Benefits brokers and consultants are in a prime position to help their clients reshape and take a proactive approach to employee benefits
July 9, 2019
By Bo Armstrong
Originally Posted on BenefitsPRO
Historically, employee benefits strategies have focused on traditional health care and retirement offerings. But today’s employees — especially the up-and-coming millennial generation — expect a broader and more flexible benefits package. They also expect a shift in how, when and where those benefit offerings are communicated to them.
For employers, this can be challenging, particularly when juggling several generations of employees with different expectations. As a result, benefit plans need to look very different from those of the past so they can attract and retain the best talent. This is where brokers and consultants can don their capes and come to the rescue.
A proactive approach to employee benefits
Many employers take a reactive approach to employee benefits. Every few years they review the plan, paying attention to price and product, without really focusing on what employees want. This approach generally fails to address the different needs of a diverse, multi-generational workforce. As a benefits expert, you can help you clients find out what appeals to employees, where the current plan falls short, and how to update the plan to better suit everybody’s needs.
Get insight before making changes
In order to find out what your clients’ benefits needs are, you should first gather information. A good place to start is by conducting an employee poll, which can provide crucial insights. Another tool is data analytics, which can play a key role by tracking employee benefits usage. The collected information can identify products that employees would value and help eliminate outdated and seldom-used offerings.
Read the full article, Broker and Consultants are Key to Proactive Benefits, on BenefitsPRO.
Bo Armstrong
Chief Marketing Officer, DataPath, Inc.
Bo has over 20 years of marketing leadership experience. His responsibilities include branding, communications, social media, product marketing, PR and promotions. He focuses on identifying emerging market trends within the benefits industry and advocating for customers and their needs. Bo is also a national conference speaker and author of numerous white papers and articles on the healthcare benefits industry.