Why technology is not just a ‘thought but a necessity’

Are you utilizing your technology to its advantages? Check out this article from Employee Benefits Advisors about the importance of technology in today's marketplace by Brian M. Kalish

More than half of all brokers nationwide are still using paper and have no online database of their clients — but the industry is about to reach a tipping point, where those still using old processes will be left behind.

According to a recent survey of 10,000 brokers by hCentive, 54% still use paper and 53% have no online database.

Having no online database is the most challenging part, Lisa Collins, director of business development at hCentive said a recent event for brokers sponsored by the company in Reston, Va. Those brokers, she said, lack a central place for their resources.

But for brokers still using these old processes, the industry is reaching a tipping point, she said, where “technology is not just a thought [but] a necessity.”

It will become necessary, she explained, because the industry is demanding technology solutions as employers look to their brokers to provide more services with less commissions. On top of that, HR broker tech startups, such as Zenefits, Namely and Gusto are taking business away. These firms offer technology solutions for free and become the broker of record — and they are moving upmarket, Collins added. The tech startups, Collins added, are taking business from more traditional brokers.

These tech startups are directly approaching adviser’s clients, she said. Clients are responding to these HR tech startups because of challenging and changing requirements of HR, including Affordable Care Act compliance.

“Clients are asking for more than ever,” she said. “It used to [broker’s] sold insurance. Now they are a true consultant and risk mitigator.”

“Clients want more and more and it is challenging with less commission dollars to work with,” she added. “You have more competition than you have ever had.”

Advisers need to provide value, as benefits are likely to be a top three expense for an employer, added Brian Slutz, regional sales manager at hCentive.

The future
Looking toward the future, many questions still remain about President Donald Trump’s plans for healthcare and employee benefits, but a few things are likely to be consistent, which can be streamlined with technology, including:

  • Consumer-driver healthcare is staying, Collins said, and with that comes the growth of health savings accounts. As a result, more voluntary products can be sold. Technology enables that through decision support tools that suggest these products to employees.
  • Cost transparency tools: “A really critical tool,” Collins said. Viable systems are hitting the marketplace now and technology provides answers employees are seeking on healthcare costs
  • Personalized communications: With more choice and more complication comes the need for education, Collins said. Technology solutions are becoming more customized to speak to an individual employee with targeted communication to a particular generation.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Kalish B. (2017 January 31). Why technology is not just a 'thought but a necessity' [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/why-technology-is-not-just-a-thought-but-a-necessity?brief=00000152-1443-d1cc-a5fa-7cfba3c60000


Employers prioritizing employee well-being

Are you putting enough priority into your employees' well-being? Take a look at this article from Employee Benefits Advisor   about the importance of employee well-being by Nick Otto

Benefits managers and HR pros alike know the two-fold benefits well-being programs provide: a healthier, more engaged workforce and increased productivity. So it’s no wonder more companies are prioritizing such programs.

A large majority of employers (78%) call employee well-being a key component of company strategy, according to Virgin Pulse’s 2017 State of the Industry report. In addition, 87% say they have already invested, or plan to invest, in some type of employee well-being initiative, and 97% agree with the decidedly uncontroversial statement that worker well-being positively influences engagement.

“Until recently, employee well-being has been viewed as a ‘nice to have,’ but with more and more research directly connecting employee well-being to business productivity and performance, business leaders are recognizing it as a ‘must have’ from a business perspective,” says Chris Boyce, CEO of Virgin Pulse, a wellness technology provider. “The proof is in the data that emerging-companies that invest in employee well-being see lower turnover, less absenteeism, stronger stock performance and higher business productivity. That’s a compelling business case.”

But what programs do employers say are advancing wellness and engagement? Opinions seem to differ. Forty-one percent of the organizations surveyed by Virgin Pulse are still in the process of defining employee engagement or developing a plan to enhance it.

Further, a little less than a third (29%) of respondents have established engagement programs to fit specific needs or offer an integrated solution that links to organizational strategy, the report notes.

One of the more striking differences between the older, or more “mature” organizations, accounting for 29% of those surveyed, and the rest of the employers is that the great majority of the former group conducts annual employee engagement surveys, compared to less than half of other employers.

