Why combining core and voluntary benefits is a differentiator

In this article, I lay out step-by-step how benefits brokers can get creative to design and implement the perfect benefits concoction.

In the war for talent, companies need every possible edge to attract sought-after job candidates and retain skilled employees. But, not every business is positioned to offer salary increases or four-day workweeks to compete. The good news is they don’t have to. In fact, many employees value certain benefits — like mandatory PTO or mental health care coverage — even more than additional money or Fridays off.

That doesn’t mean employers and their benefits advisors should just adopt whatever new perks are trending. And, it certainly isn’t an argument for dropping or reducing core employee benefits. No, getting the Goldilocks mix of benefits just right can be tricky, and some very promising benefits end up being chronically underused.

Benefits left on the shelf can be a symptom of employees having a lack of sufficient time or access. However, I find that the underuse of voluntary benefits can often be attributed to a lack of strategic alignment: When benefits packages are carefully chosen to support company objectives, propping up the mechanisms for employees to make use of them comes naturally.

Companies that get it right realize the full potential of benefits as a competitive differentiator to bring in top talent and keep their best people. In today’s world, that usually looks like offering a “cocktail” of core and voluntary benefits. Determining the right ingredients only requires a little creativity.

In this article, I lay out step-by-step how benefits brokers can get creative to design and implement the perfect benefits concoction.

Find out what current employees want

Don’t guess. Don’t only ask for opinions from leadership. Don’t only ask employees one time, in one way. Do make a real effort to uncover what employees desire most. Also, try to define whether or how well the desired benefits support company goals — whether core or voluntary benefits.

I recommend choosing multiple methods to poll employees, such as:

Ensuring employees have multiple opportunities to voice their wants and needs gives business leaders a more accurate picture of what people might truly value.

Pro tip: make sure to consider preferences for both medical and voluntary benefits.

Get the budget together

Compare the current spend on benefits against employee usage. Over one-third of workers (35%) already don’t understand the benefits they selected during enrollment. Perhaps there’s room to cut existing options to create more budget for new, more valuable offerings that employees actually understand.

Most companies spend a little less than half as much per hour on benefits as they do on salaries. How can you squeeze the most juice out of your budget without overspending?

Pro tip: Not all high-value benefits have to be costly (think casual dress codes or pet-friendly office policies and be sure to revisit the design of your core benefits).

Work with providers to customize the offerings

Just as almost every company has implemented changes to their business models over the last few years, employers have also moved away from offering only the traditional, narrowly focused, and medical-centric employee benefits model. Benefits providers must be on the same page — able to deliver both core and voluntary benefits — and partners must be able to seamlessly integrate as much of it as possible. If solutions from potential vendors or providers feel rigid, be willing to look elsewhere. Pro tip: Employees now expect benefits to feel personalized. Flexible benefits plans offer a simple way for employees to choose only what they want.

Build the plan

This is where business leaders outline everything that will be made available to employees. Any benefits plan should include an overview of:

Pro tip: Be sure to include an analysis of the research (internal and external) that supported the decisions that went into creating the plan.

Make resources varied and accessible

Employee-enablement resources need to be easy to use and easy to understand or they won’t be used and will waste money. Create a central hub, portal, or drive for all available resources for core and voluntary benefits. Ensure it’s easy to find, that it isn’t buried under obscure website folders or in spaces employees never visit (such as that one corner of the intranet that houses all of the other employee resources that never get used).

Pro tip: Keep things brief. It shouldn’t require a 10-page PDF or exhausting Word doc to explain to employees what benefits they have access to and how to access them.

Communicate with current employees year-round

Benefits communication is not a seasonal activity. Make sure benefits communication plans have touchpoints year-round. Be sure communications remind employees of the core and voluntary benefits available to them, ask for feedback, prompt action to enroll, and answer questions.

When benefits are a tool supporting your client’s business strategy, you need employees to be acutely familiar with their options and how to make use of them — otherwise, what’s the point?

Pro tip: Don’t assume employees know what benefits their peers are enjoying; encourage conversation. Social stigma might prevent some people from talking about how they’ve used a mental health resource or free meal perk. It might prevent someone from understanding the best use of their in-network medical benefits. By normalizing a conversation about benefits use among teams, employees will feel more comfortable taking advantage.

Educate recruiters

Don’t forget to keep recruiters in the loop. Recruiters are a great asset to present multifaceted benefits packages as a competitive differentiator to fresh talent. They need to know exactly what is offered so they can promote that information in job descriptions or when talking to potential candidates.

Pro tip: Recruiters like to talk. Invite them to a meeting to go over the various features of the new benefits plan, explain the strategy in detail, and give them the opportunity to ask questions.

Identify a monitoring system

Tracking and managing benefits and related expenses are critical to measuring value. Choose a benefits administration system that can help you easily monitor progress against KPIs like:

With a new benefits plan underway, your main concern should be to identify what aspects of the plan are working and which areas need more work to drive success.

Pro tip: Decide on a consistent cadence to evaluate overall progress and check-points for when to make decisions that could impact the overall plan (such as contract renewal dates).

Modernize benefits models

Finding the perfect blend of core and voluntary benefits to support your clients’ talent goals is a matter of getting creative to match employee needs with business strategy. All that’s left is to find the right partner to deliver a holistic experience — an experience that will combine core and voluntary benefits, flexible benefits options, administration, communication, technology, and services together. Investing in a modern, authentic benefits experience is investing in the ability to stand out from the competition.

Jasper Purvis is vice president of business development for Selerix, a provider of benefits administration solutions for employers and carriers. 

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