At the beginning of October, I attended the HR Technology Conference & Expo and walked away with some interesting insights into how benefits brokers are embracing technology. Thousands of HR leaders, vendors, analysts and consultants attend the annual event to learn more about the latest ways to leverage new technologies to drive HR strategies and achieve organizational success. While it was only my second year attending, I noticed the broker community had a very large presence this year. 

Not only did I run into brokers at every session I attended, but some even had booths in the exposition hall. One of the more interesting conversations I had was with a large brokerage firm that had just formed a technology ecosystem to create a fully integrated quote-to-enroll-to-payroll/HRIS process. The solution will streamline the quoting process, making it more efficient for clients to get employees to electronically enroll in benefits, thereby eliminating manual efforts of both the client and the account management team.  

That benefits data will integrate with a variety of payroll/HRIS systems, closing the loop on data flow, while layering in HR consulting and a centralized service model.  In a time where commissions from carriers for small group plans are declining and competition is coming from all sides, this firm may have found a model that achieves operational efficiency while simultaneously delivering an improved client experience.