By completing these surveys, some roadblocks employers say they are encountering in engaging more employees in well-being programs include issues such as organization culture (48%), budgets (47%) and communications (30%), the study notes.

For benefits managers, making sure that all employees have access to benefits and programs that address their full well-being — and having the ability to communicate those programs and measure usage and impact — is critical in proving the value of wellness programs, Boyce notes.

“Today, businesses can and should be looking beyond wellness and health cost savings and evaluating employee well-being programs in the context of the larger cultural and business value they deliver, such as increased employee engagement and retention, reduced safety incidents, decreased absenteeism and higher business productivity,” he adds.

In fact, a large majority of HR leaders view workplace culture as an important part of furthering employee well-being. Eighty percent have programs in place or plan to implement programs aimed at improving culture at the office.

Beginner organizations can jump-start their well-being initiatives by offering well-being programs, experiences and activities that engage all employees, not just a few, Boyce suggests. Social connections and team support are critical in building — and sustaining — cultures of well-being, so the more actively involved employees are in the program, the more successful it will be in driving the changes and outcomes that matter for individuals and organizations.

“As organizations continue to focus on individual well-being as a positive driver of company culture, they are going to see happier, healthier, more engaged employees and better business results, across the board,” he says. “That’s just good business sense.”

The best way to implement a robust program that meets the individual needs of employees —while simplifying management and communication for employers — is to find a well-being vendor that has a hub embedded with their solution, Boyce says.

A hub that provides a one-stop-shop experience by connecting all relevant programs into a single space allows employees to access all their resources in one interface while driving participation and usage. With the right well-being and benefits hub, employers will be able to integrate a broad range of HR and benefits programs and promote them to relevant employees and populations.

“Imagine being able to suggest your financial planning program to employees that are new to the workforce, physical activity programs to those who are most sedentary, and mindfulness programs to departments in the throes of their busy season,” Boyce says. “Simplification, employee engagement and personalization are key to building a robust well-being program.”

See the original article Here.

Source:

Otto N. (2017 January 27). Employers prioritizing employee well-being [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/employers-prioritizing-employee-well-being?brief=00000152-1443-d1cc-a5fa-7cfba3c60000


Strategic Talent Investment

Looking for ways to develop existing talent? Check out this interesting article from SHRM about the impact and benefits of investing in talent by Sharon Margules

