The one constant is change. Particularly in business. As a leader or small business owner, you have to constantly be thinking strategically and looking ahead of what’s currently happening so that you can be ready to move forward and adjust rather than react. Regardless of the stage of business that you’re in. If you aren’t changing to evolve with the needs, and within the best interests, of employees, clients or customers, the community and any other stakeholders, the business will be left behind.
For me, one of the things that I’ve wanted to make sure I do as I built Employers Advantage was to make sure to provide opportunities for people to work in a way that works for them. Meaning, not just work life balance, but to literally be able to work in a way that supports their life and what they want to do. I have followed my dream of being self-employed and building the business that I intended to build, and I want other people to be able to have that same opportunity - so passing the torch is something that has to happen.
All that to say, I am very excited to share some big changes that we made this year within Employers Advantage LLC! These changes allow me, as the business owner, to move out of the “day to day” so that I can work more on strategic planning and moves for the company to provide more opportunities for the team. This is all in an effort to stay ahead of the curve in the best interest of the amazing team of people that work here and the small business clients and community that we work with.
For the 13 years that we have been in business, we have always had a very flat organization. By design. It has essentially been me overseeing the entire operation and the team. Now that we have built up to a team of 11 people, the time has come to evolve into the next phase!
First, we have created a new division of the company called EAEdge. This division of the company was designed to provide HR support and services to companies with 50 – 300 employees. We are still small business and will always be small business. The core of our business is companies with under 50 employees and that will never change. We recognized the need for a different suite of services in the 50 – 300 employee group size and have designed services to meet that need. HR Business Partner, Jessica Lorello, PHR has been promoted to HRBP Team Lead over EAEdge to lead the charge in building out this new division and executing the highest level of client satisfaction. Jessica has been with Employers Advantage since March 2019 working in both Operations and HR roles, which has given her the ability to fully understand the impact of HR on a small business. We are looking forward to seeing all the great things that Jessica will do in this role!
Next, HR Business Partner Shannon Curtis, PHR, who has worked with Employers Advantage LLC since 2016, initially starting in a contractor role working on projects and then coming on as an employee providing practical and viable HR support solutions to our clients. Shannon has been integral in the evolution of the company and has been promoted to the Senior HR Business Partner Team Lead. In this role, Shannon will lead the HR team. Shannon’s ability to meet people where they are and support them in a way that works best for them makes this a role that she will thrive in.
With Shannon leading the people part of the company, the other part is the overall operations of the business. To meet that need, we created a new position of VP HR Operations in which HRBP Ellen Slane, PHR, SHRM-CP has been promoted into. Ellen has been with Employers Advantage since June 2021 and is admired by both her clients and her colleagues; she is steady and true to her career in HR, she has a servant leader heart and a solid business acumen.
I am very confident that, with our current team and Ellen at the lead, these changes will benefit the Employers Advantage clients, team, and communities in which we work. I am very excited to pass the torch and see what 2024 has in store for all of us and can’t express enough my level of gratitude to our clients, vendors, supporters, and partners that we work with. Without you all, none of this could be possible for any of us and that doesn’t go unnoticed.
Join me in congratulating Ellen, Shannon, and Jessica in their new roles!
Here’s to a great year,
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