Employee Benefits Benchmarking Will Strengthen Your Business

How do you demonstrate to prospective employees that your business is a great place to work? How do you know your business is a great place to work?

If your organization isn’t using employee benefits benchmarking, you might not be able to answer that second question. And if you’re not using benchmarking, you almost certainly can’t answer the first.

Let’s take a step back for a moment and ask another question: What is benchmarking?

Employee benefits benchmarking is a method of measuring current offerings against competitors of similar size and industry. Benchmarking helps businesses design a benefits program that addresses what employees need or want while including cost-control measures to make the program viable and sustainable.

How does your organization compare? 

During the summer of 2020, Alera Group surveyed around 2,000 businesses around the country about their employee benefits offerings, and in late fall, we released a report: 2020 Healthcare and Employee Benefits Benchmarking Survey.

Key findings summarized in the report include:

• Retirement age continues to rise. Many employees are working past 65, remaining on employer plans even while enrolled in retiree medical plans. This affects overall employer costs.


• Health and benefits remain crucial. Holding to historical standards, surveyed employers most commonly offer medical, dental, pharmacy and life insurance benefits.


• Disability and retirement benefits are prevalent. About 60% of employers offer disability benefits, with Long-Term Disability being the most common offering. The vast majority of employers surveyed – 83% – offered a 401(k) defined contribution plan.


• Voluntary benefits are valuable. Approximately 50% of employers offer voluntary benefits to employees, including accident, critical illness and paid family care leave.

A guide to getting started 

On Thursday, February 18, Alera Group will host a webinar demonstrating how employee benefits benchmarking can strengthen your business. During the webinar, experts from Alera Group’s Employee Benefits Team will walk you through how your organization can strategically compare its offerings to similar entities.

Featuring Managing Partner Karin Landry, Senior Vice President-Benefits Jeff Koelker, Executive Vice President and Principal Chris Hogan and Director of Market Research T. Lai-Sahn Hackett, the seminar will feature topics such as:

• Survey methodology and type of data attributes to look for when comparing plans


• Timing and process for conducting a benchmarking study for your business


• Practical tools to help you identify your competitive edge.

To register for the webinar, start by clicking on the button below.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR 

 

About the Authors

Danielle Capilla 

Danielle is Vice President and Director of Compliance for Alera’s Employee Benefits division. She previously served as Senior Vice President of Compliance and Operations and Chief Compliance officer at United Benefit Advisors (UBA) and as an adjunct professor at DePaul University. Additionally, she worked as Senior Writer Analyst at Wolters Kluwer and as a law clerk at Clifford Law Offices.

T. Lai-Sahn Hackett, CPD, ARM 

The Director of Marketing Research at Spring Consulting Group, an Alera Group Company, Lai-Sahn has more than seven years of experience leading market research, product development, process improvement and project management engagements for service providers and large employers in the insurance industry. She has earned designation as an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and in Continuing Professional Development (CPD).