HR Management & Compliance

Looking to Voluntary Benefits? Consider These 3 Questions

Yesterday, Navera president and CEO Steve L. Adams shared tips on taking advantage of voluntary benefits; today, we present more on this compensation trend and how to ask the right questions during implementation.

MetLife’s 12th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study found that 60 percent of employers agree (and 34 percent strongly agree) that the reason they offer voluntary benefits is to replace employer-paid benefits programs to reduce benefits costs. It also showed that 80 percent of employees value benefits that are personalized to their own circumstances and ages.

It is interesting, then, that the same study found a dip in the number of companies that agree with the statement “voluntary benefits are a significant part of our company’s benefits strategy.” Some theorize that in 2015 employers will be mainly focused on complying with the Affordable Care Act, which will make them less likely to implement new benefits. How can you prevent voluntary benefits from falling through the cracks?


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Ask the Right Questions

With clear advantages, but also some uncertainties, to voluntary benefits, it’s important for employers to tailor their offerings to maximize employee participation. Here are three questions to consider.

  • What are the demographics of our company, and how might they change with future recruits? While the MetLife study showed that personalized benefits are appealing across generations, they are particularly popular among Gen Y (also known as Millennials), 86 percent of whom favor them. If Millennials are a key factor in your recruiting strategy for 2015 (and they most likely are), voluntary benefits will help attract them.
  • Which benefits will appeal to most employees? Based on the present and predicted future demographics, select your benefits offerings to align with your goals of recruiting and retention. Health products drove most 2014 growth (for example, critical illness and accident insurance in particular have grown at rates in the double digits for the past several years), but focus on products that will fit your employees’ unique needs.
  • How can we present these products in a way that doesn’t cause information overload? Sixty-four percent of employees are interested in having their employer provide a wider array of voluntary benefits, but keep in mind that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. An overload of confusing options can cause employees to disengage from the whole process altogether.

All the California-Specific Employee Handbook Policies You Need

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  • New policy on recovery periods
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Download your copy of Employee Orientation: How to Energize, Integrate, and Retain Your Newest Hires today!

Download your copy of Employee Orientation: How to Energize, Integrate, and Retain Your Newest Hires today!

1 thought on “Looking to Voluntary Benefits? Consider These 3 Questions”

  1. Info overload is a real problem, especially with older employees who often long for the day when benefits were WYSIWYG–they didn’t have options but got what they got, so they didn’t have to think about it.

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