Let's start by looking at employee engagement today, according to a 2016 Gallup report:

• 33 percent of employees are engaged, love their job and feel fulfilled

• 51 percent of employees are neutral; they are “just there”

• 16 percent of employees are actively disengaged, miserable and toxic for the workplace

Obviously, employers want to help more of the neutral employees feel engaged. And benefits can play a big role in keeping employees happy, as evidenced by a Glassdoor survey:

• 48 percent of employees would change jobs for more benefits

• 60 percent of employees say their overall benefits package is a major factor in accepting or declining a new job offer

• 80 percent of employees would choose additional benefits over a pay raise

You should be sharing these insights. Helping your clients attract the best employees (and retain them) will add trust and loyalty to your client relationships.

In the next section, we'll take a look at strategies for presenting ancillary, but a good start is to suggest to your clients they undergo an employee survey. Share these statistics with your client, and then help them craft an employee survey to discover the demand for various benefits.

Make ancillary part of the big picture

We saw from the statistics above that brokers are encouraging employers to offer ancillary benefits, but the client often often doesn't listen. I feel part of the problem is in how ancillary is presented to clients and prospects.

While speaking with hundreds of brokers and employers, I've found brokers will often present medical (and maybe Rx) plan options first, making that the focus of the meeting. Once the medical plan(s) and contribution strategies for those plans are nailed down, the broker then opens a discussion on ancillary.

This approach often fails for a couple of reasons. First, the employer has just made their major medical decisions and settled on a budget and contribution strategy. Beginning the ancillary discussion at this point makes the employer revisit what they will spend on benefits; if the budget was tight on major medical, they'll likely decide to skip ancillary.

The other problem with this approach is that it can feel like an add-on, an upsell and/or something of less importance which is tacked on at the end of the meeting. A common scenario is medical is presented using an impressive presentation or technology tool, and then ancillary is discussed with spreadsheets, creating an obvious disconnect in the client's mind.

The solution to both of these issues is to present ancillary in conjunction with medical and Rx options. By integrating all coverage options into the discussion, the employer can see costs and employee impact on a bigger scale, and can make more informed decisions about the comprehensive benefits package they are offering.

Constructing a presentation this way can be accomplished in multiple ways, including modern technology tools which make it easy for employers to see impact and make decisions.

Clearly, ancillary coverages are an essential part of today's employee benefits package, and employees aren't shy about choosing companies which offer what they're looking for—even if it means switching jobs. How will you apply this knowledge to your next renewal meetings?