When I was a kid, I would work on assembling scale model kits for cars, airplanes, tanks and naval ships. My friends shared the same hobby, and while their models all looked similar but with individual variations, my completed models never looked as good. Why was that—how could that be? The model kit was manufactured at an assembly plant, the plastic parts we glued together were all uniform, and our kits had the exact same numbers of pieces in the box, along with the same instructions. Well, it turns out that I usually put my planes and cars together with significantly less time and attention to detail than my friends. I just wanted a working toy, and didn’t realize until I was older that design details are crucial to success.

Finding the Right Model of Care

In the world of sports medicine and athletic training, we are trying to build the “right” model to deliver healthcare for colleges and universities. (See this NATA Member Statement on collegiate medical models.) Everyone has access to the same research, position papers, and effective practices, and yet each program’s model of care can look different.  There is a great deal of emphasis on the medical model being the gold standard. However, the reality might be that all models—while they look somewhat different from each other—can work, so long as the model is built intentionally and carefully, and care is appropriately delivered and ongoing.

If you would like to read more on models of care and how this can impact patient care and mitigate risk, go to www.relationinsurance.com/athletic-model-of-care for an article download. 

I remember one friend’s model car of Richard Petty’s 1970 Plymouth “Superbird” that looked beautiful. The car even rolled!  One day my friend was not paying attention and crashed it into a brick wall. It wasn’t any good after that. It doesn’t matter how well something is designed and built if you don’t provide continued care.

 

Andy Massey is an Athletics Risk Consultant for Relation Insurance. His career in intercollegiate athletics spans three decades, including Director of Athletic Training at Tulane University (LA); head athletic trainer at Appalachian State University (NC), where he also taught in the Department of Health, Leisure, and Exercise Science; and head athletic trainer at Wofford College (SC). Andy now consults with intercollegiate athletic departments across the U.S. and also serves as an ATC Spotter for the NFL. Andy can be reached via email at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

Click here to learn more about Relation’s insurance solutions and services for Intercollegiate Athletics.

 

We’re now officially in autumn, fall sports seasons are in full swing, and Halloween décor is already in stores. It’s also duck season, which I only know because my former college roommate is an avid duck hunter. He lives in Louisiana now and is excited that duck season opened there recently.

I don’t hunt, but I do spend a lot of time throughout the year tracking down best practices in athletic accident insurance. As such, I want to remind you that it’s that time again for open enrollment. Many company enrollments begin in October and healthcare.gov open enrollment begins November 1. Since athletes’ families may use this time to adjust their insurance plans, you should prepare for open enrollment’s impact on your athletic department’s excess insurance plan by monitoring changes in your athletes’ primary coverage.

The Importance of Primary Insurance Verification

Relation Insurance and its partners offer primary insurance verification services. Utilizing this service is an effective best practice to maximize the benefits of primary insurance and limit claims exposure to your excess insurance plan. If you do not currently verify primary insurance or are looking to implement a more robust system, contact your broker or insurance carrier to discuss implementation options

You likely already verified coverage and limits in the initial on-boarding process. However, it is important to plan to re-verify coverage at least two additional times each year. The first re-verification should occur sometime between the close of the open enrollment period on December 15 and the start of the spring semester. This process can help you understand open enrollment’s impact on your athletic program and catch changes that are not self-reported by your athletes and their families. Additionally, having a third verification in March/April gives you a robust process for the entire year and can help identify any changes in primary insurance that occurred during the spring, likely due to a qualifying event. Start your planning now to verify coverage after the marketplace open enrollment period ends on December 15, 2019.

 

Andy Massey is an Athletics Risk Consultant for Relation Insurance. His career in intercollegiate athletics spans three decades, including Director of Athletic Training at Tulane University (LA); head athletic trainer at Appalachian State University (NC), where he also taught in the Department of Health, Leisure, and Exercise Science; and head athletic trainer at Wofford College (SC). Andy now consults with intercollegiate athletic departments across the U.S. and also serves as an ATC Spotter for the NFL. Andy can be reached via email at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

Click here to learn more about Relation’s insurance solutions and services for Intercollegiate Athletics.