Limited dollars for talent development? High expectations for measurable impact? More requests and expressed needs than resources available? These are just some of the challenges facing HR today. The solution: make strategic talent investments that directly link to the business strategy.
Successful organizations have business strategies that define their winning aspiration, where they will play, how they will win and the capabilities and systems they need to have in place to execute.i From my experience, the volatile marketplace has challenged leaders to craft sustainable, competitive strategies and for those that do, many still don’t thoughtfully consider the capabilities and aligned systems needed to operationalize their strategy. While there are exceptions to this conclusion, it is more commonplace to see lagging talent strategies and business systems.
For HR’s part in this, they need to adopt a mindset shift from being reactive and “in service” to proactive and a “strategic partner” in enabling the business strategy. Throughout my career I observed HR wait for the strategy to be defined by the “business” before they determine the actions they need to take in support. That doesn’t work. The time to make a difference is during the creation of the business strategy so everyone involved understands the organization’s current readiness to address the where to play and how to win choices. Absent that perspective, leaders are making assumptions about what can and can’t be achieved to execute their strategy. When it comes time to build budgets, the lack of forethought into what it will take to execute in terms of both capabilities and systems, becomes an unaligned mess. Budgets become grocery lists of investments that are only very nominally linked to the business strategy. No one is thinking through what capabilities and systems are truly critical to enable the strategy execution.
How Do You Get More Strategically Aligned with the Business?
As I mentioned, HR executives need to adopt a mindset shift and assume a more proactive role during the strategy formation. They need to exert their influence on the leadership team when making choices of where to play and how to win. They need to come prepared to share a clear understanding of where the organization is today from a talent and a HR systems perspective. This means leaders need to already have in place an effective means of classifying the current talent capabilities they have, where the gaps are against the current strategy and knowledge of their pools of talent in each of their core areas. An infrastructure of integrated approaches to assessment, talent planning, attraction and hiring, performance management, and compensation needs to be functioning at a high level to provide HR executives with the necessary data for strategic decision making. Furthermore, HR executives must have sufficient knowledge of the business, the competition and the consumer. Otherwise, recommendations on strategy will lack sufficient credibility. With the data and knowledge available then HR can make strategic investment decisions.
How Do You Make Strategic Talent Investment Choices?
If you have clarity around the business strategy and know where you are today in terms of capabilities and where you need to be to execute the strategy, then making these decisions will be straightforward. Most organizations struggle with unclear priorities and massive tactical “to do” lists that are not aligned with the strategy. Your plans need to be directly tied to the business strategy.
Building a strategic investment plan means you make critical, differentiated investments in core/key talent areas that will have the most significant impact on your business strategy. Just as a business has to choose what it will and won’t do as part of creating their strategy, HR needs to have the discipline to make choices. That can mean you allocate some of your investment across frontline leaders as you implement a new service model. Or, perhaps it is an investment in high potential mid-level leaders who need to make the transition to managing larger scope across broader global teams. The point is, regardless of where you do and don’t make investments, your choices should be a result of strategic input at the beginning stages of business strategy formation. Failure to make the strategic connection and to monetize the ROI will lead you to arbitrary HR decision making and ineffective solutions.
Similarly, the absence of the right talent development solutions will bring further failure in delivering against the capability requirements for the strategy. The keys to strategic talent investment: link business strategy to investment choices, to solution identification, and follow through with execution and measurement.
Using this as a model to build your talent development plans will significantly increase your chances of investing in the right solutions, for the right audience, at the right time and with the right results.
How Do You Build a Case For Your Talent Investments?
The question you need to ask first is: Will making an investment in this population, in this solution, in this initiative facilitate the accomplishment of our business strategy?
Even if you answer yes, organizations may still cut the talent investments that most directly impact their ability to achieve their strategy.
For example, I recently led a high potential program designed to build general management capabilities among leaders from product functions who were experts in each of their fields. The goal, originally defined by the CEO, was to create a pool of GMs that could take on leadership of businesses that were becoming more global and integrated. Rather than have operators run a product business, the objective was to have GMs with product expertise run a product business on a global scale. The results from two years of the program were that 72 percent of the participants received promotions to GM roles and 22 percent of the participants took on expat assignments as GMs in Japan and China. Despite its success, the program was cut because the investment, 50K per person for 20 people was deemed too steep. The primary reason the case couldn’t be made to continue this investment; is following a CEO leadership change, we were unable to demonstrate how this program was directly aligned with the business strategy. We didn’t monetize the value of this investment.
Here are some questions you should answer in making a strategic case for talent investment:
1. How does having internally developed “x” leaders with “y” capabilities enable the achievement of your organization’s vision and strategy? Will having leaders with these capabilities allow you to more rapidly innovate, act on opportunity and compete in new markets? Which specific strategic business objectives are you tackling?
2. How much business do the leaders you are developing impact and how much economic value can be gained? Let’s say the leader runs a $200m business. If the leader, as a result of your targeted development, is able to find cost savings and increase earnings of just 2 percent, the economic value the leader brings is $4M.
3. What is the cost to attract, hire and onboard someone into a key role? What is the cost in lost productivity? Most estimates put the cost of hire to be 1.5 to 2 times the salary for key roles.ii If you assume a key leader earns $200,000 then the minimum cost to hire is $300,000 and according to most studies, nearly half will fail within the first 18 months at a new employer.iii
4. What will it cost you in attrition, if you don’t invest in your key talent? As Dan Pink articulates in his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, leaders need a sense of mastery, autonomy and purpose to be motivated and achieve their best. Development provides leaders the opportunity to expand their mastery and autonomy and even clarify their purpose. As Pink says, “The secret to high performance and satisfaction … is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.”
The loss of key talent affects commitment and focus on results among team members. It has a lasting, negative effect on climate that can permeate the organization.
5. What insights are you not tapping into from these leaders by not making the investment in development? Leaders are both born and made and through practice, excellence can be achieved. By creating the right development solution, leaders are given an environment in which they can acquire new knowledge, learn new skills and practice with low risk. What new idea, innovation or perspective might you leave on the table because you didn’t invest in giving leaders the tools and resources as well as the space to learn?
With these questions answered HR executives should be able to make the case to invest $50K in the development of key talent (per example above). Between the cost to hire of about $300K and the lost potential economic value of $4M, the possibility of attrition and the resulting negative climate impact, the organization is beyond remiss for not making the investment a priority.
HR has long sought to be a business partner. The more HR professionals can influence business strategy, link their efforts directly to the strategy, and deliver thoughtful, differentiated investments that can show true value, the more likely the “business” will seek their partnership.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Margules S. (2017 January 19). Strategic talent investment [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://blog.shrm.org/blog/strategic-talent-investment


