Using individual employee demographics can help employers and benefits managers help identify desirable enrollment methodologies. (Photo: Shutterstock)
We have conducted research on employee attitudes about voluntary benefits for years now. Historically, we've taken a high-level view; however, we have always believed there were meaningful segments inside this community, and that identifying them may allow more specific strategies to be developed. This led us to take a different look at this critical constituency.
Bonnie Brazzell and Nick Rockwell,
Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc.
A new report, Employee Life Stage Segmentation, aimed to create different employee segments based on demographic data. It finds that there are certain commonalities in employee buying behavior. For example, consistency across all employee segments surrounding the reasons why they buy voluntary products (i.e., “reasonable cost for the product” and “filling a personal need.”) However, our deeper look also confirmed discernible differences.
One such area is employee preference for learning about their benefits. Only 10 percent of employees in the Low- to Middle-Income Singles segment cite a preference for learning about benefits in one-on-one meetings, while 22 percent of those in the Low- to Middle-Income Family segment find that it not only preferential, but among the most desirable.
Some producers could feel their clients don't really appreciate this amount of granularity. The 2016 Eastbridge MarketVision™ Employer Viewpoint report found 72 percent of employers prefer personalized communications based on age, gender or life-stage. Clearly, our clients are beginning to find employee personalization a decision-making factor. Brokers should prepare to help them understand what else might be influenced by their employee's specific demographics.
Obviously, producers should start with the basics and consider overall trends in employee behavior as their “first things first” step in defining client strategies. But, learning how to apply more demographic specific trends may be a new opportunity for differentiation.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
