Human resources (HR) professionals around the nation are gearingup for open enrollment. This is when the truenature of their profession is expressed. HR is responsible forconsulting with benefits advisors, partnering with carriers toobtain insurance products, solidifying employee benefit offeringsand eligibility, distributing employee communications — the list oftasks and duties is exhaustive. Furthermore, during and followingopen enrollment, HR must manage and verify employees’ EOIdocumentation, dependents and beneficiaries, as well as handle thebilling and reporting to carriers, payroll, and third partyvendors.

To combat the extensive HR duties associated with employeebenefits administration, employers are implementing enrollment andadministration applications that automate many HR tasks, but alsooffer employees an easy benefits enrollment process. In fact, manyemployers rely on online enrollment interfaces todeliver employee communications and benefits information toemployees in an effort to increase employee benefits education andparticipation.

Because we live in a digital age, the concern for an enhanceduser experience is at the top of mind of employers who are in themarket for a benefits administration system. What does the employeeinterface look like? Are there interactive elements? How isinformation presented to employees? These are common questionsemployers ask benefits administration vendors.

A focus shift

The interest in an enhanced user experience is important;however, employers are off target in regards to benefitsadministration technology. Visual information, data placement andaesthetics are all subjective components to a user experience,which is aside from the fact that employees spend a minisculeamount of time interacting with their benefits enrollment system incomparison to their HR department.

Employers must redirect their focus to the functionality andcapabilities of their employee benefits administration technology,because the benefits administration features and services offeredare what truly harness the talent and effectiveness of theirHR department.

The different approach

How many times a year do employees actually need to or desire tointeract with their benefits? Perhaps a few days during openenrollment and a handful of other times due to qualifying lifeevents or to simply find out what their benefits are.

Human resources, on the flip-side, interact with theiremployees’ benefits and third parties (such as carriers andpayroll) on nearly a daily basis—roughly 360 days a year. Humanresources administrators require a robust, flexible benefitsadministration solution that will accommodate their unique employeebenefits plans, carriers, payroll vendor, and manage employeeenrollment, eligibility, dependents, beneficiaries, communications,and more.

A better approach to benefits administration technology attendsto the challenges and tasks HR professionals are faced with nearlyevery day and emphasizes the need for a comprehensive technologicalsolution.

Steve Herman, National Director of Sales at Web Benefits Design,has crafted a different philosophy from his years in the employeebenefits technology space, his thousands of conversations with HRprofessionals, and his understanding of the significance of apragmatic technological solution to employers’ benefitsadministration challenges.

HR professionals are constantly being challenged with more andmore administrative and compliance duties. Now faced withACA compliance, COBRA, and HIPPAregulations, they require a secure, unified data management systemto track and store their employee benefits and eligibility data, aswell as integrate administrative, communications, workflows,billing, and reporting functionalities.

Many versions of benefits administration software lack inadministrative functionality, data management, and workflowcapabilities, but include an attractive employee visual interface.

“Benefits administration is all about unparalleled access todata reports and employee transactional records, employeecommunications, COBRA administration, and now ACA reporting,” saysHerman.

Employers must shift the focus from the employee user experienceto the human resources platform functionalities and administrativetools. A benefits application may be visually pleasing and containinteractive elements, but if the backend HR system features arelimited in functionality, it is not a practical or usefultechnology.

It is not the employee user experience that is going to driveemployee participation and education, reduce administrative costs,and optimize the human resources role. It is the ability toleverage technology to handle the time-consuming, manual,data-intensive tasks that are required of HR.

“Employee benefits administration is an everyday reality for anHR professional, but is merely an annual experience for anemployee, “says Herman. “While acknowledging that the employee andconsumer experience is important, and there is a need for ease ofuse and support when making decisions, it should not be the corefocus.”