Owning Engagement in Your Workplace

Looking for ways to help increase your employee engagement at work? Take a look at this great article from Society of Human Resources (SHRM) for so great tips to boost employee engagement by Trish McFarlane

We’re going on well over fifteen years of thinking about employee engagement in organizations.  And after years of surveying employees and rolling organizational results into a macro look at our country, the results today have not changed much from when we first started the analysis.  What we know is companies that lose disengaged employees often see the negative impact of having lower profitability and higher recruiting expenses.
From a company perspective, there are always things that can be done to reach out to employees and make them feel valued.  What has changed in the last fifteen years is using technology to bolster engagement by creating solutions to aid in stronger organizational connections.  These can include solutions to:
Encourage mentor relationships- Employees who feel mentored know that someone in the organization cares about their development and career path.  This mentor relationship also creates an outlet for continuous communication, and feedback, so that the employee has a strong connection point.
Communicate more, not less- Being transparent, even in economic downturns, builds trust with employees.  They will be more likely to hang in there for the long run.  Additionally, letting an employee know how valuable they are to the company is key.
Allow and encourage some fun in the work day- Fun at work = employees who don’t dread being there.  You don’t have to be playing ping pong or foosball all day at work, but definitely encourage a culture of being able to step away from the desk to chat and congregate.  It also means providing technology to make collaboration and sharing easier.  And beyond the technology, having senior leaders who will use and champion the technology so that employees feel compelled to use it too.
But it’s not just about the company driving employee engagement.  In many organizations, employee engagement is looked at as the relationship between the employee and the company.  In actuality, it goes far beyond this and is the relationships that an individual employee builds with colleagues and clients that truly indicate how likely the employee is to stay with the organization.  Engagement is also a set of behaviors an employee must embrace in order to make the connections that will be lasting.  So, what can you do as an employee to build that relationship?
Ways to foster your own engagement
  • Volunteer to do more
  • Be more active (in the group, the topic, etc.)
  • Look for ways to improve, then implement them
  • Take ownership for what goes well and where you need to improve
  • Get “fired up” and use your passion
  • Be loyal
  • Build trusting relationships

The take away for me is it’s about focusing on the relationship, not the individual inputs and levers.

What do you think?  What would you add to the list?

See the original article Here.

Source:

McFarlane T. (Date). Owning engagement in your workplace [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://blog.shrm.org/blog/owning-engagement-in-your-workplace


How to encourage increased investment in financial wellbeing

Is financial wellness an important part of your company culture? By promoting financial wellness among your employees', employers can reap the benefits as well. Check out this great article from Employee Benefits Advisor about the some of the effects that promoting financial wellness can have. By Cort Olsen

Financial wellness has come to the forefront of employers’ wellbeing priorities. Looking back on previous years of participation in retirement savings programs such as 401(k)s, employers are not satisfied with participation, an Aon study shows.

As few as 15% of employers say they are satisfied with their workers’ current savings rate, according to a new report from Aon Hewitt. In response, employers are focused on increasing savings rates and will look to their advisers to help expand financial wellbeing programs.

Aon surveyed more than 250 U.S. employers representing nearly 9 million workers to determine their priorities and likely changes when it comes to retirement benefits. According to the report, employers plan to emphasize retirement readiness, focusing on financial wellbeing and refining automation as they aim to raise 401(k) savings rates for 2017.

Emphasizing retirement readiness
Nearly all employers, 90%, are concerned with their employees’ level of understanding about how much they need to save to achieve an adequate retirement savings. Those employers who said they were not satisfied with investment levels in past years, 87%, say they plan to take action this year to help workers reach their retirement goals.

