* Articulate key messages. What messages will the campaign deliver? In Tiffany's case, the company wanted to help employees connect how taking steps to be physically well extends to taking steps to be financially well.* Chopard Mille Miglia Chronograph CH-10 campaign timing. Tiffany scheduled its campaign to coincide with 401 (k) Day and the distribution of total compensation statements in September. You may choose a different time, such as April, which is Financial Literacy Month. Be sure to time the campaign so it doesn't conflict with other events - such as annual enrollment - so employees can focus on your message.
* Allow enough planning time. Allow at least three months to determine your topics, invite speakers, set up logistics - such as meeting rooms and Webinars - and create support materials.* Provide for Chopard Mille Miglia GMT CH-73 different ways people learn. Plan to deliver your messages through various media - print, electronic and live.* Define success measures. How will you know if the campaign is a success? Eliciting feedback from employees will help you assess the campaign's effectiveness and determine future topics and media.ONGOING EDUCATIONTo ensure that employees truly understand and apply Chopard Mille Miglia GMT CH-74 financial concepts they learn, it's important to reinforce those concepts and continue to provide information and education. Here are some ideas to keep the momentum going.
Consider a regular financial education newsletter, delivered electronically or in hard copy for employees without computer access. Focus on a different financial topic in each issue. Also, time the information. For example, Chopard Mille Miglia Gran Turismo XL CH-70 a tax-planning issue at year-end to help employees maximize deductions for an upcoming tax season.Dedicate a portion of your intranet as a library for financial literacy resources. Consider online learning modules (podcasts or streaming videos), modeling tools and interactive games on different financial topics. Refresh the site often.
The guide was short - about 100 words on a page - so the information would not be intimidating.The discussion of each life event included tips for proactively responding to the related financial challenges while highlighting relevant Chopard Mille Miglia CH-11 programs that provide support. For example, the discussion about buying a home listed some common issues to consider when evaluating mortgage options, as well as a reminder of the loan feature in the company's 401 (k) plan.Tiffany also wanted to emphasize the steps each individual should take to protect against loss. So the guide included reminders about the importance of homeowners', renters' and auto insurance to protect an individual's property and the importance of life
insurance, wills, beneficiary Chopard Mille Miglia CH-12 and estate planning to provide financial security for an individual's survivors in the event of his or her death.Finally, a portion of the guide focused on preparing for retirement. It included an outline of company retirement plans, as well as vehicles such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and annuities that individuals can fund independently.CAMPAIGN Chopard Mille Miglia CH-13 with any communication campaign, a financial education campaign requires careful planning. Here are some steps to follow.
* Make the business case to senior managers and get their support. At Tiff any, because physical wellness was already an integral part of the culture, getting buy-in on extending the focus to financial wellness seemed natural. Be sure to update senior managers, human resource reps and others, as applicable, as you develop the campaign.* Create a brand, theme or tagline so that people can readily identify Chopard Mille Miglia CH-78 campaign. Tiffany chose the Take 5 theme based on a program offered by one of its vendors. The company modified the theme to fit the campaign, and Buck created the graphic treatment to illustrate it, consistent with Tiffany's distinctive business branding.
The campaign culminated with a personalized total compensation annual statement for each employee. The statement, which shows the value of all the programs the company offers, can serve as a key resource in helping employees plan for the future. By distributing statements as part of the Take 5 campaign, Tiffany was able to showcase the statement's importance and, at the same time, furnish Chopard IceCube CH-5 employee with actual data to help with financial planning efforts.As it turned out, the timing for the financial wellness initiative was exceptional. During that month, the U.S. and world financial markets crashed, and the information that Tiffany was providing became even more relevant.
CAMPAIGN COMPONENTSThe campaign consisted of a series of seminars with written and Chopard Mille Miglia Alfa Romeo CH-20 support materials. A key imperative was to keep messages and materials as simple as possible. Says Klein, "We didn't want employees to feel overwhelmed by too much information. Consistent with our theme, we wanted employees to be able to review the program in five minutes or Chopard Lady Quartz Watch CH-45, knowing how little time everyone has these days for such things."Webinars and live seminars held throughout the month covered topics such as investing in a down market, 401(k) basics, budgeting, Medicare,
Tiffany's retirement plans, credit reports, identity theft, mortgages and refinancing. Tiffany's 401 (k) and employee assistance program (EAP) vendors, a Social Security representative and in-house experts ran these seminars, so there was no cost to the company. (Note that many financial planners also offer seminars free of charge.)To reinforce seminar messages and to position seminar topics within a larger context, Tiffany Chopard Mille Miglia Alfa Romeo CH-77 with Buck Consultants to create a pocketsize Take 5 resource guide, organized around important life events such as starting a family, paying for college, buying a house and everyday responsibilities like managing day-to-day finances.
