praying or
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: looking for you know, resource is why we put out
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: the Business round Table podcasts is there's another person here's
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Larry Salazara that can talk with you, walk you through
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: if you thought, well, how can I help take care
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: of my people in a different way?
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Here is a way. It's not the only way, but
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: it is a way.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: And we love to have different ways of the podcast
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: because one thing that I really appreciate is that, you know,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: innovation often starts by paying attention to where people are struggling.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: They're hurting, maybe feeling stuck. And so I see Larry,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: You're like, Okay, you could have gone and got a
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: job in fact, I started toward your business when I
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: pivoted from the previous companies that I could go get
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: a job or I could try to help more people.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: And this podcast wasn't even in my radar at the time,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: but that came about because I met with other business
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: owners like yourself, and he said, how do we help
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: those folks out there? They're struggling, whether the business owner
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: or the leader, to improve their lives and the lives
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: that they get to influence around them. And so I'm
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: so appreciative of you doing that, Larry, and creating a
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: space and then contributing what I hear you in contributing
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: to other organizations that adapt well take care of their
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: folks so they don't struggle and they don't link out. Unfortunately,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: we know a lot of companies link and big companies too.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I wonder how I'm talking just small ones. We're talking
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: to some big ones that they just didn't pivot in
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: the marketplace and really meet their employers and the employers
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: meeting their employees' needs, really taking care of them and
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: having folks that stick around with them for the long,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: long term.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: What you said I think earlier is.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Like you said, hey, we're looking at like a lunch
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: here or a thing there, and those are not bad
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: things in the short term, but looking longer. And I'll
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: just say this because I was watching a video earlier
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: today and you just sparked the simularity. They said, if
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: you're building something that's going to outlast you, you're like
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: me and my lifetime. I think that's something very powerful.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: And building a home and a space it's not just
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: for you, but it's going to be generational, is very
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: very powerful. And to me, that's a totally different mindset
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: in a way of approaching the world.
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with that. And you know, it's funny
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: as you're talking about this, what comes to my mind
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: is this. Sometimes people look at especially employers, right, they're
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: looking at the how how right? And I think that's
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: not the starting point. I'll be honest. I think the
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: starting point is what what are you trying to achieve?
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: Because for me, if I said to myself, Okay, how
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: am I going to go about do my next ten years,
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking right off the bat, when I got laid off,
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking I got to get in another job, right,
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: and so forth. But ultimately, at the end of the day,
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: what really changed for me was like I said, I
• 33:29
  Speaker 3: always want to do to do something. I wanted to
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: start a business, I wanted to follow my passion and
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: so forth, and that led me to explore all these
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: different options that were available to me. Right, and so,
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: if I'm an employer, if your goal is really to
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: just help your employees get more productive, feel more valued
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: at work, don't limit yourself to the traditional things that
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: are sitting in front of you. Don't limit yourself. Allow
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: for yourself to think broadly. That's an important piece because
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: only then you're going to be able to discover the
• 34:04
  Speaker 3: other innovations that are out there. I'm not claiming to
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: have the only innovation. There's plenty of people who are
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: trying to innovate that space. But it's hard to get
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: into that mindset where you have to say, Okay, here's
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: the options that are available to me, and here's options
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: I've never heard of, so I'm not going to focus
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: on that. Well, you've got to change your thinking. If
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: you broaden up your viewtube. Why am I trying to
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: solve for period? And then allow for yourself to take
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: in new ideas and so forth.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, And well that's again, while we have the
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: podcast earlier. I know we're getting the end of the podcast.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: I would love to go deeper, but getting your leadership
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: and sharing that in your journey how you came to
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: create next steps and for those that want to learn more,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: we're going to make sure that's all in our show
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: notes here. You guys can definitely check it out and
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: connect with Larry, because at the end of the day,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: we all want to be healthier. Our businesses want to
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: be healthier. We want to have stronger leadership, people aligned,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: more intentional on how we're you know, showing up and
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: supporting one another. And so you know that's why I
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: started found us toward your business. What what are we
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: trying to do and why are we trying to do it?
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: You know, you know, and we're just coming at at
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: different angles and I love that, Larry. What would you
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: say as we're kind of wrapping up here to that
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: business owner, hr leader or somebody else in the organization
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: that's saying, hey, you know what, we've got to do
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: something different, We've got you know, think think about it differently.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: What would you encourage them to do that they can
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: take action on today, Larry to improve the lives of
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: their employees in particular.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's several things. I want to take
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: a look at the studies. They're out there, and we're
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: going to release our study to the public in a
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: short time here. But take a look at the studies
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: understanding what the workforce really wants. Don't just immediately go
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: to your your your uh for one case, don't just
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: immediately go to your your health insurance and stuff like that, right,
• 35:59
  Speaker 3: Just take a step back, think about what's happening. Think
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: about what the employer employee relation looks like, a relationship
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: looks like. Take a look at what the employees want.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: That's the first thing. Second, got to stop thinking about
• 36:16
  Speaker 3: this as an HR issue, and you have to reframe
• 36:20
  Speaker 3: that to the executive team, because that's the reason why
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: executives don't look at this and take it as a
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: serious as they should. Like I said, the cost on
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: this is not what's showing up in the balance sheet. Right,
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: We're not just talking about, you know, the cost to
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: you know, put an ad out there to replace somebody.
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: You're pulling your hair out if you're on a team
• 36:42
  Speaker 3: and you've lost two people, right, And so we need
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: to reframe this as a financial and operational risk, when
• 36:51
  Speaker 3: productivity is at risk, when when retention is at risk.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: That's how it affects the company operationally and financially. That's
• 36:59
  Speaker 3: an import piece. And then use that data from the
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: studies to back that back that assertion that we need
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: to take a much more higher level approach to the
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: challenges that we're experiencing. I think that's the first step
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: and that will open up the how, you know, the
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: avenues do, how do we achieve our goals? Right? But
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: we've got to tackle the what first, And in this
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: case it happens to be you know, the cost is
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: a lot greater than you think it is, and things
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: aren't necessarily moving in the needle the way you think
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: they are thus far.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, think think differently here. I really appreciate this conversation
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: because we're your building goes far beyond just benefits and
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: even housing. Honestly, it's it's really about being that you
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: just talked about, being that responsible leader, looking at your
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: workforce well being hiring and creating stability for your team,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: making sure that everybody's taken care of.
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: And I'm so appreciated of that. Larry.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: We're going to make sure you have links to Larry.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Next steps that just resources in our show notes. If
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: we get that study, we'll drop that in there too,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: so that you guys can connect with Larry and learn
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: more data and that this conversation sparked ideas around leadership, culture, communication,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: building healthy organizations.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: I encourage you to reach out to me at through
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: your business as well. Larry, thank you so much for being.
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: Thank you today, pleasure, Thank you all.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Right, everybody until next time, be well. Thanks for listening.