“Employers are making retirement readiness one of the important parts of their financial wellbeing strategy by offering tools and modelers to help workers understand, realistically, how much they’re likely to need in order to retire,” says Rob Austin, director of retirement research at Aon Hewitt. “Some of these tools take it a step further and provide education on what specific actions workers can take to help close the savings gap and can help workers understand that even small changes, such as increasing 401(k) contributions by just two percentage points, can impact their long-term savings outlook.”

Focusing on financial wellbeing
While financial wellness has been a growing trend among employers recently, 60% of employers say its importance has increased over the past two years. This year, 92% of employers are likely to focus on the financial wellbeing of workers in a way that extends beyond retirement such as help with managing student loan debt, day-to-day budgeting and even physical and emotional wellbeing.

Currently, 58% of employers have a tool available that covers at least one aspect of financial wellness, but by the end of 2017, that percentage is expected to reach 84%, according to the Aon Hewitt report.

“Financial wellbeing programs have moved from being something that few leading-edge companies were offering to a more mainstream strategy,” Austin says. “Employers realize that offering programs that address the overall wellbeing of their workers can solve for myriad challenges that impact people’s work lives and productivity, including their physical and emotional health, financial stressors and long-term retirement savings.”

The lessons learned from automatic enrollment are being utilized to increase savings rates. In a separate Aon Hewitt report, more than half of all employees under plans with automatic enrollment default had at or above the company match threshold. Employers are also adding contribution escalation features and enrolling workers who may not have been previously enrolled in the 401(k) plan.

“Employers realize that automatic 401(k) features can be very effective when it comes to increasing participation in the plan,” Austin says. “Now they are taking an automation 2.0 approach to make it easier for workers to save more and invest better.”

See the original article Here.

Source:

Olsen C. (2017 January 16). How to encourage increased investment in financial wellbeing [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/how-to-encourage-increased-investment-in-financial-wellbeing?feed=00000152-1377-d1cc-a5fa-7fff0c920000


Disconnect between employers, employees over wellness, health plan satisfaction

Check out this great article from Employee Benefits Adviser about the disconnect between employees and employers about their company's wellness programs by Cort Olsen

More than 1,500 employer decision-makers surveyed about the future of healthcare say wellness programs within companies continue to show positive growth among employers and employees alike. However, the study by Transamerica Center for Health Studies also found a strong disconnect in communication between employers and employees regarding healthcare and benefit satisfaction and the commitment from employers to maintain a healthy workspace.

At least 28% of employers have implemented a wellness program for their employees in the past 12 months — a steady increase from 23% in 2014 and 25% in 2015. About four in five companies report their wellness programs have positively impacted workers’ health and productivity, and about seven in 10 have seen a positive impact on company healthcare costs.

More than half of the employers surveyed (55%) say they offer wellness programs to their staff, yet some employees seemed to be unaware that their company offers these programs. Of the 55% of employers who say they offer a wellness program, only 36% of employees with employer coverage say they work for an employer who offers a wellness program.

Employer versus employee perspective
This miscommunication may also contribute to the level of commitment employees think their employer has in maintaining a wellness program within the workplace. While 80% of employers say leadership is committed to improving the health of their employees, only one-third of employees say they agree with that statement.

When it comes to overall healthcare satisfaction there is a similar disconnect, with 94% of employers saying employees are satisfied with the health insurance plan their company offers, while only 79% of employees say they are satisfied with their health plan.

In addition, 90% of employers say employees are satisfied with the healthcare benefits other than health insurance, but only 79% of employees say they are satisfied.

However, while employers and employees may not share the same amount of satisfaction in their healthcare offerings, many companies are making the effort to reduce the cost of their healthcare for their staff.

At least 41% of companies have taken measures to reduce costs, while 71% of companies have taken positive measures in the last 12 months. The percentage of midsize businesses reporting to provide insurance for part-time employees has increased significantly since July 2013 from 13% to 21%.

Still, lack of communication continues over cost concerns as well. While about four in five employers feel their company is concerned about the affordability of health insurance and healthcare expenses, just over half of employees feel the same — even after employers said cost concerns would not be felt by employees.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Olsen C. (2017 January 05). Disconnect between employers, employees over wellness, health plan satisfaction[Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/disconnect-between-employers-employees-over-wellness-health-plan-satisfaction?brief=00000152-1443-d1cc-a5fa-7cfba3c60000


Top 7 401(k) questions employees may have

Interesting article from BenefitsPro about some of the questions your employees will ask about 401(k)s by Marlene Y. Satter

At the start of a new year, lots of folks are thinking about resolutions.

