10 secrets to success

Originally posted April 17, 2014 by Michael Goldberg on www.lifehealthpro.com.

A piece in Investor’s Business Daily caught my attention. Anything titled 10 Secrets to Success will do that. Of course, there’s no such thing as a secret and there’s nothing new under the sun. But sometimes, sometimes something you read or heard or pondered over reminds you to think differently. It wakes you up. Reboots you. Gives you a jumpstart. Offers perspective.

Below are the 10 Secrets from Investor’s Business Daily that inspired me to offer my two cents.

1. How you think is everything. 

There’s a great audio of Earl Nightingale called The Strangest Secret  which was first recorded in 1956. He first played the recording for his sales team at his insurance agency. The response to the message had such an impact on his staff that requests for copies to share with friends and families grew. Columbia Records filled the requests and within a short period of time sales soared to over a million copies, earning a Gold Record — the first and only spoken word record to ever reach Gold! Today, more than 50 years later, The Strangest Secret remains one of the most powerful and influential messages ever recorded. It continues to transform the lives of everyone who hears and heeds it. The message is simple: We become what we think about. If you spend enough time thinking about something important, there’s a good chance your thinking will drive your actions.

2. Decide upon your true dreams and goals. 

Your goals (or goal — less is more) should reflect what you spend most of your time thinking about. If you think about making more money (how much?) then come up with a goal that you must accomplish to get you closer. If you’re looking to become more established in a marketplace, perform better in a sport, compete in a triathlon, or master a specific skill, craft it in the form of a goal. Write the goal on an index card and look at it every day. Every single day. Again, we become what we think about.

3. Take action. 

What do you need to do all day every day to continue thinking about your goal? Do you need to join an association? Hire a coach? Read a book? Get certified in an industry, profession, or area of expertise? Take a class? Meet and ultimately build relationships with people that are doing what you want to do? Thinking the way you want to think? Being who you want to be? Where do you need to go to meet these people? What do you need to say? And with whom? Goals are nothing without action. Don’t let excuses get in the way. Don’t convince yourself that you can’t. Think of all the reasons that you can. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it.

4. Never stop learning. 

Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills. I’m always in the middle of a good book. Sometimes it’s about boxing (my passion) but usually it’s about business, or the business of business. As a speaker, coach, and author, my focus is helping sales agents grow their business through networking (my other passion!). That said, I’m always looking for better ways of doing that so when I’m not speaking and writing, I’m reading. I keep a stack of books on a shelf in front of my desk so when I’m in my office, I can’t help but to see them. As I write this and gaze at the books, the topics are pretty consistent — sales, relationships, public relations, finance, building a great business, referrals, and creativity. I try to tackle a new book every couple of weeks. And my index card that contains my goal is my bookmark.

5. Be persistent and work hard. 

Never give up! Get up early and set aside that time to work on your goal. Set a schedule for yourself over the next 30 days. If you wake up early and get to work over a cup of coffee in your dining room at 5AM and work until 6:30AM Monday through Friday, that’s an additional work day that you’ve carved out for yourself by the end of the week. And that’s not counting weekends!

6. Learn to analyze details. 

The devil is in the details. Figure out what you need to learn. Ask great questions. Talk to all the right people. Give yourself deadlines. What gets measured gets done! Have a system of checks and balances so you know if you’re on the right track. How do you know you’re going in the right direction if you don’t have a GPS? What’s the GPS that you need to create to insure you’re on the right path? Knowing you’re moving in the right direction will inspire you to keep going.

7. Focus your time and money. 

Stay focused! If a boxer loses focus, he gets caught with the hook. Professional athletes make investments in both time and money to do everything possible to become the best. If you know that it makes sense to invest in a book, program, course, certification, diet plan, coach, practice management system, pair of running shoes, whatever — do it! 

8. Don’t be afraid to innovate; be different. 

Staying in the middle of the road will get you hit by oncoming traffic. Those that are successful often have found a creative way to get their message across or goal accomplished. Think of comedians that have a unique style, or a baseball player with a different stance, or the financial advisor with the unique marketplace. How about the Facebooks, Googles, and Apples that have changed the world forever?

