Amidst continued economic volatility, financial stress has surged to unprecedented levels. According to BrightPlan's 2023 Wellness Barometer Survey, a staggering 92% of employees are stressed about their finances. High inflation, the rising cost of goods, and market volatility have created a constant state of uncertainty, intensifying employees' financial anxiety and pressure. In this challenging landscape, organizations face a crucial mandate: providing support for their employees' wellbeing while simultaneously navigating the need to tighten budgets and do more with less. This dual imperative requires a deep understanding of employee needs and the ability to deliver the right support where it is needed most.
As employers recognize the importance of targeted and focused benefits, they increasingly rely on benefits brokers and solution providers to help navigate the complex landscape. These partners play a central role in enabling employers to better understand benefits needs, curating the right mix and driving engagement and utilization among employees. They also help play a key role in ensuring that employees receive the targeted assistance they need to weather this economic storm.
Identifying employee pain points
BrightPlan's 2023 Wellness Barometer Survey found that the top innovative benefits employees want are flexible time off, financial wellness programs, and fertility assistance. Employees are also not satisfied with their current benefits offerings, particularly when it comes to the financial benefits available to them. In fact, 74% of employees are not happy with their company's financial benefits and 1 in 4 don't even know if their employer offers financial benefits beyond retirement matching and stock options. Yet, 94% of leaders say their company offers employees the financial guidance, support, and tools they need to achieve their life goals (compared to only 48% of employees). The discrepancy between employee and leader realities highlights the significance of benefits advisors and solution providers in bridging this gap. They are well poised to help assess their clients' employee benefits needs and guide them to select the right options for their company. Through actively listening to employee needs, spearheading employee pulse surveys, analyzing data from digital solutions, and benchmarking against similar companies in the industry, they can enable HR and benefits leaders to determine whether their current benefits offering addresses employee needs, where the gaps may lie, and how to best drive benefits engagement and utilization.
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Data-driven decision making
Brokers and solution provider partners have access to a wealth of data and insights that can inform benefits selection and design. Brokers play a critical role in benchmarking against industry trends and evaluating engagement and utilization of company-provided benefits, whereas digital solution partners are instrumental in analyzing aggregate and anonymized data about employees' financial situation and needs. By accessing benefits enrollment and utilization data and analyzing employee behaviors and needs by demographic and location, employers can build a thoughtful and empathetic benefits strategy and better meet evolving employee needs in real time.
Armed with information about their workforce's student loan burden, emergency savings rates, and retirement readiness, for example, companies can make strategic decisions about where to allocate their budgets, focusing investments on benefits that yield the highest value. Additionally, by comparing themselves against industry peers, businesses can gain a competitive edge and ensure that their benefits offerings remain attractive and in line with current market trends.
Cracking the code on benefits utilization
Selecting the right benefits is only half the battle; driving utilization and engagement is equally crucial. Collaboration between benefits brokers, solution providers, and organizations becomes essential to bridge this utilization gap and unleash the full value of a company's benefits investment. Here are some ways partners can help drive benefits engagement and utilization.
Provide targeted solutions Once organizations align their benefits investments with the specific needs of employees, particularly in critical areas such as emergency savings funds, debt management services, home ownership assistance, access to financial advisors, and personal or home loans, employees are more likely to utilize these benefits. By offering solutions that directly address employee pain points and cater to their individual circumstances, organizations can enhance benefits utilization.
Offer a financial wellness program Comprehensive financial wellness programs can help drive benefits utilization and engagement by educating employees on the value of company-provided benefits. A holistic financial wellness program provides education tailored to the company's benefits program, digital tools to help employees track and manage their finances, as well as access to financial planners trained in the company's benefits package. By distilling complex financial, tax, and insurance considerations into easily understandable formats and providing employees with personalized guidance to help them make informed decisions about retirement, health care plans and more, these programs can increase understanding, adoption and utilization of company-provided benefits.
Develop an ongoing engagement strategy To ensure the successful roll-out and implementation of company-offered benefits, brokers and solution providers need to collaborate with organizations to develop an ongoing strategy for communication and engagement. These strategic partners can support employees in selecting the right benefits for themselves and their families and help them understand the impact of rising inflation and current market conditions on their benefits decisions. Additionally, tailored communication plans that cater to different demographics and delivered through diverse channels, allow employees to stay informed and engaged with their benefits. For example, working closely with the company's employee resource groups (ERGs) allows partners to ensure the delivery of personalized and relevant messaging to different employee segments.
Measuring success and continuous improvement
An essential component of the partnership between organizations and brokers and solution providers is the ability to measure success and drive continuous improvement. By tracking key metrics, such as utilization rates, employee feedback, engagement levels, brokers and solution providers can help assess the impact of a company's benefits program. Further, looking at key business metrics, such as decreased turnover, time-to-hire, increased employee satisfaction and productivity can help determine whether they're getting the expected return on investment from their benefits offering. This data-driven evaluation enables employers to identify areas for improvement, refine their benefits offerings, and ensure continued alignment with employees' evolving needs.
Together, organizations and their benefits partners can create a comprehensive and impactful benefits strategy that meets the diverse needs of employees while maximizing the value of the company's available budget. By leveraging partners and utilizing data-driven insights, organizations can effectively bridge the benefits utilization gap, deliver greater value to their workforce and improve employee satisfaction and productivity—all while optimizing their available budget and fostering a healthy, more engaged workforce.
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