And, if they’re also thinking about saving for retirement, they may have realized they don’t know all that they should about their retirement plan—or they may simply have decided that they need to know more.

If that’s the case, they’ll have questions about their 401(k) plans.

And regardless of what kind of 401(k) education you or your plan provider may furnish, you’ll likely be hit with inquiries about various aspects of the company plan.

Here are the top 7 questions you may get from workers this year.

7. How do I manage my investments?

Employees will want to know whether there are online tools to track investments, access statements and change their portfolio holdings.

They’ll also want to know about educational resources, whether online or in group or individual sessions, so that they can do the best they can. If you don’t already offer access to a financial advisor to help them better understand what they need to do, this could be a potential plan upgrade—particularly since many people prefer interacting with a human being to relying on online tools, especially for educational purposes.

6. What kind of investments are available?

Particularly if they’re trying to educate themselves better on how to make their 401(k) investments perform at peak efficiency, employees will want to know what they’re putting their money into.

Which mutual funds does the plan use? What other options are available? Are there alternative investments in the plan? Managed accounts? Bonds? Individual stocks? Money market funds? Are there plenty of options available, so that the portfolio is sufficiently diversified?

And if they don’t like the sound of the 401(k)’s options, they might ask you about providing a Roth 401(k) instead.

5. How high are the fees—and can they be lowered?

Savvy employees will be concerned about the fees involved in the various investments in the plan. Even more savvy ones might push you to consider lower-fee investments, such as Class R6 shares rather than Class A and target-date funds, which have preset portfolios and should be cheaper.

They’ll probably also ask about the presence or absence of index funds, and question whether the plan provider engages in revenue sharing or provides institutional pricing on all funds.

4. When and how can I withdraw money from the plan?

In case of emergency—a death in the family, a serious illness or perhaps a less depressing need, such as a home purchase or the kids’ college education—employees might need to get their hands on some of their 401(k) funds. Does your plan allow that?

And if so, how? Is it a difficult process? Are only hardship loans allowed? How long does it take to get the money? Can employees continue to contribute to the plan after they take a withdrawal?

3. What’s the employer matching contribution?

Employees will want to know, if they don’t already, how much you’re going to kick in in matching funds when they start contributing to the plan.

Do you match 50 cents, for instance, per dollar up to a certain percentage of the employee’s salary? Say, 3 percent or 6 percent? Or do you do a dollar-for-dollar match up to whatever your limit is? Or perhaps you have a dollar limit rather than a percentage.

2. When am I vested?

Employees—particularly millennials, who tend to move from job to job with increasing frequency—will probably want to know how quickly they’ll be able to keep any employer contributions.

They probably already know that whatever they themselves contribute to a plan is theirs to take whenever they leave for a new job, but since vesting rules can vary widely from company to company, they’ll want to know whether employer contributions vest at 5, 10, 25 or 50 percent per year, or at 100 percent after a certain number of years.

1. What are the eligibility requirements?

New employees in particular will want to find out about this, but existing employees who perhaps hadn’t signed up in the past may also be checking on whether they work enough hours per week (for part-timers) or have been with the company long enough to start contributing.

Make sure that employees know what’s required for them to be able to participate—and if you don’t already have it, you might want to consider adding auto enrollment as a feature next time you modify the plan.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Satter M. (2017 January 03). Top 7 401(k) questions employees may have [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.benefitspro.com/2017/01/03/top-7-401k-questions-employees-may-have?ref=hp-news&page_all=1


10 ways to promote the value of a private exchange

Great article from Employee Benefits Advisor about 10 different ways to promote private exchanges by Sima Reid

Our world has changed so much and quickly — take the evolution of cell phones in the last decade, for example — but how we approach offering employee benefits is moving at a snail’s pace in comparison. To stay current and modern, employee benefits must evolve.

