Click here to order the April 2016 issue in which this article appeared.
Direct selling prides itself in being the original people business. The millions of independent business owners who comprise the distributor force give the channel its unique power, and supporting and celebrating those individuals is central to success. This month, however, we turn our focus to another critical part of the people equation: your corporate office teams. Whether it is developing and manufacturing product, fulfilling orders, supporting the field, planning and executing events, or delivering on the myriad other aspects required to keep a direct selling company on the path to success, company employees provide the backbone to all direct selling endeavors.
To find out more about direct selling workplaces, Direct Selling News partnered with HR technology company Quantum Workplace to launch the 2016 Best Places to Work in Direct Selling program. Quantum Workplace has been collecting Best Places to Work data for more than a decade, and they were a fantastic partner in this process. You can read more about the workplace strategies of our seven winning companies in the special supplement included with this edition of the magazine: Jamberry, Jeunesse Global, LegalShield, Nu Skin, Team National, USANA and Zurvita.
As writer Courtney Roush explores in this month’s cover story, having a workplace that employees find engaging corresponds to higher retention, sales, profit and even market share. As direct selling continues to grow in the United States and around the world, the demand for top talent also expands. The companies that are most successful at recruiting and retaining that talent will put themselves at a natural advantage for continued growth and success. According to Eileen Ryan, an employee at Best Places to Work Honoree company Team National, “Here everyone just jumps in and has fun. We are smart and creative, and we get to work and roll up our sleeves. At this point in my life, I only want to associate myself with people who make my time meaningful.”
Here at Direct Selling News, we love being able to celebrate the success stories in our channel, and we’re already looking forward to the 2017 Best Places to Work in Direct Selling program. Companies with North American operations of at least 50 full-time employees are invited to nominate themselves at dsnsite.wpengine.com/BestPlacesToWork. Later in the year, Quantum will administer the online employee survey, available in English or Spanish, and tabulate the results. The survey was developed by a panel of thought leaders in the field of employee engagement and is validated annually against more than 1.5 million responses across 5,000 companies to continuously recognize trends in the evolution of engagement. All companies that participate will receive a free, one-page overview report after their survey is complete. Your participation is confidential, unless, of course, you are recognized among our 2017 class of honorees!
All the best,
Lauren Lawley Head
Publisher and Editor in Chief
