Powerful sales tool: Helping employers conduct an employee benefits survey

“With tight labor markets, business leaders are beginning to recognize retraining existing talent for new roles as more effective than competing for scarce talent,” the authors write. “While reskilling for future skills requires long-term planning, the cost of disruptive layoffs and hiring can be more expensive than providing continuous training for employees.”

With this new demand for reskilling, organizations are placing a higher priority on L&D: 35 percent of surveyed organizations enjoyed increased budgets in the last year, and only 13 percent saw their budget decline. However, 51 percent of L&D budgets remained the same, “which is worrying, given the reskilling task ahead.”

Surveys can be a powerful tool. Have you noticed how legitimate surveys are not prohibited by Do Not Call (DNC) regulations/? There can be several reasons the legislation was written this way, but I would like to believe it is because surveys can provide a valuable service, letting people’s voices and opinions be heard. Surveying employees within a firm can also be a valuable sales tool.

When the employer conducts the survey and gathers the results internally, alarm bells can go off in employee’s minds. Is this truly confidential? Will the firm know what I said? This is a good reason for the survey to be done by a third party. Hopefully a benefits provider fits that description, although some might call them an “interested party.”

Let us look at two instances where you might be involved in designing and conducting a survey. In the first situation, the firm is already your client. In the second example, the firm is a competitor’s client and you are seeking to get your foot in the door from a competitive standpoint.

The survey can accomplish several purposes:

1. Are clients aware of the benefits on offer? A good benefits program is both a recruiting and a retention tool. Benefits cost the employer money. If you, the employer are paying to provide a benefit few people use, it doesn’t sound like money well spent. Outcome:  You learn which benefits are not getting the visibility they need.
2. Are there educational resources available explaining how benefits work? The lack of awareness is not always the employee’s fault. Someone might cover benefits during the new employee orientation program, but plenty of other information is being covered too. Employees might want to “go back” to learning about benefits after they have mastered the more immediate aspects of their new job. Outcome: You will learn if employees are aware of the educational tools on offer. Are they getting enough visibility?
3. Which benefits are most popular, having highest employee awareness? The most popular are not always the most expensive benefits to provide. If you are in the retail clothing business and your employees get 75% off last year’s stock at the annual inventory reduction sale for employees only, you have a good recruiting tool. Outcome:  If you consider benefits as a “non-cash gift” to reward employees, you know which make the most impact and which ones are overlooked.  
4. How is the response time when they have questions? The “world” is moving to interacting with customers through online messaging, chat features and FAQ sections on the website. There are times when you need to speak with a live person who understands your concern. If you have tried calling an airline customer service number and been on hold for a long time, you know how frustrating this can be. Outcome:  You know people will not use a service if accessing it is a time-consuming, unpleasant experience. What are your provider’s helplines like?
5. Can they get 1:1 personalized advice if desired? There is a big difference between learning how the Vision benefit works and preparing for your own retirement. Financial wellness often involves more than one conversation. Can your employees be connected to an advisor or agent who can offer ongoing practical advice? There may be a cost involved. Outcome:  You learn if people can get their own situation addressed. You also learn if the employee base might provide a prospect stream to the retail side of your financial service’s firm’s business.
6. Can they access benefits information on their own terms? Years ago, people read booklets of picked up the phone. The latter was done during business hours. Today, people want to access benefits information via their phone. Perhaps they want to do it at midnight. You have seen the State Farm ads about the late night caller to their customer service desk. Outcome:  You learn if employees are satisfied with their options on how to get information.
7. What is their satisfaction level with the benefits they have utilized? You offer many benefits. They might involve different providers or subcontractors. Have employees had good experiences with one, but not another? Outcome:  Employee satisfaction with the benefits program on offer is not meant to be reduced down to a single score. There can be high and low points. You want to know them all.
8. What new benefits is the firm considering? Where is there demand? This might sound like an expensive question to ask. You might be considering something, yet learn the cost is prohibitive. There are good reasons for asking. Outcome:  You learn if there is interest or demand. There might be a vocal minority interested in a certain new benefit. It might not have widespread interest. You might still decide to provide it, but include cost sharing.
9. Would people be willing to pay part of the cost for a really great benefit? Approach the previous question from a different direction. The earlier question says: “We are thinking of adding this benefit…” This question asks “What benefits have you heard about elsewhere…”  Outcome:  It’s a good way to learn what the competition is offering. Because many people want as much as possible for dree, you are learning if people consider a benefit valuable enough to consider sharing the cost. The amount of the split is not part of the question.

Related: The #1 benefit that could entice employees to leave: What employers can do about it

By suggesting an employee survey and running it yourself, you can learn about the state of your current relationship or get your foot in the door for a new relationship.

Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book, “Captivating the Wealthy Investor” is available on Amazon.