Many employers see the value in structuring their employee benefit programs to meet the needs of their multi-generational employee population. A private exchange brings all the elements together, creating value for the employer and the employee.
Offering a private exchange to employees is not just about moving to a defined contribution model or promising a silver bullet to reduce benefit costs. A private exchange should bring value to the employer and their employees independent of the products or pricing of those products.

The value proposition of a private exchange:

1) Paternalism. For employers who understand the value of giving up some of the benefit decisions to their employees, a private exchange provides a way to give employees more options — using tools that help them make good decisions based on their wants and needs.

2) Meaningful choice. More choice is good, too much choice is not better. It is important to include options that make sense for each particular workforce, including traditional medical, dental, vision, etc. as well as voluntary benefits. A meaningful line up of benefit options will help employees fill gaps they may have in the areas such as legal services, ID theft, chiropractic care, additional life insurance or disability, and so on.

3) Proper plan election. When employees are allowed to select plans that make sense for them from a benefit/cost perspective, many employers see a right-sizing of their benefit program. This provides them with savings. If an employer only offers one health plan that has low out of pocket, they are over paying for many employees. If an employee would rather pay less per paycheck but more when they have services, choice allows them to do so. This brings value to the employee and the employer.

4) Self-insured and fully insured plans. Being self-insured does not mean eliminating employee choice. For many employers, self-insured plans make more sense than a fully insured plan. A private exchange should be able to accommodate either financing mechanism.

5) Streamlined benefits education and administration. A private exchange is not just a benefits administration system. Private exchange technology provides critical education and tools available to employees for all the plans and programs offered. Gone are the days of trying to include all the information in an employee enrollment communication that the employees likely won’t read. The process for HR is streamlined through the private exchange using a modern, inviting and attractive online platform.

6) 24/7 access. How companies engage and retain employees has changed. The need exists for a year-round platform focused on life’s experiences and challenges. Tools to help employees work on wellness, whether it is health or financial, will provide value to the employee. Messaging employees during the year encourages them to go to the private exchange outside of open enrollment.

7) Decision support. While decision support helps personalize employee decisions, it is important for a private exchange to help people not just pick which medical or dental plan they’d like, but also voluntary benefits offered. If you ask most people how much life insurance they should have, not many can tell you. A tool that helps someone calculate, based on their circumstances, how much life insurance they may need so they can decide if they want to buy additional life insurance above what the company provides can be valuable to many employees.

8) Comparison shopping. How many consumer purchases today have us searching online for information telling us the best products at the best cost? More and more employees find value in this same approach for their benefits. Private exchanges providing employees with side by side comparisons in summary and in detail along with costs can bring value to the employee.

9) Employee experience. Many employers value a positive, friendly platform for the delivery of their employee benefit program. A private exchange brings modern technology to education and enrollment of benefits. How many employees within a company do you think watch YouTube? Whether we think this is an acceptable method of communication or not, it is a powerful, current method of communication. Using videos and other educational tools on the private exchange adds value for many employees.

10) The shopping experience. Allowing employees to shop for their benefits takes the insurance enrollment process to a very different level. It bridges the often disjointed, confusing process of benefit enrollment with our normal daily activities of how we approach buying goods and services. A private exchange allows employees to walk down the aisle of a virtual store of benefits.

A private exchange makes life easier for the employer and their employees by using technology, a modern approach, enhanced educational tools and resources to focus on the employee experience. Private exchanges are the present and the future of employee benefits.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Reid S. (2017 January 3). 10 ways to promote the value of private exchange [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/opinion/10-ways-to-promote-the-value-of-a-private-exchange


Financial wellness: Here’s what employees want, need in 2017

Great article from our partner, United Benefit Advisors (UBA) by

Recent research into individuals’ financial resolutions for 2017 can tell you whether your financial wellness initiatives are giving employees what they want. It can also tell you whether to expect employees to increase their retirement contributions next year. 

Personal finance company LendEDU recently asked 1,001 Americans about their financial goals for 2017, as well as what their biggest concerns are. The results were published in LendEDU’s “Financial Resolution Survey & Report 2017,” which can help employers determine if their financial programs are on point.

Here are some of the more interesting Q&A’s from the research:

What’s your most important financial resolution in 2017?

  • Save more money — 52.85% of respondents selected this
  • Pay off debt — 35.56%
  • Spend less money — 11.59%

Takeaway for employers: Improving savings should be front and center in any financial wellness strategy.

