With industry disruptions and the tidal wave of new HR technologies transforming the benefits landscape, brokers are increasingly challenged to respond to their customers’ ever-changing priorities and needs. Although the importance of benefits remains the same, employers’ top benefits objectives have shifted significantly.  Retaining top talent is now the number one benefit objective, coupled with increasing employee loyalty and engagement (MetLife 15^th Annual Employee Benefits Trend Study, 2017).  Instead of focusing exclusively on cutting benefit costs, employer focus is now on benefit customization designed to drive the retention of employees (MetLife 2017). Agile brokers who are able to craft employer benefit solutions designed to retain and engage employees gain a competitive advantage. A revolutionary “plug and play” benefits platform provides brokers with an advantage that addresses employers’ retention challenges by delivering a customized benefits solution.

Just what is a “plug and play” benefits platform?  A “plug and play” platform provides a centralized hub to better connect and communicate benefits to your client’s employees, thereby significantly increasing benefit exposure and value.  To be effective in the industry today, brokers must provide clients with their benefits platform through mobile technology.  This approach differs significantly from traditional benefit administration.

Implementing a “plug and play” mobile benefits platform  

Traditionally, many employers struggle with connecting and engaging employees with their benefit package.  A plug and play benefits platform offers an alternative approach that better connects employees with their benefits by providing a mobile benefits hub.  This benefit administration approach can integrate all existing HR software, solutions, benefits, products, and services, into a single platform.  

Employers often look to brokers to be their benefit managers and are increasingly relying on brokers to help employees understand the value of their benefits.  In fact, according to a 2014 Broker Services Survey “95 percent of employers expect brokers to offer employee communication to help employees make benefit decisions and understand the benefits provided, yet 40 percent of employers are unsatisfied with their broker in meeting this expectation.”   By providing a mobile “plug and play” benefits platform, you can meet this expectation without losing valuable selling time.  Furthermore, a plug and play benefits platform enables you to consistently deliver the best and most innovative benefits, products and services in an integrated manner.  If a new HR solution becomes available that better suits your client’s human capital needs, you can simply plug that benefit into the mobile hub that you have delivered to them, with no disruption to the benefits platform.  This approach enables you to provide consistent, reliable support while offering an innovative and customized benefits platform that far exceeds your client’s expectations.

A mobile “plug and play” benefits platform better connects benefits to employees, helping your clients retain their top talent.  With retention being the number one benefits objective amongst HR professionals, providing an innovative benefit administration approach helps you stand out from your competition.  Additionally, with the increasing emphasis on mobile technology, an agile and customized benefits platform is needed to meet the needs of a workforce that employs five generations working side by side, and to balance the needs of on-site employees with remote telecommuters.  A mobile “plug and play” benefits platform offers brokers the competitive advantage needed to ensure success in this ever-changing climate.