Benefit Consultants Blog

Company management teams would do well to think of Benefits as a bonus paycheck badly in need of a route to an employee’s bank account.  Health Benefits Consultants will agree that solid communication regarding Benefits can meet the needs of valued employees while persuading them to stick around for that bonus. 

An inexpensive Benefit that can be provided to employees can be presented in the form of a navigation system that will guide them in making a host of decisions about everything from wellness programs to 401(k) options and Consumer Directed Health Plans.  Consumer Directed Health Plans require employees to make a series of critical decisions, fraught with long-term implications, about their health care.  Your company’s expert Health Benefits Consultant will advise that offering better education about company Benefits will result in increased productivity and loyalty as workers place a premium on their Benefit Packages.

Benefits often become part of a company’s non performing asset because they aren’t being properly used to foster employee loyalty.  Talk to your Health Benefits Consultant about packaging your company’s Benefits with useful, user friendly, instructions.  Employees want more communication.

With the complexity of 401(k) plans, management teams have found themselves in the uncomfortable and time consuming position of having to educate employees about all aspects of saving for their retirement.  Some HR Staff simply hand out brochures that praise the benefits of compounding while talking about inconceivable investment balances and then the workers are expected to take the reins from there.  Or the opposite is true.  Some HR department staff will deliver truckloads of information that cannot possibly be comprehended because the eyes have glazed over and the employee is absolutely overwhelmed.  None of this is educational or productive.

If your company has decided to provide a website dedicated to employee Benefit information discuss this approach with your professional Health Benefits Consultant.  Even a great website may not be enough to meet the Benefit requirements of all company employees.  There is a great demand for individualized education.  Employees want to ask specific questions and receive useful answers.  Many companies now dole out data in small segments usually via email blasts and podcasts or monthly intranet postings and sometimes online animated characters.   Some companies will set up confabs for specialized demographic groups where the lunch hour becomes a session on retirement planning for those who are approaching this time of life.  Your Health Benefits Consultant can assist your HR team with target mailings to demographic groups.  Narrowing the focus becomes a better way to reach people.  If the subject is about the worker’s particular needs it will become an attention grabber.

Participation in Benefits raises employee retention rates.  Participation is a sign that employees are connected with the organization.  Make sure your company’s Benefits are a performing asset that is positively affecting your bottom line.

Article courtesy of Benefit Consultants

Employee Benefit Consultants will agree that corporate Benefit Plans have typically been created for the large generation of Baby Boomers.  These Boomer Plans will not come close to attracting and competing in the race to hire the generations of X and Y who are poised to replace retiring Boomers.

This new workforce has jargon that your company management and HR Staff should familiarize themselves with. .  Your management will hear phrases like “relationship capital”.  There will be demands for Benefits that are in line with this generation’s language, music and imagery.  Benefits must assist with work/life balance.  Often this group will judge the features of plans solely within the context of their personal lives. 

By addressing wide ranges of the Generation X and Y preferences, the professional Employee Benefit Consultants will have an edge in preparing and meeting these Benefit Plan challenges.  Benefit Consultants will agree these employees are attracted to the relationship aspects of almost every feature of Benefits.

With the help of your expert Benefit Consultants your Benefit Package can be meaningful and helpful in attracting and retaining well qualified, diverse and valuable employees.  There are a vast array of new products, features and Benefits to help in attracting the younger generations.

Speak to your Employee Benefit Consultants about the following to determine what, if any, role these may play in your Benefit Plan:

Helicopter Parents – refers to parents who pay extremely close attention to their children’s experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions.  These parents rush to save their children from any harm or failure and will not let them learn from their own mistakes.  They are like helicopters in that they hover closely overhead;

The New Singles can be defined as Extreme Domestic Partners such as lesbian couples with children;

Affects of advertising to children and young teens and how this relates to Benefit Buying as adults; 

Pet Care;

Lifestyle Management and Identity Theft;
Baby Boomers are the corporate decision makers today so the quality of life issues and benefits decisions are likely crafted through their experiences.  This group may not be as sensitive as they could or should be to the needs of Generation X and Y. With meaningful and well tailored Benefit Plans your expert Employee Benefit Consultants can help your organization bridge the gab between the past and present benefit needs by reaching out to the Generation X and Y population while continuing to cater to the needs of the Baby Boomers.

This article courtesy of Benefit Consultants

Health Benefits Consulting will reveal that employee injuries can have a greater effect on immediate financial losses to your company than the future health care costs of heart disease and diabetes.

Studies are suggesting that overweight workers cost their employers more in injury claims than their lean associates.  Researchers have found that the heaviest workers had lost 13 times more workdays due to work related injuries while their medical claims for these injuries were shown to be seven times higher than their fit colleagues.  It appears that overweight workers are more likely to have claims involving injuries to the back, wrist, arms, neck, shoulders, hip, knee and feet than leaner employees.

Some attorneys are warning companies that treating overweight workers differently could lead to discrimination. Health Benefits Consulting will help your company to invest in programs to help obesity while ensuring the program is presented in a positive light and does not offend.  An organization’s success in lowering health care costs and curbing obesity could be highly dependent on how it’s presented.  While fitness programs will be a great benefit for helping overweight workers shed some weight they are also beneficial for overstressed working parents and others who want to be healthy.

Benefit Plans and insurers have responded, in several ways, to the rising costs in connection with the treatment of obesity.  Speak to your professional Health Benefits Consulting firm about the broad coverage now available for the treatment of obesity.  Some companies have implemented programs to assist their employees with reducing weight and improving health.  Employers can offer a weight management program that includes incentives for participation and increased physical activity, weight loss plan discounts together with nurse and weight loss counseling support services. 

Consider programs that provide incentives for participating in specified disease management programs including the use of online health risk assessment questionnaires that allow employees to evaluate their current health and receive suggestions on positive action that may be taken to improve their health.  Employees can accumulate credits that they can use as discounts when redeeming from a selection of health related items. Your HR team may also offer additional incentives in the form of enhanced Benefits or lower health insurance premiums or co-payments.  These programs can include web-based resources that assist employees in creating personalized exercise and fitness programs together with meal planning strategies.

Your expert Health Benefits Consulting group will help your management team meet this challenge with creativity and a commitment to building and maintaining employee satisfaction.  

This article courtesy of Benefit Consultants