Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL), originally Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, is an American company famous for producing glass canning jars. Founded in 1880, it is currently headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company has expanded into other areas such as avionics, space systems, metal beverage and food containers, aerosol containers and plastic containers.[citation needed]
Ball Corporation is a leading supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products and owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which develops sensors, spacecraft, systems and components for government and commercial customers.
Ball is a major supplier to the bottled water market and makes cans for beverages.
Ball Aerospace is based in Boulder, CO and employs approximately 3,000 engineers, scientists, technicians and support staff worldwide. Customers include NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, NOAA and various aerospace prime contractors.
The company overall employs more than 14,000 people in over 90Â locations worldwide.
In 2008, Ball reported total revenues of $7.6 billion and net income of $319.5 million.
Benefits
401(k) (Elective)
Maximum of 22% pre-tax contributions annually (via payroll deduction).
Eight investment options to choose from, funds managed by Vanguard.
401(k) PERFORMANCE SHARING MATCH PROGRAM
Based on company performance Ball Aerospace will match employee 401(k) contributions up to 4% of base pay.
ACCIDENTAL DEATH & DISMEMBERMENT (Elective) (Cost Varies)
Coverage available in increments of $10,000 up to a maximum of $500,000.
DENTAL INSURANCE BENEFITS (No additional cost)
Percentage Preventive Care 100%
Minor Restoration 80%
Major Restoration 50%
Deductibles
Maximum Plan: $50 Employee, $100 Family
Intermediate Plan: $100 Employee, $200 Family
Basic Plan: $150 Employee, $300 Family
DEPENDENT CARE REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (DCRA)
A plan that enables you to pay for day care costs on a pre-tax basis.
DISABILITY
SHORT-TERM
Paid a percentage of salary based on service with the company for a period of time up to 26 weeks.
LONG-TERM
Effective 6 months after disability incurred. 60% of salary, up to $5,000/mo, paid until age 65; coordination with Social Security and other disability income.
EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS
- On-site training
- Seminars
- In-state tuition reimbursement
- Student loans
- Scholarship program (for dependents)
HOLIDAYS
New Year's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday)
Christmas
3 Floating Holidays
LONG-TERM CARE (Elective) (Cost Varies)
Provides long term custodial care for help with normal activities of daily living if needed. Also available for spouse, parents, and parents-in-laws. Portable monthly premium based on age of each individual at time of entrance of plan.
MEDICAL INSURANCE BENEFITS
HEALTH CARE REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (HCRA)
HCRA enables pre-tax payment for medical/dental deductibles, non covered expenses and coinsurance.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Pension Plan
Noncontributory - Company funded
5-year vesting
STOCK BENEFITS
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (Elective)
Employee may purchase up to $500 per month.
Company match of 20%.
No minimum holding time.
Must have completed six consecutive months of service to participate.
Employee Stock Ownership Plan
Company matches 401(k) contributions at 50% to a maximum of $1,000 annually. Vesting at 20% per year in the company matched portion.
TERM LIFE (Cost Varies)
Up to 5 times your base salary to a maximum of $500,000.
TRAVEL ACCIDENT COVERAGE
Additional life coverage while on business travel provided. $100,000 or 5X salary up to $250,000.
VACATION
3 weeks annually with less than 10 years service.
4 weeks annually with greater than 10 years service.
Employee retention surveys
Imagine if you had a crystal ball and could look into the future. Suppose you saw that in two years' time, 60 percent of your top sales people will be gone. What if anything would you change in your organization today to prevent those top performers from leaving? Well, it's the year 2007 and even with all this great technology, we still don't have a crystal ball that allows us to peer into the future. But we do have other devices at our fingertips that can provide us with an accurate view of the future.
The best way to figure out what is going to happen in your company is to ask your employees. No, I'm not suggesting that you go up to your top sales producers and ask them if they are interviewing with your competitors. But you can certainly ask them what they are thinking and what it will take to keep them engaged in their jobs.
Forward-thinking companies are constantly keeping their fingers on the pulse of the workforce. They are actively surveying their employees every six months to see what improvements can be made to their organizations. They closely analyze trends and make quick adjustments where necessary to prevent good employees from leaving.
