Stanley Consultants: 2009 Best Employers for Workers Over 50

By: AARP.org | Source: AARP.org | September 2009

Winning Years: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002
Industry: Consulting Services
Location: Muscatine, Iowa
URL: www.stanleyconsultants.com

Highlights of 2009 Winning Strategies

This year, Stanley Consulting makes its seventh appearance on the AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 list. By offering a generous benefits package and flexible work schedules, Stanley has been able to attract and retain mature workers.

The company’s phased-retirement program has helped the organization maintain its skilled, mature labor force. About 75 percent of new retirees participate in the phased-retirement program during their first two years of retirement. Phased-retirement schedules are flexible and are determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the needs of the employee and the employer. Currently, just over one-third of employees are age 50+, with an average tenure of 15 years.

Recruiting: Stanley Consultants uses trade magazines and employee referrals to target and attract mature workers. Over the past two years, 43 percent of new workers hired were age 40 or older.

Workplace Culture and Continued Opportunities: Stanley Consultants offers all employees development opportunities, including in-house and online training. Employees working at least 20 hours per week are eligible for tuition reimbursement, certification classes, outside seminars, and workshops. Over the past 12 months, 85 percent of employees took part in at least one development opportunity, with the average employee spending 15 hours per year in training.

Stanley celebrates its employees' long-service milestones with announcements, awards, parties, during the Retiree Dinner, and at the company's Annual Conference.

Stanley has used employee opinion surveys to make a number of improvements, including a new vision benefit, increased fitness reimbursements, the creation of a full-time Training and Development Administrator, and increased employer responsibility for health-benefit premiums. In order to help employees gain new experience, Stanley offers them the options to take part in team projects, temporary work assignments, a formal job-rotation program, and a mentoring program.

Stanley Consultants is devoted to maintaining an accommodating work environment by providing its employees with specialized equipment, ergonomic assessments, and workplace accommodations.

Benefits/Health: Employees working at least 20 hours per week are eligible for individual and family medical, prescription-drug, vision, dental, and short- and long-term disability coverage.

Retirees under and above age 65, and new hires upon retirement, are eligible for individual and spousal medical coverage and free AARP membership. Retirees under age 65 are also eligible for individual and spousal prescription-drug, vision, and dental coverage, and access to an employee assistance program (EAP). Employees also can open flexible spending accounts (FSA) to help offset rising out-of-pocket health-care costs.

Benefits/Financial: Stanley offers employees working at least 20 hours per week a stock options/profit-sharing plan and an employer-matched, defined-benefit 401(k) plan. In order to encourage employees to participate, Stanley automatically enrolls all staff members. They are also able to invest in life-cycle funds, and those over 50 can make catch-up contributions.

is Stanley employees, representatives of the financial-services firm that administers the plan, and outside financial-planning experts offer retirement-planning information to employees. 

In order to accommodate employees with caregiving responsibilities, Stanley offers employees unpaid short- and long-term leave. Employees can also take advantage of a number of wellness benefits, including flu shots, health screenings, smoking-cessation programs, physical-activity and weight-loss programs, health-risk appraisals, and discounts at health clubs. Ninety-one percent of employees took advantage of at least one of Stanley's wellness benefits.

The company also offers referral services to full-and part-time employees looking for care providers for children, grandchildren, and elders.

Benefits/Alternative-Work Arrangements: Stanley Consultants offers its employees a number of alternative-work arrangements, including flextime, telecommuting, compressed-work schedules, and formal phased retirement. Full-time employees can move to part-time work on either a temporary or permanent basis.

Opportunities for Retirees: Stanley Consultants' 142 retirees benefit from the attention of a full- time employee whose responsibilities include retiree relations. The organization constantly communicates with retirees by inviting them to company functions, providing them ongoing access to retirement-planning workshops, recognizing them on the anniversary of their retirements, offering them employment, and inviting them to the company's Retiree Dinner. Retirees of Stanley Consultants are eligible for part-time and contract work, temporary assignments, and telecommuting opportunities at the company. 

Age of Workforce: Currently, 33 percent of Stanley Consultants employees are age 50+, with an average tenure of 15 years.