Gil Lowerre is president at Eastbridge Consulting Group; Bonnie Brazzell is vice president of Eastbridge Consulting Group.

What are the attributes of a good voluntary benefit? The industry has historically sorted out would-be new entrants before many producers knew they existed. Various elements could be debated, but there are at least two components common to most successful products: benefit strategy relevance and program mechanics.

The idea of product relevance to an employer's benefit strategy is important. Nearly all voluntary benefits that achieve genuine market acceptance are aimed at supporting an employee's physical or financial well-being, while products that fall outside of these goals seem to have challenges. For example, introducing a voluntary program for golf lessons likely would not fit the overall benefit strategy for most employers. As much as some employees might like such a perk, there simply is not enough relevance to justify it. Successful voluntary benefits are those employees want/need and that help ensure their family's personal and financial health.

Program mechanics must also be considered, particularly enrollment and payment method. Today, open enrollment has become as much about voluntary programs as it is about medical plan elections. Many producers now use this method to provide employees a comprehensive approach to their benefit selections, since programs introduced off-cycle are often void of employer support and employee attention.