Employee Benefit Planning - Gordon R. Hart | Selectpath

Benefits.....Yah we got them.

Posted by Gordon R. Hart

Oct 12th, 2015

All too often we engage with a new client on their employee benefit plan strategy and upon some simple due diligence we find the existing plan operating in some level of obscurity. Obscurity in the sense that the plan members may not appreciate the investment being made by the plan sponsor organization. Obscurity in the sense that the plan members have little or no accountability to the performance of the plan. Obscurity in the sense that the plan members and plan sponsors do not accept their ongoing role to maintain a level of positive engagement.

Organizations should be using four simple levers in helping ensure accountability, appreciation and acceptance,

• Periodic on-site sessions with the plan providers and advisers – these face to face sessions should bring validation and impartiality, allowing plan members to raise questions and voice concerns independently or collectively
• Annual communiques/State of the Nation - sharing the annual performance of the plan, the cost drivers, areas for improvement and plan successes are key to keeping the dialogue between behaviour and costs that are crucial to sustainable plan management.
• Total compensation statements – integrating employee benefit investments with income is integral to the employee understanding an organizations holistic approach
• Benefit plan surveys – using an anonymous feedback mechanism to gauge the current sentiment and set some priorities for continued education and planning is important to keeping plan members engaged

While each organization requires a tailored engagement strategy, we find that these four tools will help engage the plan members and help validate the organization’s employee benefit plan investments.