Employee benefits is a wide-ranging topic that can boost engagement, productivity and your business’ bottom line, so it is very important to carefully consider your employee benefits management. This can be a challenging task for many businesses with each employee having a unique situation, questions they want answered and doctors they want to see. As part of our services, we help manage all aspects of the employee benefit onboarding and enrollment for you— making your job a little less stressful.
In today’s job market, employers are tasked with structuring employee benefit programs that keep the business competitive and employees motivated. Here are 5 ways to improve your employee benefits management.
Step 1: Meet Regularly With Your Broker
It is important to think of your broker as an extension of your team. Brokers are indispensable partners in helping employers evolve their benefit strategy to improve the employee experience. That is why it’s so important to have a broker who checks in frequently with quarterly updates, policy updates and answers any questions you may have. The right broker has an understanding of what the employer wants to achieve through its benefits plans and the experience to help that employer achieve its goals. 1
Step 2: Utilize Technology
Help your employees become informed consumers of their benefits. We help create a customized website where your employees can view benefits, print forms, post important documents and look up doctors. By creating an online benefits portal, you give your employees 24/7 access to review their benefits throughout the year— win, win for everyone!
Technology has become an integral part of benefits planning today. It saves time by eliminating paper forms, reducing errors, and creating digital employee files — thereby offering a solution for both employers and employees. It has also been proven to result in a higher enrollment rate for businesses who offer it.
A few reasons why you should integrate technology into your benefits planning:
- Ease of access
- Education
- Improved accuracy
- Automatic reporting and compliance
Step 3: Benefits Training
Education, especially when it comes to understanding one’s health benefits, is extremely important. How else will your employees be able to appreciate the value of having a company benefits plan if they don’t know how it works? We highly suggest hosting a benefits training for your employees, especially during open enrollment. This is a great way to educate them on their benefits or changes to their plans, and help them understand the value of what your business is offering.
Here are a few suggested topics to review during a benefits education training:
- Different carriers and coverage offered for the plan year
- Recommendations on coverage based on life stages or individual needs
- How each plan works (the difference between an HMO, PPO, HSA, etc.)
- What types of prescriptions are covered
- What the annual out of pocket max would be if there were to be a catastrophic event for an individual or one’s family
The more they know, the better!
Step 4: Survey Employees
Employee benefit surveys are an important part of staying up to date with the needs of your employees, as well as keeping your employees up to date with the benefits your organization provides. Benefit surveys are critical to understanding employees’ opinions about your benefit programs and workplace quality of life. Making assumptions or jumping on the bandwagon with whatever others in your industry are doing may not be the best solution for your organization. A simple tactic is to ask employees through surveys—then listen and take action. This is also an opportune time to show your organization is listening to your employees.
Step 5: Offer Additional Unique Benefits
From wellness programs to grocery deliveries, the demand for customization has never been higher. Employee satisfaction is essential to a company’s overall success, which is why it’s crucial to offer incentives that excite and inspire staff as well as attract top talent to the recruiting process. While every employee loves a salary increase, there are other ways to reward workers besides offering more money. 2
A healthy corporate culture can mean the difference between success and failure. Here are a few perks that will go a long way with your employees:
- Pet-friendly environment
- Massages and yoga
- Healthy snacks
- Plenty of time off
- Focus on family
- Onsite health services
- Continuing education
- Student loan paydowns
- Giving back
- Office parties
Interested in learning more about improving your employee benefits management? Give us a call or visit our website.
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