Employees are the heart of any business no matter the size, anda productive and loyal workforce will position a business forsuccess. This is good news, especially for mid-sized companies(100-4,999), who are looking to expand. In fact, according toMetLife’s 13^th annual U.S. Employee Benefits TrendsStudy, fully half of medium-sized employers say that theirprimary focus for the next 12 months is growth. A key factor inhelping these businesses achieve their goals will be their abilityto attract and retain top talent, so it’s only natural thatemployers look for ways to help their employees. Making benefitoptions available through private exchanges can helpmid-sized employers offer the benefits their employees desirewithout adding administrative burden.

Leveraging the power of benefits

Mid-sized employers recognize the key role their employees playin their success. As they look to grow, six in 10 mid-sizedcompanies report that they are extremely concerned with bothretaining and hiring for the skills and talent their company needs,according to the MetLife. This concern is not unfounded — the studyalso found that just half of employees at medium-sized companiessay they are satisfied with the job they have now. Luckily,employers have a powerful tool at their disposal that can help themaddress these concerns: their benefits program.

As the workforce becomes more diverse, employees areincreasingly demanding more personalized benefits. A“one-size-fits-all” approach to benefits no longer works. By takinga closer look at their benefits program, medium-sized companies canupdate their offerings and boost employee loyalty. The study’sfindings support this, with nearly 40 percent of employees frombusinesses of all sizes reporting that having a wide selection ofbenefits would make them feel more loyal to their employer.

The study also shows that the more benefits offered toemployees, the more appreciation employees show towards theiremployer. At companies of all sizes where 11-15 benefits areoffered, there is a 20 percent increase in the likelihood employeeswill recommend their employers as a great place to work, comparedto those who offer no benefits.

The average number of benefits offered by medium-sized employersis eight, compared to the five offered by small employers (2-99employees) and ten offered by large employers (5,000 +employees). It’s easy to see that there’s opportunity formid-sized employers to take advantage of.

While providing a more robust benefits program may seemintimidating, mid-sized business need not be overwhelmed by theprospect. Private exchanges are a platform through which businessescan deliver a greater variety of benefit options, includingvoluntary benefits, withoutadding to business’ administrative burdens.

Advantages of private exchanges: customization,empowerment, and administration

The value in private exchanges is in theease of use — essentially they are online stores where employeescan purchase benefits. Private exchanges use high-level plandesigns, allowing employers to provide a set of products from whichemployees can create a personalized benefits program. Whenimplemented appropriately, exchanges can help employers offer moreflexible benefit programs, which in turn provide employees thepersonal experience they desire. This is because within standardparameters, employers can present a greater variety of benefitoptions — creating a benefit package that meets individual employeeneeds.

In addition to offering personalization, private exchanges canalso integrate robust decision support tools, which can create anengaging enrollment experience and help employees better understandthe value of their benefits. Exchanges often feature tools and tipsthat will enable employees to make better benefits decisions andhelp them to see how benefits can fit into their personal financialsituations.

Employees are looking for these resources. According to thestudy, 55 percent of employees at medium-sized businesses feel “mycompany’s benefit communications did not effectively educate me onmy benefits options,” and 41 percent of employees at both mediumand large-sized companies say they were not confident in their lastround of benefit.

Finally, exchanges can offer these advantages without addingadministrative responsibilities. In fact, exchanges can ease theseburdens, as they provide an outsourcing outlet for the employer —streamlining enrollment and billing, shortening implementation timeand providing cost-sharing support through defined contributionmodels. Use of exchanges may also result in cost savings, with 44percent of private exchange early adopters of all sizes reportingthat they have saved money, according to the Private ExchangeEvaluation Collaborative’s 2015 Employer Survey.

All employers, no matter their size, are facing an increasinglycomplex benefits landscape. For medium-sized employers who arefocused on growth, and looking to their employees to power thatgrowth, benefits play a critical role in attracting and retainingtop talent. While private exchanges can offer multiple advantagesto mid-sized employers looking to better address the varied needsof an increasingly diverse workforce, they may not be for everyone.Employers who prefer customized plan designs and want to be heavilyinvolved in benefits administration may not be top candidates forprivate exchanges. But for those employers looking to maximizeoptions and minimize costs, private exchanges can offer some reliefby providing a platform through which they can provide customizablebenefits programs with robust educational tools.