 

 

Health insurance claims data can provide a wealth of knowledge—if you know where to look. Whether you review your program’s claims activity monthly, quarterly, or bi-annually, the process can allow you to see how the year is progressing and year-over-year performance. Think of it as an insurance plan barometer, helping identify any trouble areas that could arise. It can also be used to help you anticipate and prepare for any potential plan increases the following year.

Here are three data points to start making data-informed decisions that can help you optimize your cultural exchange accident/sickness medical insurance plan using the claims reports you already receive.

1. Are atypically large claims derailing your plan?

Large claims can and do happen, but they shouldn’t upset an otherwise stable insurance plan. However, they can affect your claims experience.  Large-dollar claims can be considered either a normal trend or an unusual occurrence. If the large-dollar claims are part of a normal trend, then they will be factored into your insurance rate going forward.

If they are considered atypical, nonrecurring large insurance charges—such as an acute condition resulting in a lengthy inpatient stay or a complex surgery—they should be separated and pooled with your carrier’s portfolio of other large claims. If you discover a large atypical claim, ask your broker if that charge is being removed from the completion factor or how it is being discounted from the experience. Familiarizing yourself with your claims trends through regular conversations with your broker will help you identify anomalies within your participant health plan as they occur, and potentially save you from a higher premium during renewal.

2. Are participants seeking care where you want them to?

Because network providers are typically more cost-effective for both the insured participant and the plan provider, in-network care, as opposed to out-of-network care, is the preferred option. A claims report can uncover behaviors that drive up plan costs such as the number of participant health care services being provided in-network.  Armed with this data, you can compare current participant activity to your program’s goals and evaluate whether or not there is a need to drive participant behavior.

Find the total allocation for in-network versus out-of-network services section of your claims reports.  Because large claims amounts can have an outsized effect, allocation data alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Examine allocation amounts in conjunction with the specific numbers of in-network and out-of-network claims to monitor out-of-network provider usage, and create program participant outreach strategies before those expensive out-of-network visits get out of hand.  If you find that 85 percent of payment allocations are in network, but only 50 percent of all total claims are filed in network it might be time to increase awareness of health care options.

3. Is there excessive emergency room use?

Your claims report can also reveal if your participants are making too many trips to the emergency room—a common problem, especially within international populations who are unfamiliar with alternative health care options. An average ER visit can often lead to claims exceeding $2,000, proving costly for both participants and health plans.

Use emergency room claims data from previous years or, if available, other programs, to provide a valuable frame of reference. Consult with your broker to determine how your program’s emergency room claim amounts compare to claims from other providers during the same period.

Check to make sure you understand what practices your plan’s claims administrator has in place to obtain proper discounts, adjudicate claims that may arise from non-emergency care, and remove unreasonable charges (whether or not they are emergency room claims).

 

Reviewing claims data before your annual policy renewal date can help pinpoint activities, utilization behaviors, or trends that will influence important decisions about your plan, such as the changing of a benefit offering or the incorporation of a different network.

If diving into data analysis seems daunting, there’s good news—you’re not alone. Your broker or health plan provider can be a valuable partner in the process by regularly reviewing claims data with you and conveying what that data means for your program.

Schedule a claims data review to more fully evaluate the intricacies of your cultural exchange program’s accident/sickness medical insurance plan and manage it more strategically and sustainably.

 

-Michael Babore

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To read more about Relation’s cultural exchange services, visit this page.

 

Hi, I’m Jesper Tejsen Lykke, the new Vice President, Global Markets for Relation’s Education Solutions practice group. I’ve been working in the international travel industry for more than 30 years and have always been passionate about the educational and cultural value of cultural exchange. I am delighted that my path has brought me to Relation and back to this world.

Cultural exchanges provide an opportunity to explore other countries’ traditions, customs, beliefs, societies, languages and much more and provide opportunities for participants to view the world with a different lens. Here in America, cultural exchange brings non-U.S. residents to the country on short-term visas to take up temporary positions as au pairs, camp counselors, interns and trainees, summer work/travel visitors, professors, and visiting scholars. United States-based companies and organizations act as the host, provide placement, and provide or coordinate the visa and insurance components.

