February 2024
Leveraging governance and labour shortages issues into opportunities in benefits administration
For job seekers, group benefits are the second most important factor after salary. With the growing labour shortage, it is more important than ever to offer a group benefit plan that fosters talent retention and performance, while improving the employee experience.
In this context, there are various ways to promote a plan among groups of employees and HR departments. But how can we ensure that group benefit plans are adequately managed and administered, promoted and understood by all employees?
Equipping your organization with the right tools and systems can help foster employee autonomy and grant them unrestricted access to information. Simple, intuitive and user-friendly tools can enhance the employee experience.
| Making informed choices to improve the employee experience | ||
| Using in-house systems has certain advantages for very large organizations. On the other hand, when a company needs to invest substantial sums to ensure the sustainability of these systems, it becomes crucial to seek guidance in selecting and implementing a system better suited to its needs. A good system can quickly improve employee autonomy by providing them with user-friendly and round-the-clock access to information. |
Good tools also free up time for HR departments so they can focus on value-added tasks rather than transactional ones. This reduces the risk of errors associated with manual processes, such as premiums overpaid to insurance companies or employees not covered on time and having to provide proof of good health.
| Increasing efficiency with a process audit | ||
| For a company with many divisions, bringing in external specialists to assess its processes can be beneficial. They can make recommendations for simplifying and optimizing existing processes, while clarifying the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder by using flow diagrams; this can greatly improve efficiency. |
||
| In addition, some non-value-added tasks can be outsourced to a third party, thus standardizing processing between divisions, freeing up internal resources and reducing the risks associated with employee turnover and errors due to inadequate documentation or training. |
| Assessing needs to reduce administration costs | ||
| There are many ways to save on the administration of a group benefits plan. An organization whose administrative services costs are no longer sustainable can, for example, request a brief assessment of its needs to identify elements that were complicating the administration of their plan. Streamlining some of the plan’s parameters can result in substantial savings for the organization. |
Choosing smarter solutions can maximize the full potential of existing tools to better fit your needs, all without significant new investments to optimize in-house tools or those offered by the insurance company.
There are solutions adapted to each organization’s specific needs based on existing plan features, interactions required between the various providers, and administrative practices specific to each organization.
To learn more about process auditing and optimization, contact your group benefits expert or email us.