9. Deal and communicate with people effectively. 

Everyone is different. How can you best relate to the specific needs of your prospects, clients, and referral sources? Learn to understand and motivate others. Help other people develop and achieve their goals. Listen! Ask questions and listen some more. We all know people that go on and on about themselves and never ask about you. (Are you one of them?)

10. Be honest and dependable; take responsibility. 

It’s important to know that others can count on you. Otherwise numbers 1-9 won’t matter!

by 6d-destani

Employer Mandate Repeal Won’t Relinquish Employers From ACA Compliance

Originally posted May 13, 2014 by Melissa A. Winn on https://eba.benefitnews.com.

Eliminating the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate would not significantly reduce the number of insured Americans, according to a recent analysis by researchers at the Urban Institute in Washington. But, it would also not eliminate your employer client’s need to maintain an ACA-compliant plan, one industry expert notes.

Completely abandoning the employer shared responsibility rule would reduce the number of people in 2016 with health insurance from 251.1 million to 250.9 million, a decrease of just 200,000 people, the report says, adding that it would also eliminate labor market distortions in the law and lessen opposition to the law from employers.

Regardless of whether the mandate is eliminated, however, work will remain for benefit advisers helping employers meet ACA compliance, says Jessica Waltman, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Health Underwriters.

“Maintaining an ACA-compliant plan requires a lot of other components,” she says. “Employers have to comply with all of the market reforms and notice requirements and offer all of the benefit mandates, as well,” requirements brokers and agents can assist employers with, she says.

“There are significant penalties for not maintaining ACA compliance” with other requirements of the health law, such as limits on mandatory waiting periods, she adds.

Also, employer-sponsored health plans will not go away if the employer shared responsibility rule is eliminated, she says, noting that the value of benefit advisers will remain there, as well. “The vast majority of businesses affected by the mandate offered coverage before the mandate.”

The authors of the analysis — Why Not Just Eliminate the Employer Mandate? — agree. About two thirds of American workers now have offers of employer coverage when there is no mandate to do so, they write. “Most employers would not drop coverage if the penalties were eliminated,” the report says.

Downfall?

Ending the employer responsibility rule would, however, eliminate the federal revenue expected from penalty payments that employers would pay under the law, which the authors estimate at just less than $4 billion in 2016. Slight increases in Medicaid and marketplace subsidies due to the elimination of the employer requirement would also cost the government about $46 billion between 2014 and 2023.

Alternative sources of revenue would have to be found to compensate for the federal loss of penalties, the analysis notes.

The Internal Revenue Service in February issued final guidance saying that employers with fewer than 100 employees won’t have to provide health insurance coverage until Jan. 1, 2016.

Previously, on July 2, 2013, the Obama administration delayed the need for all employers with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance coverage until Jan. 1, 2015.

by 6d-destani

IRS Urged To Broaden Preventive Coverage In High-Deductible Plans

Originally posted May 9, 2014 by Julie Appleby on https://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org.

High deductible health plans paired with tax-free savings accounts — increasingly common in job-based insurance and long a staple for those who buy their own coverage – pose financial difficulties for people with chronic health problems. That’s because they have to pay the annual deductible, which could be $1,250 or more, before most of their medications and other treatments are covered.

In a white paper released Thursday, researchers at the University of Michigan say such plans would be more attractive if the IRS broadened the kinds of preventive care insurers were allowed to cover before the patient paid the deductible. Currently, only a limited set of preventive care benefits is included.

“I want the deductibles removed on those things I beg my patients to do,” such as getting annual eye exams if they are diabetic, says author A. Mark Fendrick, a professor of medicine and director of the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design.

If insurers were allowed to offer high-deductible plans that covered “secondary prevention,” such as eye exams, or insulin for diabetics, they would attract 5 million buyers on the individual market, the report projects.  Many consumers would see the policies as an improvement over more “bare-bones” coverage, even if the premiums were higher, said co-author Steve Parente, a professor of finance at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.  At least 10 million in job-based insurance might also switch, some of them from more expensive plans that have limited networks of doctors and hospitals, Parente said. Such plans would be most attractive to those with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure.

