The time may come when brokers look back at this difficult time as a pivotal point in their businesses. (Photo illustration by Chris Nicholls)

Navigating the coronavirus epidemic has presented unprecedented challenges for benefits professionals. And although brokers across the nation are eager to return to a sense of normalcy, they agree that they will never again do business exactly as they did before.

"I think this will change business forever," says Ben Conner, CEO of Conner Insurance, a third-generation agency located in Indianapolis. "I think many employers were afraid of the concept of a remote workforce, and this pandemic allowed—or forced—every business to give it a try to experience the successes and challenges of what this looks like.

Related: How brokers are making the best of their new work environment

"Our organization has found great efficiencies with the adjustments we have had to make, and we are thinking ahead about how we can implement those discoveries on a consistent basis in the future."

In recent months, brokers have had to make significant operational changes with little advance warning. However, the transition was fairly smooth for Tanya Boyd & Associates in Sunnyvale, Texas, where the eight employees of the benefits-design firm already had a rotating work-from-home system in place.

"Half of us were used to working remotely two days a week and going to the office three days," says Tanya Boyd. "Before we were told to shelter in place, I gave my employees the option to go in or stay and work from home. They all chose home, of course. Our clients did not know anything had changed. We did not miss a beat, but our focus quickly became COVID-19 and helping clients understand how to handle the new crisis."

The 15 employees of The Benefits Group in South Township, Pennsylvania, have also been able to make the transition as seamless as possible for clients while working from home.

"We have been huddling face to face via Zoom meetings each morning," CEO Jim Blachek says. "I feel we have been able to maintain normalcy for our clients and team. Currently, it hasn't had much negative drag on revenues, and we have been able to continue to work on new opportunities for growth."

Internal realities

Brokers have had to balance the safety and productivity of their employees with the fast-changing needs of their clients, all while looking for opportunities to grow their business when possible. One basic hurdle for many is simply integrating work life with family life. "The biggest challenge is working at home when the rest of your family is now home, too," says Ken Stevenson, vice president of employee benefits for the Earl Bacon Agency in Tallahassee, Florida. "And since school is being done from home, parents are managing schoolwork along with our work, all with no opportunity for escape, because everyone is required to stay at home."

He works proactively to help the 42 staff members manage their stress. "We have been having weekly Zoom meetings just for morale," Stevenson says. "Very little business is discussed. I want to make sure everyone gets a chance to see each other, talk, vent, laugh and escape for a bit. In addition, I call everyone on Friday just to see how they are doing."

The employees at Your Benefits Partner in Glen Allen, Virginia, had also already been accustomed to working remotely. "Our staff had been working from home one or two days a week before the outbreak, so there was little disruption with this requirement," managing partner Debbie Stocks says. "A couple of years ago, I initiated systems in my business to allow employees to telecommute, such as a secure file share, CRM software with online access, online quoting software tools, a secure email server, and a secure online enrollment portal for our employer groups. I'm thankful we had these in place when the stay-at-home order went into effect."

The challenge for many brokers is not that employees slack off while working from home, but that they may feel pressure to over-perform. Scott Wham, director of compliance and innovation for Kistler Tiffany Benefits (a OneDigital company) located in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, makes sure employees don't feel they have to be glued to their chairs all day.

"It's been astounding how well our employees have handled the transition to working remotely," he says. "We're all dealing with the stresses of our new normal. Working remotely can increase the stress, as there is often a feeling of always 'being on,' which can lead to burnout. As such, we are being as flexible as possible to enable our employees to take steps away from the computer when they need it to focus on their own health or the health and well-being of their families and friends."

External adjustments

Brokers are trying to make procedures as normal as possible during a time that is anything but normal, which Boyd says can be difficult.

"It's heartbreaking to watch our economy crash and see clients having to lay off employees who are like family," she says. "It is not OK. But due to the uncertainty and sensitivity of the matter, we all just put a smile on and try to act normal in a strange, messed-up time."

To help cope with the new reality, Blachek relies on procedures he put in place before the pandemic. "The service side of things had been managed remotely, so I don't think clients are feeling much, if any, change," he says. "I had been performing most meetings for the last eight months via Zoom, so the total transition to it hasn't really caused me many issues. I have had to train my team and staff on it, though. We haven't had much disruption to client size or benefit offerings at this point."

