One area of competence that many employers, especially small and mid-size, are likely to need is expanded resources to support learning and development for employees. (Photo: Shutterstock)

As this column is being written, toward the end of March 2020, we are wrapping up what is probably our most chaotic month in terms of employment and employee benefits. Millions of people have hit the unemployment rolls in the past handful of weeks, social gatherings of all kinds have been disrupted and travel has been discouraged. At the same time, while some employers are chopping staff back, others are booming, hiring hundreds of thousands of people. Meanwhile, millions of people are learning to adapt to working from home, creating great disruption to their work/life balance.

Given all this chaos, what are the trends that might emerge in terms of new or reemphasized benefits? Let's think about it.

Marty Traynor is an Omaha-based consultant in the benefits field.

Related: 5 ways benefits consultants can become more valuable during trying times

One area of competence that many employers, especially small and mid-size, are likely to need is expanded resources to support learning and development for employees. Businesses need to train new associates and retrain experienced ones at a pace they've never experienced before. In addition, they often need to deliver this training to remote workers through technology.

Clearly, there is a big need for employers to find resources that can help them, and the communications resources offered by employee benefit brokers, enrollment organizations, and the systems-based resources available for benefits communication can be repurposed to help facilitate employee learning and development.

Balancing duties for work and families has never been as stressful as it is now for many; children being forced to adapt to at-home schooling at the same time their parents are forced to adapt to remote work. Employee benefits that provide tools to help employees manage their work-life balance—and their stress level—are essential. Many employers offer employee assistance programs, but they have never had the promotion and utilization they deserve. Like telehealth, their services can be delivered through phone calls or face-to-face technology.

In addition, benefits that help employees by providing online tools for meditation, yoga, and other relaxation techniques, are important in helping relieve anxiety.

Finally, financial wellness benefit programs are available, the best of them well-equipped to provide digital resources as well as personal counseling. Employers need to make sure these oft-underutilized tools are available and promoted to employees and their family members.

When employees work from home, this opens doors to potential computer security risks for their employers, as well as themselves. Employers need security for their own private networks and the systems they protect, but it's equally important that employees are not exposed to cyber risks. Benefit programs offering online security as well as identity theft are more important than ever.

Benefit portability and/or conversion processes need to be seamless, as millions of employees are without paychecks. Benefit advisors and their insurance carriers need to make sure employees have access to information and support for maintaining needed benefits. Many states are protecting coverage against lapse in the short term, but in the long term, making sure employees know their portability rights and have access to efficient processes will assure that needed insurance protection is not lost.

What about voluntary enrollment? As workers change jobs, or potentially change their eligibility status inside their employer, the voluntary enrollment process has to be efficient, prompt, easy and must include clear communications so employees and their families understand and can easily enroll in the benefits they need.

I've heard stories of many enrollments that are being delayed or postponed. This isn't really doing anyone a favor when today's uncertain world makes the need for benefits a clear reality to employees. Why delay their chance to buy benefits they need? The tools are available to promote, rather than delay, voluntary enrollment in these troubled times. The enrollment process itself must allow for better online communications. Call center availability to answer can keep a personal touch in the process without requiring in-person enrollment. Finally, there should be a more intensive focus on education through webinars and tools delivered through, or alongside, benefit administration systems.

Now's a great time for benefit brokers and advisers to help their employer clients. Training and development of workers in a time of change, providing tools to help employees balance their work and life responsibilities, giving employers and their employees access to better online security, benefit portability support, and voluntary enrollment processes are just a few of the opportunities to serve customers emerging as we begin to understand the changes taking place.

Read more: 

• 3 family-building benefits trends brokers should know about
• 3 ways to help employees get through the coronavirus pandemic
• The "new normal" in voluntary benefits