What’s your top financial resolution?

  • Make and stick to a budget — 21.38%
  • Save for a large purchase like a down payment, household upgrade, or car, etc. — 19.28%
  • Pay down credit card debt — 18.88%
  • Place money aside for an emergency — 16.58%
  • Save for retirement — 13.69%
  • Pay down student loan debt — 7.29%
  • Save for college — 2.90%

Takeaway for employers: Employees need the most help creating a budget they can stick to.

What’s your top financial concern?

  • Unexpected expenses — 53.25%
  • Healthcare costs — 23.98%
  • Higher interest rates — 9.69%
  • The labor market — 7.79%
  • Stock market fluctuations — 5.29%

Takeaway for employers: Helping employees manage healthcare costs can be a key add-on to any financial education program.

Do you think you’re better off financially in 2017 than in 2016?

  • Yes — 78.32%
  • No — 21.68%

Takeaway for employers: Employees’ financial state of mind is on the upswing, which is good. But it could make increasing participation in wellness initiatives more challenging.

Do you make financial resolutions with your spouse or significant other?

  • Yes — 84.83%
  • No — 15.17%

Takeaway for employers: When it comes to finances, very few people go it alone, so invite spouses to be a part of your wellness offerings.

What would make you stick to a financial resolution?

  • Having a reward for reaching the goal — 37.56%
  • Segmenting a longer term goal into smaller bit sized pieces — 20.08%
  • Technology that helps you save money or monitor goals in real-time — 19.38%
  • The encouragement of family and friends — 13.99%
  • Having a consequence for not reaching the goal — 8.99%

Takeaway for employers: Incremental rewards and incentives, can help drive participation and success in 2017 financial wellness initiatives.

Do you think you’ll increase your retirement savings contributions this year?

  • Yes — 63.24%
  • No — 36.76%

Takeaway for employers: This could be a good year to really push employees to bump up retirement plan contributions.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Author (Date). Title [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.hrmorning.com/financial-wellness-heres-what-employees-want-need-in-2017/


Don’t expect tech to solve benefits communications problems

Great article from Benefits Pro about using technology to communicate with your employees by Marlene Satter

Although technology has spawned multiple methods of communication with employees on benefits, that doesn’t mean they’re solving all the problems in conveying information back and forth between employer and employee.

In fact, generational and demographic differences, varying levels of comfort with a range of communication methods and the complexity of information all mean that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in workplace benefits communication.

A study from West’s Health Advocate Solutions finds employees’ expectations cover a wide range in benefits, health and wellness program communication. As a result, human resources and benefits managers have to dig more deeply in finding ways to convey information to employees.

One finding which may surprise them is employees prefer live-person conversations, although some do prefer the option to use digital communication channels in certain benefits scenarios. And 41 percent of employees say their top complaint about employers’ benefits programs is that communication is too infrequent.

Employee benefits in 2017 will feel the effects of political change as well as cultural change. Here are some trends...

The top choice of employees for communicating about health care cost and administrative information is directly by phone (73 percent) with a live person; second choice was a website or online portal (69 percent), while an in-person conversation was the choice of 56 percent.

For information about physical wellness benefits, 71 percent opt for the website/online portal, while 62 percent want to talk to someone on the phone and 56 percent wanted an in-person conversation. Interestingly, 62 percent of men and 44 percent of women prefer in-person conversations.

For personal/emotional wellness issues, 71 percent want that chat with a person on the phone, 65 percent want an in-person conversation and just 60 percent want to interact with a website/online portal.

When it comes to managing a chronic condition, 66 percent prefer to talk to someone on the phone, 63 percent would prefer the website/online portal option and 61 percent want an in-person conversation. Sixty-seven percent of men, compared with 53 percent of women, prefer in-person conversations, while 35 percent of women, compared with 18 percent of men, prefer mobile apps.

And there are generational differences, too, with millennials wanting in-person interactions more than either Gen X or boomer colleagues. But they all want multiple options, and the ability to choose the one they prefer, rather than simply being restricted to a single method.

See the original article Here.

Source:

Satter M. (2016 December 14). Don't expect tech to solve benefits communications problems [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.benefitspro.com/2016/12/14/dont-expect-tech-to-solve-benefits-communications