The same is true at Conner Insurance. "We have been on the video-conferencing platform for several months now, so we have just dialed up the usage to cover for meetings that we typically would have had in person," Conner says. "We have been working with clients across the country for the last several months, so that has allowed us to get familiar with doing business in this fashion."

In addition to technological adjustments, many brokers also find themselves redefining their job descriptions. "Our roles now include a lot of consulting and HR support," Boyd says. "We have adapted to what they need from us right now. We want them to know they can come to us, and we will provide the guidance and support with empathy and compassion. If clients must lay employees off, we guide them through how that works, what the carriers are doing and how to stay compliant. And because we work with individuals as well, we can help them transition from group to individual coverage. We want to do what we can to help people maintain some type of health coverage."

"At the end of the day, we are consultants," Wham says. "We have never viewed our relationship with our clients as merely transactional. We strive to be true business partners and hope that we are one of the first calls our clients make whenever they are faced with a business challenge. I think the pandemic has provided a resounding affirmation that our clients view us as an essential business partner.

"It's been weeks since I have had a conversation about a specific line of coverage, absent its relationship to COVID-19," Wham adds. "We're answering questions about loan programs, paid leave, unemployment benefits, CDC and OSHA worksite guidelines, as well as a variety of employment law matters that really have little to do with placing benefits. Our only objective is helping our clients stay afloat any way we can. I think this experience thus far has strengthened our bond with our clients, and I'm sure many in the industry feel the same way."

Brave new world

Even as brokers adjust to this new reality, many are also looking ahead to how their business will operate in the post-pandemic world. Several anticipate making significant changes.

Increased telecommuting. "My intent had always been to look at increasing our footprint via remote offices and employees," Blachek says. "This sped up that process and confirmed that it was possible and that I would be able to manage a workforce remotely. We had been contemplating a build-out of unused space in our office, and I think we will seriously look at just adding remote employees to eliminate those additional fixed costs."

Strategic collaboration. "I think that our team sees the value of being together, that the idea of working from home may not be 'rainbows and sunshine' all the time and there is power in being able to get together in person to strategize and problem-solve," Conner says. "We have been in constant communication with our workforce and just completed a survey with our team.

"One of the things that stood out to me in the last survey was the overwhelming feedback that our team is looking forward to getting back into the office to see each other, solve problems together and enjoy the office environment with co-workers who have become friends," he adds. "We have worked very hard on creating a culture of family and excellence, and it is validating to see that we truly have."

Greater efficiency. "I currently have an office space that I've been leasing for the past 13 years, which expires July 31," Stocks says. "I had already decided to move into a smaller space, having sold my P&C agency five years ago, and was trying to decide if I wanted to lease another space or move into more of a shared space. Since we've proven that we can work efficiently and effectively from home on a regular basis, I likely will move into a shared space."

Contingency planning. "If a benefits consultancy didn't have a disruption plan before the pandemic, they certainly do now," Wham says. "This will benefit them greatly should they encounter a similar type of disruption at any point, and potentially help them anticipate all the different species of disruptions they could encounter in the future."

A silver lining?

As disruptive as the pandemic has been, many brokers believe the hard lessons learned now may be beneficial in the future.

"It is hard to talk about the positive side to all of this when there are so many Americans hurting, but I believe that we all need to look to the positive side so that we can have hope that we will rise up from this stronger and better," Conner says. "There is an old quote that comes to mind that says, 'A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.'

"I believe the 'squall' we are experiencing right now will ultimately make us better. We will come out of this sharper, more resilient and ready to forge ahead with a new perspective and new skills. I know that our organization and our team have improved greatly while we have been working remotely, and it seems we have positioned ourselves for our next growth phase."

Change undoubtedly will be part of this future. "This has been a good reminder that change is inevitable," Stocks says. "Planning for the future can mitigate some of the shock of change and help us to be more prepared. At the end of the day, my staff and I are healthy and working, which gives us reason to be thankful."

The time may come when brokers look back at this difficult time as a pivotal point in their businesses.

"I think this is proving to be our industry's finest hour," Wham says. "We, as an industry, have elevated our game to adapt and offer the information and guidance our clients urgently need and are having difficulty receiving from other outlets. Everyone who works as a benefits consultant should feel very proud of the value we're delivering."