Cultural exchange helps make our world more connected, and without the sponsorship of those host companies and organizations it wouldn’t be possible. Yet they are often time- and resource-strapped, especially when it comes to handling claims. I’m especially excited then, that Relation is now serving the in-bound international exchange market because we are both broker AND an experienced third-party claims administrator, which lets us support our partners every step of the way. Our team also brings valuable resources, technology solutions, and infrastructure to the table that can help reduce the administrative burden for sponsoring organizations and create more program sustainability.

Personally, I am looking forward to returning to an industry where I have decades-long ties and many great friends. I’m also excited to be developing deep partnerships, finding creative solutions, and helping create a safe, smooth experience for partners and participants alike. Our goal at Relation is to do everything we can to support the great opportunity that cultural exchange is, while helping improve program outcomes.

In the coming months I’ll be on the road at WSTC and ICEF Berlin and hope to see you out there. I’ll also be sharing insights and resources on Relation’s blog that can inform the work of time-pressed program administrators as they support participants. First up: Unlocking Claims Data: 3 Data Points to Help Optimize Your Cultural Exchange Insurance Plan.

If you’re interested in signing up to get notified when I post on the blog, click here…and in the meantime you can always find me on LinkedIn. If you’d like to read more about Relation’s cultural exchange services, visit this page. (My contact information is there, also.)

 

Most leaders understand how important it is to have a great culture. A company’s culture is the single most important factor in driving performance—it’s the only thing that consistently drives outsized organizational performance and long-term competitive advantage. But many people still struggle when it comes to shaping such a culture.

Most properly motivated leaders can create a world-class culture if they are willing to put the effort in, and the skills and capabilities needed to do so can be learned. Every leader should prioritize creating a great culture as a top individual objective. If your company already has a great culture, recognize that it requires constant work and attention to keep it there. If you don’t have one, you have a tremendous opportunity waiting for you to go after it.

Action leaders can take to build corporate culture

Here are seven ways to develop a fun, high-performing culture:

Walk the walk. Senior leaders set the tone for any organization. Your employees see everything you do—your work habits, the way you treat people, your consistency (or lack thereof), and the behaviors you demonstrate every day. While words matter, leaders’ actions matter far more. Culture is always set from the top and created by example—so strive to be an excellent one.

Be authentic. Nothing kills culture quicker than a lack of sincerity. If you are someone who can show you care about an individual and what’s going on in his or her life, you’ll build the relationships that will ultimately help your organization reach its goals. People are far more energized when they feel they are seen and valued as a person. However, nothing is more damaging than being disingenuous or insincere. Be true to yourself, and don’t force yourself into an inauthentic position. The more you can find real ways to connect with people in your organization, the better.

Play the long game. In the midst of the day-to-day, you may be tempted to hit the easy button or think about what’s needed immediately, especially if the short-term decision conflicts with the long-term. Adopt the mindset that you’re creating a company that will last for hundreds of years and act accordingly. Always try to do the right thing, no matter how painful it is.

Communicate, be transparent, and listen. Most senior leadership teams can do better at communicating with their employees. Almost all can improve their listening skills. When leaders are fully transparent about the good and the bad developments at a company, people are much more engaged and helpful because they know what and why something is happening. So why not tell them?

Recognize contributions. Recognition is important: It drives behavior by rewarding the good and discouraging the bad. People who feel appreciated end up experiencing more self-worth and positivity about their ability to contribute to the company. The result is a happier and more productive employee.

Be humble/admit mistakes. In a high-performance culture, leaders give credit and never take it, while also taking blame and never giving it. Admitting that you made a mistake (especially when it’s obvious) creates a culture of learning in which people are not afraid to try new things. This is imperative to helping an organization improve and grow. Successful leaders can admit their mistakes and see opportunities to anticipate the unexpected more quickly. They also share this wisdom with those around them. Don’t be too proud to recognize mistakes as valuable teachable moments for yourself and others.