“If it is attractive to the chronically ill, it could be a major change,” said Parente. The Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C, funded the report.

Still, such plans would carry premiums at least 5 percent higher than current high-deductible health saving account plans, according to the report.

Whether the IRS would consider changing the rules for high deductible plans connected with health savings accounts is unclear.  The agency did not respond to questions.  If it altered the rules, insurers would also have to choose to offer the plans.

Currently, more than 15 million Americans have high-deductible plans that can be paired with tax-free savings accounts, called HSA-eligible plans, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade group.  Of those, about 2 million buy their own policies and the rest get them through their jobs.

Under federal rules, such plans must have at least a $1,250 annual deductible for singles and a $2,500 deductible for families.  Workers can contribute money pre-tax to the special savings accounts to help pay those deductibles. Most large employers offer such a plan as an option and an estimated 15 percent of firms offer only HSA plans or a similar arrangement, called a health reimbursement account, according to the benefit firm Towers Watson.

IRS rules say only primary prevention can be fully covered by the plan outside of the deductible, including such things as routine prenatal and well-child care, some vaccines, and programs to help people lose weight or quit smoking. The rules say such preventive care does not generally include treatments for “existing illness, injury or condition.”

Fendrick and colleagues want the definition changed to allow insurers and employers more options, including allowing coverage of any kind of medical services, including drugs that would prevent complications from or a worsening of a chronic condition, such as diabetes, heart disease or major depression.

“This would be entirely optional for health plans,” Fendrick said. “One plan could [cover] just about everything before the deductible, and another might say they cover five or six drugs, some doctor visits and maybe glucose test strips.”

by 6d-destani

Seeking mindfulness at work: Helping employees find focus

Originally posted May 12, 2014 on https://hr.blr.com.

New research by Steelcase shows that 41 percent of workers report not being able to concentrate easily, while the average person loses 86 minutes per day due to distractions.

The recent 14-country Steelcase/Ipsos study conducted as part of its wellbeing research revealed the growing lack of mindfulness in the workplace. The workplace research addressed how the physical environment can support or hinder mindfulness, along with five other dimensions of wellbeing. The researchers found that the physical environment offers behavioral cues that can promote, or hinder, employee's physical, cognitive and emotional states and long-term health.

Only 59 percent of employees reported their environment enabled them to feel relaxed and calm, while only 58 percent reported being able to work in teams without being interrupted or disturbed. Nearly half of all workers surveyed reported not having adequate spaces that support mindfulness and focus. Ongoing Steelcase research also found that workers in North America lose 86 minutes per day due to a variety of distractions in the workplace.

"Mindfulness means balancing the intense pace of life with being fully present in the moment," said Donna Flynn, director of Workspaces Futures at Steelcase. "With the proliferation of technology and growth of distributed work across time and space, workers are facing unprecedented distractions combined with pressures to be always on, leaving them stressed, tired, and overwhelmed. Healthy and mindful employees are a competitive advantage in today's business world, but to achieve it workers need supportive environments that give them the emotional capacity to interpret and experience events in a way that leads to productive, positive actions."

The Steelcase researchers identified and developed design concepts that companies can incorporate into their workplace to help encourage mindfulness by enhancing employees' ability to concentrate and make thoughtful choices amid distractions and disturbances.

Steelcase key ideas when designing for mindfulness include:

  • Offer spaces where people can seek solitude and respite, or connect with others without distractions or interference.
  • Design areas that allow workers to control the amount of sensory stimulation they are exposed to and enable them to amp it up or down.
  • Create spaces that help people stay focused as they interact with others one-on-one and eye-to-eye
  • Offer places that are calming, through the materials, textures, colors, lighting and views.

"Given the mental fatigue that comes with high cognitive load, workers need physical spaces that help them manage the cognitive load and be fully present in the moment," says Beatriz Arantes, senior researcher and environmental psychologist with Steelcase Workspace Futures.

by 6d-destani

Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers To Insurance Exchanges

Originally posted May 7, 2014 by Jan Hancock on www.kaiserhealthnews.org.

