With open enrollment upon us, employee benefits are top of mind for organizations everywhere—and while it might be too late to make significant changes to your strategy for the coming year, it’s never too early to think about what’s ahead for your plan and your people.
But where should you start? There’s not necessarily one right answer, because despite what many people think, benefits encompass a broad range of rewards that go beyond healthcare coverage. And in order to attract and retain quality employees, you need to do more than simply offer strong benefits: You need to make sure employees fully understand those benefits and how to make the most of them.
To help you and your organization start thinking about the possibilities for what’s next, we’ve put together a few useful questions to ask yourself in key areas.
Healthcare Coverage
The biggest line item in the benefits budget is healthcare, which is why it’s so important to have a well-designed plan that fits into an overall strategy. We support plan design and implementation, employee education and advocacy, carrier evaluation and renewals, and much more. Questions to consider:
• Are our healthcare benefits competitive, or could we do better? Keeping an eye on emerging benefits trends—along with having trusted experts on your side to provide insights—will allow you to respond to the ever-changing market and ensure your benefits are competitive. Establishing goals and tracking against them is vital as well.
• Do our employees have the tools to get the most out of their benefits? The right tools and communications can enhance employees’ understanding of their benefits—from mobile apps to vendor tools that help with care navigation, they add value to your overall program.
• How can we improve our open enrollment process? Many of our clients found that the shift to virtual meetings resulted in greater participation and understanding—thanks in large part to the ability to record meetings so employees can go at their own pace. Combined with a shift to electronic enrollment, it is a more efficient process with fewer questions.
Download the Open Enrollment “Cookbook” Brochure
Retirement Plans
Employees consistently rank retirement plans second only to medical insurance as the most important employer-provided benefit—which means your organization is at a competitive disadvantage if you don’t offer one. Wilson Albers and Alera Group advisors can assist with your plan selection and evaluation, while also providing support for participants. Questions to consider:
• Are we providing employees with enough support around saving for retirement? Offering a 401(k) or another tax-advantaged saving option is only part of the equation. Do you offer an employer match or profit-sharing program? Do your employees understand the power of saving over the long term in a 401(k)? And do you understand the potential tax advantages for your organization?
• How can we help our people with financial education? Enhancing financial literacy and promoting financial health can benefit both your employees and your organization, because financial stresses are more than just personal issues; they often impact work and productivity as well. Many employer-offered wellness programs include a financial component—is it time for you to consider one?
• Should we offer additional financial services? Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, emergency savings programs, student loan debt solutions, and other vehicles can be useful tools for employees. Although they aren’t “retirement” accounts, HSAs in particular have significant tax advantages that can make them powerful for retirement planning. Should you offer them? What financial headwinds may your employees face while trying to save for a secure financial future?
Human Resources
A compelling Total Rewards strategy will help ensure your employees know their compensation includes much more than their salary. Our Total Rewards statements detail incentives, health benefits, retirement benefits, wellness programs, and more—non-cash elements that often add up to 30% or more of compensation and help differentiate your organization.
And like your rewards, our HR support is broad as well: We help with recruiting and onboarding, compliance issues, systems selection and implementation, team-building and coaching, and everything else related to human resources. Questions to consider:
• What can we do to better attract, retain, and reward great employees? Focusing on employee engagement is important when it comes to attracting and retaining the best people. There are a variety of tools to help measure this, so you can identify areas for improvement. Additionally, when was the last time you evaluated your compensation structure? At a minimum, you should be examining it every two years.
• Are we fully educating our employees on the benefits of working here? This includes your Total Rewards Strategy, of course, but also your culture. Ask your employees what they value! You might find that they want “hidden” benefits such as remote work, flexible schedules, gym discounts, cell phone discounts, etc.—or you could discover that they don’t even know you offer those things.
• Could different systems help us achieve our HR goals more efficiently? Now more than ever, companies recognize that the right systems can enhance and improve their operations. What processes are manual right now? Could a new system reduce the time your people spend to achieve those tasks while also lowering the risk of administrative errors?
We’ll Help You Find Answers
At Wilson Albers and Alera Group, we have knowledge in all of these areas and more—along with strong HR support to bring it all together into a seamless, efficient system that delivers for your employees and your organization. Are you ready to talk about what’s next for your benefits and rewards? We’re ready to help you chart the course.
Download the Complete Benefits Advisory, Management & Administration Solutions brochure
Advisory Services through Alera Investment Advisors, LLC. Securities offered through Triad advisors, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Alera Group, Inc. Alera Investment Advisors, LLC and Wilson Albers are not affiliated with Triad Advisors, LLC.