Be accountable. As an accountable leader, you don’t blame others when things go topsy-turvy. Rather, you work to build an accurate understanding of where your organization excels and where it has opportunities to grow. Accountable leaders also step up to champion initiatives to help their organization succeed.

 

About the Authors

 

Edward Nathan Page is president and COO of Relation Insurance Services, an insurance brokerage that offers risk-management and benefits-consulting services through its family of brands across the U.S. He can be reached on LinkedIn.

 

This article originally appeared on the American Management Association (AMA) website here.

 

 

 

 

Insurance brokers have an appetite for mergers and acquisitions (M&A)1. Of those who are business owners, almost half have contemplated M&A to boost their bottom lines, broaden their portfolios or geography, and strengthen their competitiveness. One-third of insurance brokerage owners with annual revenue of more than $5 million plan to explore the sale of their businesses in the next five years. 

Belvedere Pacific Insurance Services, a well-respected and thriving San Francisco Bay Area employee benefits consulting and insurance brokerage firm was acquired by Relation in 2015. It was founded in 2008 by Michael Stallone, an industry veteran with more than three decades of experience delivering outstanding employee-benefits and client relationships. 

 

The Partnership Was a Good Fit for Both Sides

As Michael considered M&A, he knew what he wanted in a partner—a place to call home where he could access in-house resources he’d previously had to outsource. Of all the potential partners he investigated, he believed joining Relation would be the best fit and would allow him to offer better service at competitive rates to his valued clients2. Additionally, he wanted to be part of an organization where he could not only grow his business but also have a direct impact on the growth and direction of the company’s employee benefits practice.

Michael was an exceptional fit for Relation’s President of Employee Benefits, Keri Lopez, who was looking to expand the employee benefits team with seasoned brokers. Stallone promised to bring innovative ways for Relation to reduce costs, complexity, and the administrative burden to the table.

 

“They prioritized my goals and interests, and I could tell they were there for my benefit just as much as for their own.”

Michael Stallone

 

Early on, the Partnership Yielded Great Results

Upon joining Relation, Michael immediately added value through his wealth of experience with technology outsourcing for large, sophisticated clients and was able to step in as a senior advisor for several of Relation’s more substantial client relationships. 

 

“Michael has brought additional capabilities to Relation that have added a huge amount of value for our clients.”

Keri Lopez

 

Two Cultures Aligned

From the earliest conversations, Relation and Belvedere Pacific both expressed the need for a culture fit. Finding alignment can be an obstacle during mergers and acquisitions3. That wasn’t the case with Relation. Michael believed that, at the end of the day, all things being equal on the economics, technology, and available in-house resources of a potential transaction, it was the people at Relation and the culture they created that made it a destination of choice for him as an acquisition partner.

 

“From the leadership team, through every level of management, to the client service roles, the people who make up this company are in a league of their own. Insurance doesn’t have to be where fun goes to die. No amount of new technology or updated processes can make up for not having great people. We have fun at Relation–people truly enjoy providing great service to our clients, and it’s a good place to be.”

Michael Stallone

 

Four Years Later, The Partnership Has Been a Win-Win

Partnering with Relation allowed Michael to service more clients faster than ever with in-house marketing, employee, and compliance resources. Backed by Relation, he’s continued to adapt to the rapidly evolving employee benefits environment and has more than doubled the size of his book, placing him regularly on the company’s leaderboard for sales.

 

“They showed they were willing to invest the resources and provide the support necessary to help me grow my business. Joining the Relation team has allowed Belvedere Pacific to continue offering the same great service to our valued clients, in addition to having the in-house resources to analyze and respond to the rapidly evolving employee benefits environment—especially when it comes to complex areas such as healthcare reform and compliance.”

Michael Stallone

 

Michael has also become an invaluable resource to Relation by helping solve one of the industry’s biggest challenges—talent training and retention4.  He has paid his success forward by mentoring up-and-coming employee-benefits producers, several of whom themselves are now top producers at Relation.