Can corporations shift workers with high medical costs from the company health plan into online insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act? Some employers are considering it, say benefits consultants.

"It's all over the marketplace," said Todd Yates, a managing partner at Hill, Chesson & Woody, a North Carolina benefits consulting firm. "Employers are inquiring about it and brokers and consultants are advocating for it."

Health spending is driven largely by patients with chronic illness such as diabetes or who undergo expensive procedures such as organ transplants. Since most big corporations are self-insured, shifting even one high-cost member out of the company plan could save the employer hundreds of thousands of dollars a year -- while increasing the cost of claims absorbed by the marketplace policy by a similar amount.

And the health law might not prohibit it, opening a door to potential erosion of employer-based coverage.

"Such an employer-dumping strategy can promote the interests of both employers and employees by shifting health care expenses on to the public at large," wrote two University of Minnesota law professors in a 2010 paper that basically predicted the present interest. The authors were Amy Monahan and Daniel Schwarcz.

It's unclear how many companies, if any, have moved sicker workers to exchange coverage, which became available only in January. But even a few high-risk patients could add millions of dollars in costs to those plans. The costs could be passed on to customers in the form of higher premiums and to taxpayers in the form of higher subsidy expense.

Here's how it might work. The employer shrinks the hospital and doctor network to make the company plan unattractive to those with chronic illness. Or, the employer raises co-payments for drugs needed by the chronically ill, also rendering the plan unattractive and perhaps nudging high-cost workers to examine other options.

At the same time, the employer offers to buy the targeted worker a high-benefit "platinum" plan in the marketplaces. The plan could cost $6,000 or more a year for an individual. But that's still far less than the $300,000 a year that, say, a hemophilia patient might cost the company.

The employer might also give the worker a raise to buy the policy directly.

The employer saves money. The employee gets better coverage. And the health law's marketplace plan --required to accept all applicants at a fixed price during open enrollment periods -- takes on the cost.

"The concept sounds to[o] easy to be true, but the ACA has set up the ability for employers and employees on a voluntary basis to choose a better plan in [the] Individual Marketplace and save a significant amount of money for both!" says promotional material from a company called Managed Exchange Solutions (MES).

"MES works with [the] reinsurer, insurance carrier and other health management organizations to determine [the] most likely candidates for the program."

Charlotte-based consultant Benefit Controls produced the Managed Exchange Solutions pitch last year but ultimately decided not to offer the strategy to its clients, said Matthew McQuide, a vice president with Benefit Controls.

"Though we believe it's legal" as long as employees agree to the change, "it's still gray," he said. "We just decided it wasn't something we wanted to promote."

Shifting high-risk workers out of employer plans is prohibited for other kinds of taxpayer-supported insurance.

For example, it's illegal to induce somebody who is working and over 65 to drop company coverage and rely entirely on the government Medicare program for seniors, said Amy Gordon, a benefits lawyer with McDermott Will & Emery. Similarly, employers who dumped high-cost patients into temporary high-risk pools established by the health law are required to repay those workers' claims to the pools.

"You would think there would be a similar type of provision under the Affordable Care Act" for plans sold through the marketplace portals, Gordon said. "But there currently is not."

Moving high-cost workers to a marketplace plan would not trigger penalties under the health law as long as an employer offered an affordable companywide plan with minimum coverage, experts said. (Workers cannot use tax credits to help pay exchange-plan premiums in such a case, either.)

Half a dozen benefits experts said they were unaware of specific instances of employers shifting high-cost workers to exchange plans. Spokespeople for AIDS United and the Hemophilia Federation of America, both advocating for patients with expensive, chronic conditions, said they didn't know of any, either.

But employers seem increasingly interested.

"I have gotten probably about half a dozen questions about it in the last month or so from our offices around the country," says Edward Fensholt, director of compliance for the Lockton Companies, a large insurance broker and benefits consultant. "They're passing on questions they're getting from their customers."

Such practices could raise concerns about discrimination, said Sabrina Corlette, project director at the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

They could also cause resentment among employees who didn't get a similar deal, Fensholt said.

