In today’s talent market, organizations face an uphill battle with attracting the right candidate and retaining their workforce. According to the Society for Human Resources, 83% of HR professionals say sourcing quality candidates is more challenging than ever. Additionally, employee expectations around company culture and benefits continue to evolve – with more candidates deciding where to work based on these factors.
To tackle this challenge, a collaborative approach between benefits advisors, HR leaders, and the C-Suite is critical to developing strategies supporting workforce and business priorities. This collaboration is essential to creating a benefits strategy that not only meets the workforce's needs but also accelerates the organization’s broader sustainability goals.
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The shifting role of benefits advisors
Benefits are no longer the sole domain of HR departments. Instead, they have become a crucial strategic lever as forward-thinking C-suite leaders emphasize how benefits can impact employee wellbeing, productivity and organizational culture. In this new paradigm, the role of the benefits advisor (or consultant) has also broadened from focusing on the design and efficiency of benefit plans to a holistic emphasis on how benefit strategies align with business objectives.
Recent surveys of C-Suite leaders (e.g., CEO, CFO, COO, CHRO) reveal strong alignment across key priority areas while shedding light on some important differences. C-Suite leaders largely agree on the importance of driving growth, increasing operational efficiencies, adopting transformational technologies, and reducing costs. However, CFOs are more likely to place a higher emphasis on cost containment than CHROs, who emphasize talent strategy and improving employee engagement and satisfaction. This reality presents a unique challenge for the benefits advisor to understand each C-Suite leader's motivations and develop benefit strategies that align. Here are specific examples of how benefit advisors are forging effective relationships with the C-Suite:
- In the fiercely competitive job market, advisors work alongside customers to introduce high-value benefits such as fertility and family forming benefits, caregiver support initiatives, and other innovative offerings. Companies that offer benefits addressing personal milestones and challenges are often seen as more employee-centric, increasing their attractiveness to potential hires.
- Furthermore, as health care costs continue to rise, benefits advisors are collaborating with key stakeholders to implement value-based benefit design strategies. These approaches concentrate on efficient care for high-cost clinical conditions like cancer, behavioral health, and diabetes. By adopting a proactive approach, companies can impact their employees' bottom line and wellbeing, a win-win scenario.
Working together effectively
A benefits advisor must first understand their customer’s unique business priorities and the overarching corporate strategy.
For example, many organizations have refreshed their environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks to incorporate employee health impacts and outcomes. Given this reality, benefits advisors play an important role in helping leaders develop strategies that move the needle on tangible ESG metrics like employee engagement in wellbeing programs, preventive screening compliance rates, and tracking workplace injuries and accidents.
To build trust and credibility, benefits advisors must also understand the motivations and priorities of different C-Suite members, from Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) who focus on cost-efficiency to Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) who prioritize employee satisfaction and retention. By recognizing these different perspectives, advisors can tailor strategies to propose sustainable solutions addressing each leader's unique concerns.
Capturing success
C-Suite leaders rely on accurate and actionable data to make the best decisions. Therefore, a key part of a benefits advisor’s role is ensuring that our recommendations are fact-based and measurable. Benefits advisors must track and report on their customers’ benefits program success to demonstrate effectiveness – compared to strategic targets and relevant benchmarks.
When capturing benefits program performance for a C-Suite audience, benefit advisors should leverage a comprehensive set of key performance indicators (KPIs) focused on financial, utilization, health outcomes, talent acquisition and retention, employee engagement, safety and productivity metrics. By providing clear, data-driven insights, benefits advisors can demonstrate how their recommendations contribute to the organization's overall success and bolster their engagement with the C-Suite.
Strategic collaboration between benefits advisors and the C-Suite is crucial for fostering a resilient, productive and engaged workforce. By prioritizing employee well-being and maintaining strong, transparent relationships, benefits advisors can help businesses achieve long-term success. With clear goals and a focus on measurable outcomes, these engagements enable organizations to navigate the complexities of the modern workforce, creating an environment where both the company and its employees can thrive.
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