To learn more about becoming a Relation acquisition partner, visit our M&A page. If you’re searching for the resources to help your business grow, a rewarding culture, being part of an increasingly recognized team, and a chance to influence a business being built to thrive for 100+ years from the ground up, let’s chat. 

 

[1] Deloitte Insurance M&A Outlook 2019

[2] PwC Global Survey Consumer Intelligence Series: CX in M&A: What consumers think when companies combine

[3] PwC’s 10th Annual Global CEO Survey

[4] PwC’s 21st CEO Survey: Insurance

 

 

 

There’s an exciting change happening at Relation Insurance Services, today. After 11 years, Parthenon Capital Partners and Century Equity Partners will be transferring ownership of Relation to Aquiline Capital Partners, effective March 31, 2019.

You can access the press release here.

For some time now, we’ve been evaluating a host of strategic options for our company. This will be a great partnership because the Aquiline team is a fantastic group of folks with tremendous insurance knowledge who believe in the vision and values that the Relation leadership team has put in place. It will allow Relation to keep doing what we’ve been doing, and also make more investments to drive additional growth through organic growth and acquisitions. Our shared vision with Aquiline is that Relation will continue to be one of the nation’s leading independent insurance brokerages.

Other than a change in asset ownership, you can expect business as usual. Our name, our people, our locations, our practices, and our services will remain intact. I will continue to run the business, along with our President and COO, Ed Page. Relation as a whole continues as is. Our goal is, and always will be, to connect the dots to provide the very best insurance solutions and legendary service for our clients.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients and partners for your ongoing support over the past 11 years. I’d also like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the entire Relation team. Last but not least, a big thank you to the teams at Parthenon Capital and Century Equity Partners for their continued support. We would not be where we are today, without their backing, guidance, and encouragement. I look forward to a bright future as we continue to grow together.

Onward!

Joe

An annual review of your insurance coverage may be the time to make changes in coverage, endorsements, or carriers.

Any time you make changes in the way your business runs, you can also change your exposure to risks. As your organizational needs evolve over time, it’s a good business practice to consider whether there are other carriers that can offer reduced premiums or expanded coverage better suited to your requirements as you grow, move, or expand your offerings.

Fortunately, the insurance marketplace is responsive to changing risks that buyers face. In some cases, it may make more sense to remain with your current carrier but update the terms of your program agreements to reflect your current operations. In other cases, a new carrier may be able to provide coverage more tailored to the new risks your company is encountering. Transitioning to a new insurer could have unintended consequences, however. The experience of your insurance advisor can be invaluable.

Should you choose to make a change, a strong relationship between you, your insurance broker, and the carriers will make the transition as smooth as possible.

Here are four ways your insurance broker can keep you informed about your choice of carrier to help you avoid any surprises.

1. Stay Ahead of New Market Conditions/New Insurers/New Coverages

Your broker can keep you apprised of factors impacting the overall market to prepare you for possible premium increases or decreases with your existing carrier well in advance of renewal. The broker should also be aware of insurers that are offering new lines of coverage and should approach the carriers for quotes on your behalf.

In addition, brokers can help you stay ahead of emerging coverages and potential exposures that may affect your business, which is critical to avoiding losses that may not be covered under your current policies. Understanding the differences among your policies, knowing what they do and do not cover, and advising you on what endorsements you should obtain for your standard policies can help ensure that your company isn’t exposed to unnecessary or avoidable risks.

Recently we worked with a new client to provide coverage for social engineering fraud (SEF), which occurs when a hacker imitating a senior executive, sends a phishing email to an employee telling the employee to wire company funds to a bank account on an emergency basis. The business owner mistakenly believed that either the cyber policy or the crime policy covered the loss. But neither of the policies had been endorsed to provide SEF coverage, and the business was left with a gap in coverage that the risk manager hadn’t realized until we brought it to the manager’s attention.

2. Update the Fine Print of Your Program Agreements

Most carrier agreements stipulate that in the event you transition to a different insurer, the collateral amount can be reset at the carrier’s discretion. If your policy is on a large deductible or other type of loss-sensitive program, you might experience substantial cost implications. Your broker can thoroughly review your program agreements with your insurers and, if possible, amend this wording by setting specific parameters around how the collateral will be calculated. For example, the calculation might include predetermined loss-development factors or consideration of the insured’s outside actuary calculations.