"We just don't think that's a good idea,” he said. "That needs to be kind of an under-the-radar deal, and under-the-radar deals never work," he said. Plus, he added, "it's bad public policy to push all these risks into the public exchange."

Hill, Chesson & Woody is not recommending it either.

"Anytime you want to have a conversation with an employee in a secretive, one-off manner, that's never a good idea," Yates said. "Something smells bad about that."

by 6d-destani

Measuring leaves of absence in concert with the ACA

Originally posted May 7, 2014 by Ed Bray, J.D. on https://ebn.benefitnews.com

I can unequivocally say that administering employee leaves of absence has been the most challenging responsibility of my HR career. Why? For every employee leave you must ensure that an orchestra of different people, laws, and systems play in perfect concert with each other.  Not an easy task when you consider the following:  trying to determine who and when employees are on leave; often abiding by multiple, complex leave laws; and dealing with HRIS tracking shortcomings (if you even have a tracking system).

OK, so what’s my point?  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many organizations’ leave of absence orchestras are going to need to start sounding like the London Symphony Orchestra in the next few months.

Organizations that are required to follow the shared responsibility (play or pay) rules that use the look-back measurement period to determine whether variable hour, seasonal, or part-time employees are eligible for employer health insurance benefits must ensure each employee’s average hours of service are calculated accurately for the initial and standard measurement periods.   A key component of the average hours of service calculation is the impact of any employee special unpaid leave (FMLA, leave under USERRA, and jury duty) during the respective measurement period.

The final regulations for the employer shared responsibility rules state that “special unpaid leave” may be defined as unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, or jury duty.  When calculating hours of service for a look-back measurement period, the employer must treat special unpaid leave in one of two ways:

▪       Determine the employee's average hours of service by excluding any periods of special unpaid leave during the measurement period and applying that average for the entire measurement period, or

▪       Impute hours of service during the periods of special unpaid leave at a rate equal to the average weekly hours of service for weeks that are not part of a period of special unpaid leave.

That said, it is critical that each employee’s average hours of service calculation accurately reflects any “special unpaid leave” as any employees that average under 30 hours of service per week or 130 hours of service per calendar month for the respective measurement period do not need to be offered employer-sponsored benefits.  Many employees not offered benefits will be significantly affected as they will be required to enroll in some form of minimum essential coverage or else face a penalty under the ACA individual mandate. In addition, they may feel their hours of service calculation is incorrect and call the Department of Labor to express their concerns.

I recommend organizations focus on making three key business decisions as they prepare for the shared responsibility rules, effective in 2015 for employers with 100 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents (FTEs), and in 2016 for some employers with 50-99 full-time employees, including FTEs (certain conditions apply):

▪       How to accurately track employee leaves of absence.

▪       How to handle unpaid state and company leaves of absence for purposes of the measurement period calculations.

▪       Determine which ACA “special unpaid leave” process to use.

Ensure accurate leave of absence tracking

First meet with executive management to make them aware of the shared responsibility rules and noncompliance penalties plus gain support for doing what is necessary to ensure accurate leave of absence tracking. This includes the following (at a minimum):

▪       Making managers and employees aware of the importance of communicating employee leaves of absence to the HR department as soon as they learn about or need them;

▪       Meeting with the IT department to see if they can: 1) accurately track leaves of absence; 2) track different types of leaves; and 3) provide reporting of such leaves during the initial and standard administrative periods. If not, develop a leave of absence tracking mechanism within the HR department.

Handling unpaid state and company leaves of absence for purposes of the measurement period calculations

The federal government has stated its position with regards to three special unpaid leaves, but what about state or company unpaid leaves of absence? How should they be treated under the look-back measurement period calculations?

Given the fact that there is legal uncertainty regarding the answer to this question and handling such a situation incorrectly could have significant ramifications for your organization, I recommend consulting legal counsel to determine the answer for your organization.

Determine which ACA special unpaid leave process to use

I recommend selecting the ACA special unpaid leave process that is going to be the least administratively challenging given all of the new responsibilities associated with the leave of absence tracking process. To date, I have seen more employers select the exclusion method.

