2023 MVPs: What Are You Doing To Take Care of Your Employees?

The job market in mid-2023 continues to present challenges to employers of all stripes. And we all know it’s more expensive, time-consuming, and often frustrating to hire new employees compared with keeping the ones we have. We asked our 2023 MVP Award winners what they’re doing to take care of—and retain—their employees.

Eric Danver, 2023 Mega-Growth Leadership MVP (48 Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spas)

“Everything we can because they are our greatest asset. We have a great culture and other benefits, including a 5% matching 401(k) and a robust PTO plan. We also pay 70% of our employee’s health-care coverage.”

Jason and Scarlett Dalton 2023 Husband & Wife Team MVPs (9 Camp Bow Wows)

“We pay for them to go to corporate reunions. We bring our out-of-town managers to Mardi Gras all expenses paid. We send our district manager to several vacations a year, some out of the country. We do the usual Christmas parties and multiple dinner engagements throughout the year.”

Shirin Kanji, 2023 Multi-Brand Leadership Award MVP (79 Rent-A-Centers, 7 Neighborly brands (15 under development), 2 Marriotts, 1 Hilton, 1 Hyatt)

“Recently we have taken a more proactive approach to developing a strong leadership and management team across brands and locations to enable them to develop their careers within the company. This has entailed investing significantly in various training and certification programs, backed by a commitment from company resources to further support our team members’ continuing education and certification course ambitions.”

Michael Chalmers, 2023 Innovation Award MVP (9 Spherion Staffing locations)

“We do many things. We recently incorporated a new EAP for our employees and their household members. We offer full benefits and a rich PTO policy. We invest heavily in training as well.”

Antonio McBroom, 2023 Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion MVP (15 Ben & Jerry’s)

“We promote The EOS Life for our team of doing what you love with people you love, making a huge impact, and being compensated appropriately with time for other passions. We play the great game of business with our team in order to share the business success and align our interests as an organization.”

Raj Patel, 2023 Multi-Brand Leadership MVP (88 Dunkins, 6 Dave’s Hot Chickens, and 5 McAlister’s Delis)

“Besides the standard of pay, benefits, and bonus, we really preach the importance of establishing that personal relationship with each and every employee, within both our smaller and larger brands.”

Austin & Lisa Campbell, 2023 Spirit of Franchising MVPs (18 Sola Salon Studios)

“We offer beauty professionals marketing support, price advising, and strategies to help grow their businesses.”

Alex Tyler 2023 Noble Cause MVP (8 Goldfish Swim Schools)

“Listening! We bring in employees from every position to make sure we weigh all angles when making changes.”