We saw a real need to talk more comprehensively to employees about financial matters. At the same time, we wanted to showcase the full complement of financial benefits that Tiffany offers."The Chopard Happy Fish CH-55 strategy was to position the campaign within the context of overall wellness. "Because health and wellness have always been an important part of Tiffany's benefit strategy and culture, financial wellness was a natural extension of that focus. We saw an opportunity to leverage our success in presenting health and wellness concepts to our employees," said Sidnie Wilder, Tiffany's group director, workforce, policies programs and services.
The company wants employees to understand that people who are physically healthy often take time to eat right, exercise, get annual physicals, etc. Similarly, being financially healthy requires Chopard Happy Fish Quartz CH-27 and planning, so the campaign asked all employees to take a few minutes to consider important financial issues.Building on the concept of 401(k) Day observed at many companies each September, the benefits department Chopard Happy Hour Quartz CH-8 to promote Tiffany's 401 (k) plan but recognized that financial education takes more than a day. So the department decided to offer something more comprehensive. "
We expanded 401 (k) Day to the entire month and broadened the concept to include other aspects of financial wellness," said Sol Klein, benefits director at Tiffany.In addition, the company used this opportunity to promote Chopard Happy Hour Quartz CH-9 programs - such as flexible spending accounts and commuter benefits - that can maximize an employee's take-home pay by using tax-free dollars to pay eligible expenses. These programs had been available - and, too often, underutilized - for years. Such programs are even more valuable in today's economy.
The new Santa Monica Place aims to win back its target customers: 35-year-old affluent women with fashion options. Singleton pointed to its convenience, an updated design epitomized by airiness, sweeping views, ChronoSwiss Opus Skeleton CS-3 anchors (a 102,000-square-foot Bloomingdale's and a 122,000-square-foot Nordstrom, and a balanced mix of new stores and food offerings as major draws.The redesign will allow customers to take advantage of Santa Monica and why people live here, she said. It is as much about socializing as it is about shopping.
The Nordstrom, Tiffany Execs See Pay Boosts ChronoSwiss Opus Skeleton CS-5 recovery of high-end retailing in the second half of 2009 allowed the top executives of Nordstrom Inc. and Tiffany & Co. to comfortably pad their take-home pay last year. According to proxy statements recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nordstrom president Blake Nordstrom more than doubled his total compensation, to $4.3 million, while ChronoSwiss Opus Skeleton Midsize CS-11 chairman and chief executive officer Michael Kowalski earned $7.9 million, 68.4 percent higher than in 2008. In both cases, the companies exceeded earnings targets set by the compensation committees of their boards,
opening the door for rich payoffs in nonequity incentive plan bonuses, even though neither firm matched nor exceeded its 2008 sales. Meanwhile, Jones Apparel Group Inc. ceo Wesley Card saw his earnings fall 11.1 percent to $5.5 million, ChronoSwiss Regulateur Dual Time CS-16 his earnings effectively rose 2.2 percent when a 2008 bonus reported to the SEC but not accepted by Card is factored into the equation.At Nordstrom, Blake Nordstrom's total pay package of $4.3 million last year was 131.6 percent above his total earnings of $1.9 million for 2008. His salary grew 0.6 percent to $700,000, and the sum of his stock and option awards declined 6 percent to $10.5 million.
Because Nordstrom exceeded target performance levels for both earnings before interest and taxes and return on invested capital, Nordstrom was entitled to 165.9 percent of his salary, or $1.2 million, in nonequity incentive ChronoSwiss Opus Skeleton CS-3 compensation. This compared with zero in the prior year.Because of fluctuating stock prices and vesting schedules, stock and option awards weren't necessarily realized by the executives cited but are required to be filed with the SEC.At least on paper, Nordstrom benefited from a $1.4 million credit for the change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings, versus no change in 2008.
His other compensation declined 27.9 percent to $47,000, the majority of ChronoSwiss Opus Skeleton CS-5 derived from more than $32,000 in merchandise discounts used by himself and his eligible dependents.In fiscal 2009, Nordstrom weathered the economic downturn better than many of its upscale retail peers. Net income grew 10 percent to $441 million, while sales pulled back 0.2 percent to $8.26 billion and retreated 4.2 percent on a same-store basis.Tiffany easily met its ChronoSwiss Opus Skeleton Midsize CS-11 targets last year, entitling ceo Kowalski to a $2 million bonus and helping to lift his total compensation by more than two-thirds.
With his $7.9 million package, Kowalski, ceo of Tiffany since 1999 and chairman since 2003, earned 68.4 percent more than his 2008 take of $4.7 million.The biggest portion of his $3.2 million increase was $2 million in nonequity incentive ChronoSwiss Regulateur Dual Time CS-16 compensation, the maximum amount payable to its ceo, which kicked in when net earnings for the year exceeded the target of $116 million. Tiffany's net income last year was $264.8 million, 20.4 percent above its 2008 level despite a 4.9 percent decline in sales to $2.71 billion.