3. Review Outstanding Claims

When you change carriers, there will inevitably be outstanding claims to process, but standard agreements typically nullify any special claims-handling procedures that were put in place while you had your coverage with the insurer. As a result, you will still be dealing with claims, but you might lose the ability to have any or all of the following:

  • Free claims reviews
  • Use of a pre-selected defense counsel
  • Notification of reserve changes
  • Ability to have input on settlement amounts
  • Continuity of adjusters because the insurer will most likely move any open claims to a different unit

Your broker should review the agreement around what happens if you move from the insurer and, when appropriate, modify the agreement to create as much certainty as possible around the way outstanding claims will be handled.

4. Adjust for Changes in Insured Operations

Many insurance policies limit coverage to events that occur in a certain geographic area. The insured area is often referred to as the “coverage territory.” If your company expands its operations outside the United States, your broker will need to review the coverage territory in all policies to ensure there are no exposures in your new areas of operation that aren’t covered in the existing policy. Similarly, if your company begins offering new products or expands on the scope of existing services, an in-depth review of your existing coverages is necessary to make certain no new coverage is needed.

Here are two examples of changes in insured operations that we’ve helped our clients with recently:

  • An insured established a new 401(k) plan and began providing health coverage to employees. They now needed fiduciary liability coverage because these plans are subject to ERISA and present possible personal liability to plan administrator.
  • An Insured decided to hire a sales force who will be driving on company business. After reviewing their options, they elected to increase the limits carried on their automobile liability coverage and added to their umbrella coverage limits.

Anticipating and planning for change is part of business. Don’t be lulled into a sense of complacency and simply renew with the same insurer year after year. You have options. Your broker is a trusted business partner who can help you actively avoid any of the potential insurance minefields that come with change, as well as choose the right path forward for your continued business success.

 

About the Author

 

Joe Tatum is the CEO of Relation Insurance Services, a premier insurance brokerage that offers risk-management and benefits-consulting services through its family of brands across the United States.

 

 

 

This article originally appeared on the PropertyCasualty360 website here and in a printed edition of National Underwriter.

Cultivating talent and retaining employees can be a challenge for every employer. Wages across all disciplines are increasing, which results in competitive new job offers and a difficulty for employers to staff and retain top talent (unless they can regularly dish out significant raises company-wide). Most employers compensate for their potential wage discrepancy by offering employees attractive, affordable, and comprehensive benefits programs.

Despite these efforts, employee-retention rates are not where most companies would like them to be, a sentiment that supports findings in Payscale’s 2018 Compensation Best Practices Report. Payscale highlights employee retention as one of employers’ top concerns across all sectors. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed for the report worried about losing their best employees to competitors, and sixty-seven percent were concerned about the difficulty of holding onto skilled labor.

These fears are not ill-founded: In the event a quality employee leaves, the cost to replace them (i.e., disseminating and advertising the open position, interviewing and conducting background checks on candidates, drug testing, referral bonuses, signing bonuses, etc.) can creep up to 20 percent or more of that individual’s annual salary. There’s also a potential uptick in salary expectations from the new employee due to industry trends and recognition of a competitive marketplace. This is on top of the minimum wage increases we all are seeing now.

To further complicate matters, three distinct generations—Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials—with varying needs and expectations compose most of today’s workforce. Fewer in numbers, but also represented, are the Silent Generation (the demographic cohort following the G.I. Generation and the oldest group of employees in today’s workforce) and the Generation Z workers (the generation after Millennials), who represent opposite ends of the age spectrum. This multi-generational labor mix adds value to the work environment, but the combination also creates new demands when it comes to recruitment and retention.

All employees, regardless of their ages, are looking for increasing salaries, rich benefits, and subsidies for dependent coverage. Factoring in medical, dental, life, disability, 403(b), vacation pay, time off, and taxes, the total cost for employers is substantial. This is problematic for companies trying to reduce costs year over year and continue to offer benefits for five demographic cohorts that will help attract and retain talent.