So, start tuning up your leave-of-absence orchestra because the effective dates for the shared responsibility rules are right around the corner.

by 6d-destani

Employers more flexible on telecommuting

Originally posted April 30, 2014 by Dan Cook on www.benefitspro.com

Are company executives all taking yoga? How else to explain the increased flexibility showing up in the workplace?

A study from the Society for Human Resource Management and Families and Work Institute — the 2014 National Study of Employers — indicates that corporate policies about how, when and where people work is loosening up in a number of ways.

The massive study contains considerable detail on trends in the workplace, comparing what’s happening today to what was going on in 2008. And, in just the space of six years, significant policy changes were identified.

For instance, telecommuting is becoming commonplace at two-thirds of workplaces. Earlier studies have demonstrated that telecommuting doesn’t diminish one’s productivity, and may even enhance it. Further, the courts are starting to endorse it as a reasonable accommodation for certain workers.

The SHRM/FWI data reveals that, while 50 percent of respondents in 2008 said they permitted at least some employees to occasionally work some paid hours remotely, in 2014, 67 percent offer the option to at least some workers occasionally.

In 2008, 23 percent of respondents said they offered telecommuting as a regular option; by this year, that percent had climbed to 38 percent.

Other signs of increased flexibility showed up in these comparisons of 2008 responses to 2014 input:

  • Workers have control over breaks (from 84 percent to 92 percent);
  • workers have control over overtime hours (from 27 percent to 45 percent);
  • workers can take time off during the workday when important needs arise (from 73 percent to 82 percent);
  • workers have control of starting and quitting times on daily basis: 38 percent vs. 41 percent.

In some areas, the study showed, employers have reduced flexibility. For instance:

  • sharing jobs fell from 29 percent in 2008 to 18 percent;
  • working part-year on an annual basis  dropped from 27 percent to 18 percent;
  • sabbaticals as a flex option fell from 38 percent to 28 percent;

career breaks for personal or family responsibilities dipped from 64 percent to 52 percent.

by 6d-destani

Protecting the next generation of workers with voluntary benefits

Originally posted May 1, 2014 by Andrea Davis on https://ebn.benefitnews.com

As the Affordable Care Act continues to make its presence felt, and as employers look for new ways to control their health care costs and shift more of the responsibility for benefit decision-making on to employees, the role of voluntary benefits is changing. Once viewed as a nice-to-have benefit, some say voluntary benefits should now be advertised and heavily promoted to employees as an important component in their overall portfolio of benefits.

“It’s part of a trend sweeping the industry,” says Chris Hill, CEO of Spotlite, an online enrollment technology company. “This level of [benefits] engagement has never really been required before.”

Rewind a few years to benefit plans with low deductibles and rich benefits and “these supplemental products [were] less relevant,” he says. “Now you’re asking employees to meet a $2,500 or $5,000 deductible and they have to understand how the [health savings account] or [flexible spending account] works with that and why an accident plan, for example, may be complementary to the high deductible plan.”

Millennials in particular can benefit from education about voluntary benefits. While they may view themselves as invincible, they actually have a lot to protect. “They’re not really thinking about all those what-ifs, but probably more than any other generation, they have something to protect,” says Alison Daily, second vice president of clinical and vocational services at The Standard. “They’re very highly educated. A third of them have four-year college degrees, but that comes with a big price tag for them. The average millennial has $29,000 in student loan debt alone.”

And yet millennials are either unaware of voluntary benefits or reluctant to purchase them. Sixty-nine percent of employees age 25-29 don’t own any voluntary benefits, while 71% of those under age 25 don’t own any voluntary products, according to statistics from Eastbridge Consulting Group. Among older age groups, 60% of 45-49-year-olds own some type of voluntary product.

Still, there’s evidence that millenials value voluntary benefits and that the availability of these products may increase employees’ loyalty to the company. According to MetLife’s 12th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, 86% of Generation Y value having benefits personalized to meet their individual circumstances and age.

