Change does not come quickly or easily. Continually painting the vision and the critical nature of each person's role is critical. The longer people are there, the more they feel entitled. That can lead to a feeling that profits don't make a difference. Meanwhile, the company had already embarked in 1991 on new lines of business to augment its individual insurance business in life products and annuities.
Voluntary products target small businesses, and employees participate through payroll deductions.
Owner Outlook Bates also saw to it that stock options were broadly distributed. Stock options were also extended to the company's leading general agents. They started to feel like owners. We were going at it seven days a week. We're not a big enough company to have had a team devoted entirely to demutualization.