The Great Resignation has brought many employers back to the drawing board for ways to attract and retain talent. According to the latest statistics, nearly 40-50% of employees are currently seeking, or applying for, a new job.
Beyond a salary increase, remote work, or other perks, developing a robust benefits plan can provide valuable attributes that bring great employees in the door – and keep them satisfied. But wait – we already spend SO MUCH on our benefits – there’s no way we can offer more:
Benefits are a huge expense for employers. In fact, it’s typically the #2 or #3 highest cost overall. But what if we told you there’s a tool that can help illustrate how your plan is performing among your competition, demonstrate where you could offer new benefits, PLUS show how you can laser in on high-spend areas to re-design your plan and save costs overall?
That’s where benchmarking comes in.
Benchmarking pulls specific information from your benefits plan, such as:
…and compares them to similar industries or markets where your employees are located.
In essence, benchmarking helps you make better decisions on your benefits spend. It opens the door to understanding how your plan is performing compared to other similar businesses, where there may be shortfalls, and where it’s performing well. This data can provide insights into adjusting your benefits and their overall cost structure.
Plus, it can bring more recognition to your brand in your marketing efforts by communicating the high-performing perks within your plan.
Benefits are quickly becoming a Top 3 priority for employees when seeking a new career.
Since the pandemic, employees have re-visited their benefits to find ways to help cover costs related to COVID or other major illness. Voluntary benefits usage has increased 40% from 2021-2022, particularly critical illness and accident insurance.
Depending on age and stage of life, employees have different benefit concerns, too. Benchmarking age demographics could show where your plan may warrant an offering you haven’t previously thought of. Today, employees are more willing to shop for and buy ancillary (i.e. non-medical) benefits packages made available to them, such as retirement plans, tuition assistance, or student loan assistance.
With benchmarking, you have a tool that can show prospective employees value and consideration for their individual needs. It can go a LONG way in making your business the right choice.
Let’s give a recent case study:
We recently provided a client with a report where we benchmarked their employee benefits plans against other firms in their industry, both locally and nationally.
Compared to others in the pool of data:
As we reviewed our client’s benefits data, we were able to provide valuable insight in to how their competitors structured their benefits plan from a plan deductible basis, and more importantly, an employee contribution basis. We were able to show our client how the “median” group structured their contribution strategy compared to the top 75% of employers. This was a key insight, as they discovered that their contribution strategy wasn’t in line with the top 75%, but with the bottom 25%.
We also provided key insights with respect to PTO benefits and ancillary lines of coverage prevalent in their industry. It helped them strategize on making their benefits plans more competitive while helping attract and retain key talent.
How would you approach your employee benefits plan if you knew what your industry peers were doing with respect to their benefits? Would this help you design a more robust benefits plan that worked better for your firm and your staff? If so, our team of benefit advisors would love to talk to you about how we can help you become the employer of choice in your area.
Email us, and a benefits specialist will contact you.