Second only to wages, your employee-benefits program is your next highest expense. Employee benefits is a significant financial and administrative investment that could be a key variable in your efforts to both attract and retain quality team members—and get competitive advantage (if you know how to leverage it). One of the best ways to maximize your investment is to work with your broker to implement a benefits-communication strategy to help employees fully understand and, more importantly, appreciate what your organization offers.

Here are four ways your benefits program can help with recruitment and retention.

Prioritize Employee Retention Over Recruitment

You’ll get more mileage from your benefits program if you work with your broker to focus on employee retention first, as this is ultimately where your greatest return on human-capital investment comes from, and recruitment second. Focusing on retention involves investing time, money, and effort into designing rich, yet affordable, benefits options, and secondly communicating these efforts with your employees to demonstrate your dedication to keeping them. When you subsequently shift your focus to recruiting, be sure to also emphasize to candidates just how great your benefits program is. Prioritizing the “who gets communicated with about our benefits program and when” and in this order is more likely to help you reach your company objectives.

(Re-)Educate Employees about their Benefits Often at Various Touchpoints

Employees often don’t fully understand the scope of time and money an employer invests into offering a competitive benefits program. It’s also easy for employees to lose sight of the benefits package they’re receiving after they’ve been onboarded—rather than appreciating the program’s value with each paycheck, they simply see a hit on their net incomes. Whether they’ve just joined the company or are seasoned team members, employees must be educated and continually reminded of the value of their enrollment. Your broker can help you design a multi-touch educational campaign that includes communications tools such as benefit guides, wallet cards, and announcements, all of which can keep benefits top of mind for employees at every stage of their journey with you. Wellness/health fairs and campaigns throughout the year can also present multiple opportunities to educate employees and go beyond the standard annual open-enrollment meetings. Work with your broker to design the best communications strategy that allows you to speak loudly and frequently to all the perks of working for your community. You stand to get the biggest payback on your benefits-program investment: satisfied employees who stay.

Take a Traditional and Forward-Looking Approach to Benefits Communication

Since different age groups have different needs when it comes to benefits communications, there are multiple communications technologies your broker should be making available for you, including the following:

  • Online enrollment
  • Benefit portals
  • Intranets
  • Mobile phone apps (becoming very prevalent with Millennials)
  • Webinars (livecast and on-demand)
  • Video (generally preferred by Millennials and Generation Z populations)

Your broker shouldn’t discontinue administering the more traditional open-enrollment group meetings in favor of newer technologies though. In-person one-on-one meetings and answering employees’ questions via Q&A sessions are employee-communications approaches that are still generally preferred by the Baby Boomer and Silent Generation populations. As the workforce continues to evolve, multiple means of communication that are both “old school” and more leading edge will be needed to communicate effectively across all demographic bands.

Communicate the Total Value of Your Benefits Package

Another way to demonstrate to employees how greatly you value them is to employ a total-compensation strategy to share with them the full scope of their benefits and compensation programs. Total-compensation statements go beyond standard paychecks to provide a greater overview that gives a quantitative value of your benefits program. Research shows 80 percent of employees who ranked their benefits satisfaction as “extremely high” also ranked job satisfaction as “extremely high,” meaning a transparent communication approach can help increase employee appreciation and satisfaction. Use your existing benefits-administration system to set this up, or ask your broker to help you provide this to employees. Total-compensation statements are also a valuable recruitment tool, as they can also be shown to potential candidates to demonstrate how well you treat your employees.

If you want to retain your workforce and build employee morale, getting your management team behind the idea of communicating often and consistently throughout the year, using different communication vehicles, and providing total compensation statements can foster good will and improved productivity among your employees, which ultimately leads to a happier workforce and increased employee retention.

 

About the Author

 

Tuan Nguyen is Vice President, Employee Benefits, at Relation Insurance Services in Walnut Creek, CA. He can be reached via email at [email protected], via phone at (925) 322-6441, or on LinkedIn.