Most use outside partners to conduct these surveys. They do so because employees are more candid in their responses. Without employee candor, employers are not in a position to make the necessary changes required to retain employees and that all-important customer base.
Hiring for fit
When someone doesn't work out, we usually hear how this person wasn't a good fit for the job or the organization. The right fit means different things to different companies. Rarely does an organization take the time necessary or invest the resources needed to figure out what the right fit actually looks like for their workplace. Instead, they continue to blame the economy, the hiring manager and sometimes even the parents of the employee. It's easier to fault others than it is to determine what changes must be made to the hiring profile as well as the hiring process.
Sometimes retaining good packaging people over the long haul is made easier when management demonstrates its appreciation for their unique skills and experience. Superior Coffee provides a good example. This Chicago-based coffee roaster also has plants in Louisiana and Minneapolis. When these first opened, rather than relying exclusively on outside people to train operators how to run the vertical form/fill/seal machines that bag the coffee, Superior called on Donna Moyer (right), now a 21-year veteran at running the packaging machines in the Chicago plant. The chance to travel and experience operations at other facilities was a welcome break from the usual routine, says Moyer. Knowing such opportunities exist-and knowing her company values her experience enough to hand her the ball when an opportunity arises-boosts the sense of fulfillment Moyer finds in her work. "I like working with machines, but I also like learning something new," says Moyer. Another firm capitalizing on its multi-plant status as a means of making work more interesting is Redhook Brewery, based in Woodinville, WA. In addition to its modern plant in Woodinville, it opened a brand-new facility in Portsmouth, NH, in 1997. That same year, management announced an incentive program under which, for each quarter of the year, one worker at each plant whose performance stands out gets to spend a week at the other plant. The company picks up the hotel bill and living expenses, and the employee is able to enjoy the sights of either New England or the Seattle area. The winners also get to learn firsthand how their counterparts in the other plant handle their responsibilities. Redhook president of brewing Al Triplett says the program has been extremely popular, which is certainly good from an employee-retention standpoint. Moreover, the information exchange between plants has been highly beneficial to each plant's operating efficiency.
Ball Corporation is a leading supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products and owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which develops sensors, spacecraft, systems and components for government and commercial customers.
Ball is a major supplier to the bottled water market and makes cans for beverages.
Ball Aerospace is based in Boulder, CO and employs approximately 3,000 engineers, scientists, technicians and support staff worldwide. Customers include NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, NOAA and various aerospace prime contractors.
The company overall employs more than 14,000 people in over 90Â locations worldwide.
In 2008, Ball reported total revenues of $7.6 billion and net income of $319.5 million.
Benefits
401(k) (Elective)
Maximum of 22% pre-tax contributions annually (via payroll deduction).
Eight investment options to choose from, funds managed by Vanguard.
401(k) PERFORMANCE SHARING MATCH PROGRAM
Based on company performance Ball Aerospace will match employee 401(k) contributions up to 4% of base pay.
ACCIDENTAL DEATH & DISMEMBERMENT (Elective) (Cost Varies)
Coverage available in increments of $10,000 up to a maximum of $500,000.
DENTAL INSURANCE BENEFITS (No additional cost)
Percentage Preventive Care 100%
Minor Restoration 80%
Major Restoration 50%
Deductibles
Maximum Plan: $50 Employee, $100 Family
Intermediate Plan: $100 Employee, $200 Family
Basic Plan: $150 Employee, $300 Family
DEPENDENT CARE REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (DCRA)
A plan that enables you to pay for day care costs on a pre-tax basis.
DISABILITY
SHORT-TERM
Paid a percentage of salary based on service with the company for a period of time up to 26 weeks.
LONG-TERM
Effective 6 months after disability incurred. 60% of salary, up to $5,000/mo, paid until age 65; coordination with Social Security and other disability income.
EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS
- On-site training
- Seminars
- In-state tuition reimbursement
- Student loans
- Scholarship program (for dependents)
HOLIDAYS
New Year's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday)
Christmas
3 Floating Holidays
LONG-TERM CARE (Elective) (Cost Varies)
Provides long term custodial care for help with normal activities of daily living if needed. Also available for spouse, parents, and parents-in-laws. Portable monthly premium based on age of each individual at time of entrance of plan.
MEDICAL INSURANCE BENEFITS
HEALTH CARE REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (HCRA)
HCRA enables pre-tax payment for medical/dental deductibles, non covered expenses and coinsurance.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Pension Plan
Noncontributory - Company funded
5-year vesting
STOCK BENEFITS
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (Elective)
Employee may purchase up to $500 per month.
Company match of 20%.
No minimum holding time.
Must have completed six consecutive months of service to participate.
Employee Stock Ownership Plan
Company matches 401(k) contributions at 50% to a maximum of $1,000 annually. Vesting at 20% per year in the company matched portion.
TERM LIFE (Cost Varies)
Up to 5 times your base salary to a maximum of $500,000.
TRAVEL ACCIDENT COVERAGE
Additional life coverage while on business travel provided. $100,000 or 5X salary up to $250,000.
VACATION
3 weeks annually with less than 10 years service.
4 weeks annually with greater than 10 years service.
Employee retention surveys
Imagine if you had a crystal ball and could look into the future. Suppose you saw that in two years' time, 60 percent of your top sales people will be gone. What if anything would you change in your organization today to prevent those top performers from leaving? Well, it's the year 2007 and even with all this great technology, we still don't have a crystal ball that allows us to peer into the future. But we do have other devices at our fingertips that can provide us with an accurate view of the future.
The best way to figure out what is going to happen in your company is to ask your employees. No, I'm not suggesting that you go up to your top sales producers and ask them if they are interviewing with your competitors. But you can certainly ask them what they are thinking and what it will take to keep them engaged in their jobs.
Forward-thinking companies are constantly keeping their fingers on the pulse of the workforce. They are actively surveying their employees every six months to see what improvements can be made to their organizations. They closely analyze trends and make quick adjustments where necessary to prevent good employees from leaving.
Most use outside partners to conduct these surveys. They do so because employees are more candid in their responses. Without employee candor, employers are not in a position to make the necessary changes required to retain employees and that all-important customer base.
Hiring for fit
When someone doesn't work out, we usually hear how this person wasn't a good fit for the job or the organization. The right fit means different things to different companies. Rarely does an organization take the time necessary or invest the resources needed to figure out what the right fit actually looks like for their workplace. Instead, they continue to blame the economy, the hiring manager and sometimes even the parents of the employee. It's easier to fault others than it is to determine what changes must be made to the hiring profile as well as the hiring process.
Sometimes retaining good packaging people over the long haul is made easier when management demonstrates its appreciation for their unique skills and experience. Superior Coffee provides a good example. This Chicago-based coffee roaster also has plants in Louisiana and Minneapolis. When these first opened, rather than relying exclusively on outside people to train operators how to run the vertical form/fill/seal machines that bag the coffee, Superior called on Donna Moyer (right), now a 21-year veteran at running the packaging machines in the Chicago plant. The chance to travel and experience operations at other facilities was a welcome break from the usual routine, says Moyer. Knowing such opportunities exist-and knowing her company values her experience enough to hand her the ball when an opportunity arises-boosts the sense of fulfillment Moyer finds in her work. "I like working with machines, but I also like learning something new," says Moyer. Another firm capitalizing on its multi-plant status as a means of making work more interesting is Redhook Brewery, based in Woodinville, WA. In addition to its modern plant in Woodinville, it opened a brand-new facility in Portsmouth, NH, in 1997. That same year, management announced an incentive program under which, for each quarter of the year, one worker at each plant whose performance stands out gets to spend a week at the other plant. The company picks up the hotel bill and living expenses, and the employee is able to enjoy the sights of either New England or the Seattle area. The winners also get to learn firsthand how their counterparts in the other plant handle their responsibilities. Redhook president of brewing Al Triplett says the program has been extremely popular, which is certainly good from an employee-retention standpoint. Moreover, the information exchange between plants has been highly beneficial to each plant's operating efficiency.