Selecting the right benefits technology is critical to offering employees a smooth benefits experience. It can also automate your benefits administration process, helping you to cut down on paper and manual calculations that lead to costly errors.
With all the complexities of employer benefits, including the many carriers, compliance requirements, and variations in plans, it can be difficult to determine which technology platform will best meet your needs. Moreover, employee preferences and needs are constantly evolving, making it necessary to select benefits technology that can keep pace with those changes. Here are six top capabilities and features to look for when selecting benefits tech in 2021:
Analytics for better decision-making
If you think there’s more you can learn about your benefits ROI and impact on the employee experience, you’re not alone. According to a Deloitte study, 71 percent of surveyed companies said people analytics was a high priority, but only 8 percent said they had access to usable data. When you select benefits technology with powerful tools for delivering actionable benefits analytics, you can get better informed about your benefits plans and access insights such as:
- Benefits enrollment by business unit, location, seniority, and tenure
- Employee preferences for specific plan types
- COBRA utilization rates
- Trends in benefit spending
Tools to support ongoing compliance
There is no shortage of regulations governing benefits administration, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), COBRA, and ERISA, to name a few. Not only do employers need to stay in compliance with those regulations, but it’s also critical to keep up with them as they change over time. The right benefits technology can help you keep track of important reporting deadlines and monitor benefits elections and payroll deductions for compliance with ongoing requirements. For example, your benefits tech can offer tools to help you meet the following compliance requirements:
- Provide COBRA notifications to eligible employees by the required deadline
- Meet ACA benefits plan affordability requirements
- Keep 401(k) and health spending accounts (HSA) contributions within the allowable limits
Self-service and decision-support for employees
Deciphering benefits information is difficult for many employees, making it that much more challenging to make well-informed benefits decisions. For some, it’s a wholly negative experience. In a MetLife survey, nearly half of all respondents said they dreaded the benefits enrollment process as much as asking for a raise. To put more benefits information in employees’ hands and assist them in making benefits decisions, select a benefits administration platform that offers 24/7 employee self-service and support for understanding and selecting benefits. Today’s AI-enabled benefits tech can provide employees with personalized recommendations based on their age, income, family size, and health, making benefits enrollment and selection more delightful than dreadful.
Integration with payroll and benefits carriers
Working with disconnected benefits, payroll, and carrier systems increases the need for manual tick-and-tie processes and puts your benefits administration at risk for greater error. It also wastes valuable time. According to a Reward Gateway survey, HR professionals reported spending up to two hours a day manually checking and keeping up with multiple HR applications.
By selecting a benefits platform that integrates employee benefits elections with payroll deductions and carrier systems, you not only save time trying to keep systems aligned manually, but you can also save employees and your organization from having to deal with costly errors. Integrated benefits technology offers carrier connectivity, wherein employee benefits elections flow directly to the carriers. It also automates benefits reconciliation, allowing you to compare monthly carrier billing with employee payroll and enrollment data in a matter of minutes rather than hours.
An easy-to-use interface
Benefits technology needs to be intuitive rather than clunky, so that both benefits administrators and employees can easily access the benefits information they need. When selecting your benefits tech in 2021, look for a solution that offers the following time and headache-saving features:
- Tools making it easy for employees to upload information such as birth or marriage certifications
- A mobile app offering the same services available online
- Completely paperless open enrollment
- Messaging tools and notifications
Adaptable and scalable configuration
Your organization doesn’t remain static year over year, and your benefits tech shouldn’t either. Whether you are changing carriers, switching to a new communication template, or need your benefits platform to be configured for Spanish or French for a segment of your population, your benefits technology should be able to flex to meet your changing needs.
Upgrade your benefits capability in 2021
Benefits technology does so much more than automate benefits enrollment. The right solution offers tools to streamline communications with benefits carriers, help you understand benefits spending, and improve the employee benefits experience. By selecting benefits tech that evolves to meet your organization’s needs as it grows, you can make your benefits administration process more efficient and deliver greater value to employees.
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- How to Choose the Right Benefits Tech in 2021 - April 20, 2021
