Posted by: danielrashke | December 22, 2021

Vaccination Verification

As we all know, vaccinations have been dominating the news for quite a while and has been on all our minds. At TASC, we are committed to providing a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. As an employer, I believe I cannot nor should I mandate an employee to take the vaccine. However, I also understand that every company has a culture and norms that prescribe how they expect their employees to behave and ours is no different.

When looking at the current situation with COVID-19 vaccinations, I found that my own organization was struggling with what constitutes appropriate norms and expectations for our employees. TASC is blessed, because the nature of our business and our business model means that we don’t need to have our employees work in one physical location. Out of more than a thousand employees we have roughly ten employees that literally need to be in our office because of the work they perform.

So, we anchored our decisions regarding our vaccination policy to our norms and culture. Those dictate that we have a civic and economic obligation. And because we are a business, we look at our civic and economic responsibilities as a business. There is also a human factor in all business, so we also took personal choice and personal beliefs into consideration.

Let me share a little about our vaccination program. We decided that we would require employees, on a need-to-know basis, to report their vaccination status to us based on their specific role in the organization and the nature of their work. The following employees and vendors/contractors will be required to be fully vaccinated (and provide proof of vaccination) against COVID-19:

  • Employees entering a TASC facility.
  • Employees in a role that involves in-person customer meetings at the customer’s place of business.
  • Employees going to a TASC sanctioned meeting or event with other TASC employees (not with customers).
  • Vendors/Contractors entering a TASC facility.

As I was looking at our situation and what our customers are facing right now I knew that my organization had a duty to step in to help. In fact some of our largest customers asked us to help.  I listened to the needs of clients and our distributors and it became very clear that as a top tier Third Party Administrator (TPA) we could utilize our technology, experience in compliance and employee benefits and our skills to help other companies dealing with the vaccination issue.

I pride myself on our innovation and I challenged my team to step in and help our customers.  We have spent millions of dollars and the last few years building and releasing the Universal Benefit Account. With that investment I knew that we had the technology, security infrastructure, administrative capabilities and know-how to deliver a solution quickly.  And I am proud to say the team responded and developed and launched Vaccination Verification in less than three weeks! Vaccination Verification is a compliance offering that makes it easy for employers to ensure all individuals (employees, vendors, contractors, visitors, etc.) meet the vaccination and/or testing requirements based on their business practices or to meet federal or state requirements.

With the recent judicial activity, I think we delivered the offering to our customers just in time! 

I believe this virus and others in the future will continue to occur, and no one can stop them completely. For your own health and safety, and that of your family, I encourage everyone to get vaccinated. We may not be able to completely stop it, but at least we can slow it down and reduce the impact it has on our community. However, individuals must have a choice based on their own personal situation. That is exactly what our Vaccination Verification offering will do. 

I wish you all good health and happiness in 2022!

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Posted in business leadership, Community Support, Human Resources

Posted by: danielrashke | December 1, 2021

We’ve Made It

Posted by: danielrashke | November 16, 2021

Maintaining an Engaged Remote Workplace

The TASC organization was over 60% remote prior to the onset of the pandemic. But, that doesn’t mean our organization didn’t face challenges as even more employees were forced remote in the middle of 2019 but it did curb the shock.

Working remotely definitely has its upsides. The money saved by businesses when the traditional office is no longer a necessity is profound. Employers and employees can enjoy a new flexibility. Expenses related to commuting is drastically reduced if not eliminated and employees are able to spend more time focused on work and more time focused on family resulting in a better work life balance.

Organizations like TASC who were partially remote prior to the pandemic were already seeing these benefits to an extent but when an entire workforce if forced remote, the benefits become more prevalent.

With these benefits came additional challenges for both employees and employers.

One of the biggest challenges was creating or maintaining engagement among your teams and entire organization. In a remote workplace there is little to no interpersonal interaction among team members which can result in a less engaged and less dedicated workforce.

In this increasingly tech savvy world there are several tools and strategies you can implement to help your remote team feel more connected.

Provide pathways for employees to engage safely with each other. It’s not only good for you to provide tools for employees to communicate with each other easily and quickly, it’s good for them.

Tools like Skype, Microsoft Teams and more provide quick ways for employees to check in on each other and maintain a more personal level of engagement than they can over email. It also provides a pathway for work to be done at a faster pace.

Show your face. Incorporate tools that include video capabilities and encourage employees to turn that camera on. It’s far easier to make connections with employees and co-workers when you are face-to-face even if faces are on a screen.

One-on-One meetings. When we work in an office environment, it is easy and important to schedule one-on-one time with employees and team members. In a remote work environment, it’s easy to let that that slip. Out of sight, out of mind. It is more important than ever, when employees and team members are remote to schedule that one-on-one check in time. Making sure employees are set up for success and are heard is essential to success in remote work. This also allows managers and employees to touch base on performance, set expectations and maintain open lines of communication and opportunity for feedback.

Provide multiple methods and opportunities for feedback. It is essential to offer a safe space for employees to express their positive and negative feedback. Email, surveys, anonymous pathways for feedback are all important options to frequently offer to employees.

Streamline storage spaces. TASC utilizes The Cloud to allow streamlined editing and sharing of documents in a secure and succinct format. This is true for more remote based organizations and as many businesses continue to move to a more remote based workspace moving document storage to The Cloud provides a path for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to be created, shared, edited, and stored.

Embrace flexibility. A number of studies including this one from Bloomberg, show working from home increases work productivity by 5% or more. Working from home reduces time for commute and employees are logging on earlier and able to remain logged in later. To make sure employees don’t experience burnout, promote a flexible mentality. Employees can be logged on and connected to work more so employers should be open to allowing for flexibility in terms of schedule and commitments.  

