Sixteen percent of employerssaid they are planning to add a new voluntary benefit and 10percent are planning to move certain benefits to voluntary. (Image:Shutterstock)

In a recent survey jointly conducted by Eastbridgeand BenefitsPRO, brokers cited a lack of employer interest as the biggest threatto their voluntary business.

However, according to our latest employer research, this doesnot seem to be the case. In fact, roughly 70 percent of employersoffer at least one voluntary product. The percentage offeringvoluntary varies by the size of the employer, with the percentoffering voluntary increasing with size—from 56 percent foremployers with fewer than 50 employees to 86 percent for those with10,000 or more.

Related: The voluntary status-quo isn't acceptable,either

Bonnie Brazzell and NickRockwell,
Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc.

Besides “to aid in recruiting and retaining employees,” the topreasons for offering voluntary benefits (selected by more than halfof employers) were “employee interest in the product” and “toaddress gaps in current benefit plan/offer a wider array ofbenefits.” In addition, just because an employer already offersvoluntary doesn't mean there isn't additional interest oropportunity.

Employers are interested in offering a variety of products totheir employees. Among employers that do not yet offer a particularproduct, the products they are most interested in offering on avoluntary basis are critical illness, cancer, long-term care, andhospital indemnity, as seen in the chart.

The products employers are interested in offering vary based onthe size of the employer. For example, employers with less than1,000 employees have higher interest in offering long-term care andhospital indemnity compared to larger employer sizes.

Our research also supports that once an employer offersvoluntary, they tend to offer multiple products. About one-third ofemployers offer six or more voluntary products. Half offer betweenthree and five, with the number offered varying by employersize.

Finally, both employers that do offer and those that do notoffer voluntary benefits today are planning changes to theirbenefit offering. Sixteen percent of employers said they areplanning to add a new voluntary benefit and 10 percent are planningto move certain benefits to voluntary.

Perhaps the issue is not employer interest, but refining yourapproach and confirming your market perceptions are accurate. Areyou engaging all employers the same way, or are you tailoring yourvalue proposition to the unique needs and demographics of eachbusiness?

The most successful brokers have long ago cast aside theassumption that employers are not interested in voluntary, and havebeen tirelessly working to understand and align themselves towardsemployers' most pressing voluntary-oriented needs. Competing withthese brokers may pose a bigger threat to your voluntary businessthan any perceived lack of employer interest.

Become an expert on voluntarybenefits:

• The evolution of voluntary: Finding the bestfit
• Disrupting the voluntary benefits market
• 5 way brokers can maximize voluntary benefitsportfolios