The human resources profession is a constantly changing cycle of balancing the needs of the organization with those of the largest asset: the employees.  While it's understood that company culture, performance reviews, recruiting top talent, competitive compensation and so many other things are priorities for human resources departments, creating a long-term health care strategy should be at the very top of the list.  With health insurance costs typically being an organization's second or third largest expense, there's no reason that companies should expect an increase in their health insurance spend year after year without asking why and digging deeper.

Traditionally the human resources department has been considered a cost center.  HR professionals are the superheroes and backbone of every organization, yet they don't always have a seat at the executive table — or any table as a matter of fact.  The question is: Why not?  After all, they are the ones who are putting out fires left and right, resolving employee complaints, handling conflict, answering questions about the company's benefits program, and the list goes on and on.  The skills and expertise of human resources professionals are vast and this role not for the faint of heart.  They're on the front line of the battlefield every day.

With all of the skills and expertise that human resources professionals possess, one area that continues to be a difficult pill to swallow is whether or not the benefits advisor or broker they are working with is the right fit.  As a human resources professional with over 25 years of experience myself, I always relied on my broker to present the "best of the best" insurance renewals every year; I never questioned whether they had my company's best interests in mind. I was just afraid to challenge the status quo.  After all, they are the experts and know best, right? But do they?