The Issue
One of our groups, a marketing firm with 74 employees, came to us recently looking for ways to build a more robust benefit portfolio with minimal impact on their employee benefit budget. They were exploring ways to reduce employee turnover and compete more aggressively against larger companies for new talent.
Our Solution
Since their benefit package certainly was competitive for groups of their own size and because they didn’t want their benefit costs to increase, our strategy team decided to focus on the implementation of a voluntary benefits package. Voluntary benefits usually have little to no cost to the employer, but provide a way for employees to purchase needed coverage at group rates. We analyzed the company’s core benefit programs to find any gaps in coverage and put out an employee survey to ascertain their needs. After sorting through the data, we developed a package of voluntary benefits that included a critical illness plan, life insurance, disability insurance, a hospital indemnity plan and vision insurance and offered the benefits at the company’s next open enrollment.
The Result
In the months since the voluntary program became effective, the employer has reported very positive personnel feedback and a lower employee turnover rate. Three of their new hires have indicated the strength of the employee benefit package as a major factor in their decision to accept the employment offer from the company.
Voluntary benefits can offer significant advantages to both the employer and the employee, filling gaps in coverage and enhancing the employee benefit package.