It is estimated that in the next few years, Millennials will make up over fifty percent of the workforce. How we design and communicate employee benefit programs has not kept up with this growing audience. Employers today are challenged with constantly recruiting and re-recruiting employees rather than just retaining them. The standard employee benefit program tends to be associated with helping employees only when they are particularly vulnerable (sickness, disability or death). It’s time to reimagine your company’s employee benefit program as providing options that help employees achieve better work/life integration.
Organizations who wish to derive the maximum value from their Health & Welfare program should consider some of the following for 2016 and beyond:
Plan Design
Plan design should be more flexible and provide employees with enough options to customize a program that best suits their individual preferences and desires. Employers will increasingly look to a defined contribution approach that will provide a set amount of dollars for each employee to apply towards their benefit choices. A possible model could be a core option in each of the “traditional” benefits (medical, dental, disability, etc.) with an opportunity to buy up to richer options along with a voluntary benefits menu to provide additional options in health insurance (long-term care, critical illness, etc.), wellness (stress management, nutrition consultants, access to therapists), personal type insurance (auto, home, pet, etc.) as well as financial planning, legal and adoption assistance.
The model above also integrates with other Human Resource benefit initiatives such as moving to unlimited paid time off, working remotely, schedule flexibility and other work/life integration initiatives.
Communication
Designing a successful program is only the first step. Engaging employees through a variety of media will also increase the acceptance of your program and provide an opportunity to constantly re-recruit your employees.
Visually pleasing and targeted printed communication materials will continue to have great value and be the backbone of your efforts, however employers will increase the value of their benefit program if they can boost the transparency of the their offerings through a variety of media (print, videos, webinars, etc.) and provide an opportunity for employees to interact with the program on a consistent basis. Creating a dedicated, human resource monitored group chat will provide an opportunity for employers to understand how the program is being valued (and opportunities for improvement), how it is being used and where employees are having problems. It also gives the employer the ability to ensure that correct technical information is being provided consistently.
This approach to communication may appear daunting, but employees already have the tools to communicate constantly about what’s going on and this provides an opportunity for employers to be part of the solution.
There is a saying that “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading”. At UBF, we believe adopting long-term strategic design and communication solutions are at the heart of a successful employee benefit program both in terms of program costs and employee acceptance. Allow us to work with you to help you navigate the future of your employee benefit program.
Allan Phillips is a Managing Principal at UBF and has over 25 years experience as a senior health care and pension consultant. He has worked with Fortune 50, 500 and mid-size companies to assess, develop, and implement integrated benefits programs for global organizations.