As companies embrace the remote workplace for at least part of the workforce it is essential to foster and maintain an engaging workplace that provides ample opportunity for feedback, interaction, and flexibility. The remote workplace looks different than the traditional in-person work environment and adjustments must be made to account for this changing environment.

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Posted by: danielrashke | October 21, 2021

Win, Do Good, and Deliver Peace of Mind

At our recent employee conference, I talked about how we are taking care of business. We are here to Win, Do Good and Deliver Peace of Mind. It has been a constant journey and the journey is not over. It will never be over. We want to continue to grow our business, Win in our market, Do good for our business, our clients, our people and our communities, and deliver Peace of Mind for everyone we connect with.

In this climate of change, we continue to innovate with a philanthropic discipline, especially as we concentrate our collective resources on those that have been underserved.

Taking care of business goes beyond the walls of our business. It also includes our communities where we live, work and serve, our clients, our employees and beyond. Similarly to what I discussed in my previous blog post on The Triple Bottom Line, there is more to the success of business than the financial segment.

We want to win financially, we also want to succeed in doing good for our communities and to deliver peace of mind to those relying on us to provide, smart, simple, and secure services.

Success is fluid. Business is constantly evolving. We’ve had some roadblocks in the last few years. There will always be roadblocks. How we address them, learn from them and grow from them directly affect every aspect of our success and also goes to deliver peace of mind for those relying on us for services.

Our goal is to continue to partner with other innovative, forward-thinking, and diverse companies to continue to grow and learn. These partnerships help us expand our knowledge and industry reach and enable us to stay true to our ethos.

In the words of American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist Stacey Abrams “I’m going to move forward. Because going backwards isn’t an option and standing still is not enough.” That’s what we will continue to do at our organization as well. Take our setbacks and use them to our advantage. Exploring where we can be better and do better.

The marketplace needs what we have to offer. We are the innovative leaders in our industry. It came from hard work, sweat equity and frustration. The mountains behind us as well as the hills in front of us are worth the result of providing highly configurable, unique offerings that meet and exceed the needs of the industry.

We will continue to strive to positively impact those around us and encourage similar practices for other businesses looking to us as leaders in our areas of expertise and beyond.

Just because a person, a company or an enterprise finds themselves in a challenging position, that is not a reason to avoid innovation, risk and change especially for the overall good. There are no perfect businesses, there are no perfect actions. Innovate, tackle the challenges in front of us head on. Accept that not everything will be a win but the wins, when they come to fruition, are big.

We are in a race to improve. As our competitors begin to close the gap we remain steadfast in our drive to constantly provide the best, most unique and innovative services in our industry.

We will continue to build quality products. Innovate, serve with speed and empathy as we simplify and grow.

No matter where we are in our journey, the ethos of our organization has and will remain the same. Win, do good, and deliver peace of mind.  

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Posted by: danielrashke | October 13, 2021

The Triple Bottom Line is Key to Success in Today’s Business

The Triple Bottom Line. The term was first coined in 1994 by John Elkington and has steadily gained popularity with a number of organizations in recent years. But what is it and how do we incorporate it into our success story?

Elkington suggested that there was not one bottom line (profit) but in fact, three. He believed that companies should also track and report on their social bottom line; how their businesses affected ‘People’ and the ‘Planet’. Companies, instead of simply measuring their success by their economic prowess, should also have to account for their contribution to social equality, diversity, community and environmental factors.

The goal of the Triple Bottom Line has always been fostering systematic change. Pushing the boundaries of capitalism beyond the financial to making companies accountable to their social and environmental impacts.

A company who solely measures their worth by financial success but is harming the people or environment around them is not a true success. Net income is not a sufficient measure of success. There’s more to it.

Employees are no longer looking to only be financially successful, they want to make a difference and they expect their employers to do the same. Employees want to work for employers who are investing in the triple bottom line.

Invest in your employees and your employees will invest in you. It’s the same with our communities. The more invested businesses become in the areas where we live, work and play, the more the community will invest and support the businesses that support them.

Incorporating practices that incorporate financial, social and environmental goals isn’t just beneficial for our surroundings, it’s beneficial for business as well. The more that is invested into communities, employees, the greater the return.

The Triple Bottom Line encapsulates the principles of sustainability by measuring the impact of an organization’s activities on the world. A more well-rounded measurement of success and accountability.

Far beyond profits, at TASC we are on a mission to improve the health, wealth and well-being of our customers, employees, and communities. We are committed to recognizing and owning our role in the broader system. We will continue to work towards having a long-term positive impact our economic engine, driving growth and ensuring our sustainability as a business. 

TASC Stands Firmly Rooted to & Responsible for the Triple Bottom Line. We believe the prosperity of our business, of our employees and communities, and of our planet are all deeply connected. 

The Ethos of our enterprise is to win, do good and deliver peace of mind. This is deeply entrenched in the triple bottom line. 

We believe that through and with our people we can be a catalyst to address social issues. Our responsive, strategic, and catalytic approaches to community and employee investments build on one another. This creates an increasingly strong value equation as the giving aligns with and engages other resources and means of governmental/system influences in the business to create greater impact and benefit for society and our employees as a whole.  

TASC will be mindful with our protection and investment in our planet, to ensure our impact is positive and focused on longevity, not depletion. This includes but it not limited to our focus on reducing our carbon footprint, advancing opportunities to protect our air, water and land and ensuring our supply chain and vendors are focused on socially responsible efforts in all aspects of their business. 

Our objective is to ensure that our customers, employees, communities and the “systems” in which we all live are positioned for collective health and economic stability well into the future. We, as well as the people and organizations we work with, have a responsibility to do things today that will deliver positive social, economic and environmental impacts and lead to sustainable, thriving communities tomorrow.   

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