Benefits Technology: What do Employers Want?

This provides insight into some of the key features employers are seeking in technology, many of which revolve around greater convenience in managing benefits. For example, 80 percent of employers say it is important for a technology platform to be accessible all year so they can use it for ongoing administration and updates, rather than a “one-and-done” enrollment system. Ongoing access is one of the top features employers look for in a platform, with sizable portions also specifying that they want a system that can enroll new hires and support ongoing life event and coverage changes.

I would love to find a product … that would allow us to reduce the amount of time that we spend during the enrollment process and also during the course of a year, adding employees or terminating employees.

—Employer with 65 employees (Voice of the Employer,LIMRA, 2016)

Similarly, 77 percent of employers want a technology system that can manage all of their benefits on the same platform, regardless of which carriers are providing the products. Consolidating benefits on one platform helps employers save time and allows them to quickly get a complete view of their overall benefits package in one place. In fact, employers that currently manage all of their benefits on one platform are more satisfied with their technology than those that don’t have this capability. Moreover, roughly 1 in 6 employers say the ability to handle all benefits in one place would motivate them to switch technology platforms.

Employers also want the convenience of a platform that integrates smoothly with other technology systems, including carrier, payroll, and HRIS systems. When it comes to carrier systems, employers want to feel confident that no errors are occurring in the data transfer and don’t want to spend a lot of time checking for mistakes.

Our HR benefits administrator has spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to, literally person by person, dependent by dependent, go through each little piece and figure out why somebody’s kid is getting dropped…So I think I’d like to see those communications [work] a little bit better.

—Employer with 320 employees

Employers also want technology to integrate with their payroll and other HRIS systems so they do not have to make changes in multiple systems, which is perceived as time-consuming and inefficient.

And those two systems…they don’t communicate with each other… Without that communication, it’s almost like double work because if there’s an address change or anything like that, you have to go to one system, then go to another, and that just seems broken to me.

—Employer with 32 employees

While employers are primarily seeking convenience for their own HR staff, it is important to note that they would like this value to extend to their employees as well. Overall, 85 percent of employers think it’s important that an enrollment platform be easy and intuitive for their employees to use. In fact, user-friendliness is often one of the first priorities that comes to mind when employers describe their ideal platform.

I want to make sure it’s easy, as simple as possible, as fast as possible, and I don’t want it to be a burden every year.

—Employer with 30,000 employees 

When it comes to selecting benefits technology, it is clear that convenience is key. By guiding employers to technology solutions that will make it quicker and easier to administer benefits, brokers can improve the experience for everyone involved and help the industry move into the future.