The challenges of engaging this tech-savvy group are well-known. Millennials have high expectations when it comes to technology and the overall online purchasing process. This is a group that “sends thousands of text messages on a monthly basis,” says Hill. “You’ve got to compete for their limited attention span so those communications need to be highly relevant.”

But for all the talk about how different Millennials are from other generations, Daily believes good communication resonates with everyone, regardless of age. “I think that maybe one of the mistakes people make, or confusion they have, is that the millennials are very different from their non-millennial peers,” she says. “They’re probably not as different as we think.”

Awareness vs. purchase

Still, there are tactics employers can use to better engage millennials in their voluntary benefits, starting with separating the process in their own minds between initial education and purchase.

“You have the initial communication about benefits – what the benefits are, here’s why you should care,” says Hill. Employers should strive for “concise messaging that drives an action and the action you want to drive upfront is getting the employee to learn about what’s offered to them,” he says.

He encourages employers to actively look at email open rates to get a better understanding of subject lines that resonate with millennials. “Relevant information, relevant subject lines, relevant email layouts, relevant electronic communications are going to drive that action,” he says.

Once employers are past that initial awareness phase and on to open enrollment, “you’re adhering to those same principles – how are we going to capture the attention of the user?” says Hill. “Here we actually want to drive decision making about the products.”

It’s that second sale – the actual purchase of voluntary benefits – that gets tricky with millennials, believes Hill, because they tend to say: “I don’t want to call somebody about this product. I want all the information online so I can make a decision. I don’t want to meet with someone or fill out a piece of paper.”

But when it comes to benefits, millennials’ reliance on technology and self-service might be overstated. Face-to-face meetings are still important, even for this generation, says The Standard’s Daily. “I think sometimes [employers] may be thinking it’s got to be glitzy, that they’ve got to text [millennials] or something like that, but really just sitting down with a millennial and going over what these benefits mean … I think it’s the cornerstone to helping them make the right decision.”

The Eastbridge data appear to back up Daily’s assertion. When asked which of several ways they prefer to learn about voluntary benefits, just over half (55%) of employees representing a spectrum of ages chose “speaking with someone in person.” Twenty-one percent, meanwhile, chose “on my own.”

Daily also emphasizes employers shouldn’t feel they have to do all this communication on their own. In fact, she recommends they turn to their benefit brokers and carriers first, before starting any kind of communication program about voluntary. Another tactic, she says, is using peer-to-peer discussions.

“The millennial generation really values recommendations. If you think about looking for a new restaurant you think about Yelp, and the same thing applies to deciding to select disability coverage,” she says. “They’re going to look to their peers to help them make that decision, so having real stories about why colleagues chose to enroll in a benefit may be just what that millennial needs to make that decision to enroll.”

In addition, employers can leverage other successful communication campaigns. “Employers should really think about anything they’ve already done where they successfully communicated to employees and leverage that strategy,” says Daily. “I would look to the leaders of that event and say: ‘What did you do and why did it work?’ Employers may already have some of the skills and they just aren’t thinking about it in that way.”

And while it might seem like a no-brainer, an online enrollment system that facilitates a seamless shopping experience is important for millennials and all employees, for that matter. Not only that, but a mobile site that’s easy to navigate whether employees are using their laptop, iPhone, iPad or Android device.

“If I get an email from Amazon promoting a product I really want and I click on that email and then go on a wild goose chase to find that product, you’re going to lose users and buyers,” says Hill, who also cautions that all the benefit communication in the world is for naught if the buying experience isn’t simple. “If I do a great job communicating these benefits to millennials and then they have to go on to a system that looks like it was built in 1995, and the initial communications are very different than the actual purchase experience, we think that’s really bad. You’re going to lose millennials, who are used to things being easy.”

Among Spotlite’s clients, about 15% of employees use a mobile device to shop for benefits. As mobile devices and smartphones get more sophisticated and make inroads among older generations, Hill only expects this to grow. “Mobile is necessary. It’s something you have to have,” he says. “Enrollment needs to be easy for the end user. So you make it easy by offering it on a computer or a mobile device. It’s a necessary access point for individuals.”

by 6d-destani