When you run a business, you can’t afford to waste your labor and software spending on unproductive activities. Smarter benefits administration can reduce how much you spend setting up and administering benefits programs at your company. Through benefits software and outsourced administration, you can get better results with less effort.
How Smarter Benefits Administration Saves You Time and Money
Depending on the benefits involved, there can be many different regulations that apply. If you wanted to handle these requirements on your own, you would need a dedicated HR team member worker to stay on top of compliance updates and record keeping. Navigating paperwork, storing documents, and reading up on new regulatory changes would be time-consuming for someone to do, and it’d cost you extra money to train someone to manage this regulatory busywork. By developing smarter benefits administration, such as using software and outsourced solutions, you can spend less time and money on providing top-notch benefits to your workers.
1. Avoid Errors
Every time an employee has to enter information by hand, it increases the risk of an error. One advantage of using a digital benefits platform is that information only has to be entered once. For example, once Asure Software has an employee’s health insurance information, that data doesn’t have to be reentered when it’s used to set up a prepaid FSA card. A benefits platform gives you a central repository of information, preventing redundancies and human mistakes.
On a basic level, having fewer errors simply makes life easier. An employee’s compensation comes in the form of benefits as well as salary, so any mistakes or delays impact the worker’s overall satisfaction and morale. Errors can also lead to regulatory fines, making avoidance especially important.
2. Streamline Your Processes
By streamlining your processes, you can prevent mistakes, ensure consistency, and save on labor costs. When you always use the same consistent procedures for open enrollment and managing employee benefits changes, it ensures a better experience for everyone.
For example, many companies still use old-school forms to set up insurance, retirement plans, and wellness plans. If you streamline your processes, you can get employees to fill out key information just once. This type of convenient, streamlined approach is especially important if you operate in multiple states or have many branches.
3. Lower Labor Costs
When you take advantage of technological tools and outsourcing, it allows your HR department to devote less time to administering benefits. With an online benefits management system, everything is integrated together. You don’t have to copy data from one program to another or adjust every benefit program individually when an employee changes their address. Instead, these changes are automatically updated, reducing the amount of money you have to spend on labor.
4. Prevent Compliance Penalties
Through smarter benefits administration, you can avoid hefty penalties. Major laws govern how ACA coverage, COBRA, and FMLA leave are implemented in the workplace. Each year, new legislation is passed that changes how employee benefits must be offered and administered. By partnering with the right benefits provider, you can get immediate updates about the latest compliance changes, so you don’t run afoul of major employment laws.
5. Spend Less on Employee Attraction and Retention
Workers want an employer who provides them with top benefits, and the following studies emphasize the importance of top benefits plans.
- Gallup found that 64% of workers said an increase in benefits or pay was a very important factor in choosing their next position.
- 67% of employees say that employer-sponsored healthcare is their most important benefit.
- In fact, employees report that they won’t take a new position if it doesn’t offer health insurance (65%) and retirement plans (67%).
However, 73% of workers report needing more education on their company’s benefits. By educating new hires, applicants, and existing workers on your offerings, you can help employees make the most of their benefits. In turn, this can help boost your attraction and retention rates.
6. Improve Decision Making
With a modern Human Resources Information System (HRIS) and benefits administration platform, you can access top-notch analytics and reporting features. By getting real-time access to plan utilization rates, you can make better choices about which benefits to offer.
7. Increase Employee Satisfaction and Morale
Finally, top benefit administration can improve your employee satisfaction and morale. Benefits are a great tool for boosting employee satisfaction, but this effect is only possible if the employee can easily use their benefits. To ensure benefits are easy to use and access, you need a savvy approach to administration.
Discover the Best Practices for Benefits Administration at Your Company
Each company is unique, so the type of benefits administration platform you need can vary. By working with a professional benefits administration company, you can get help designing the platform, benefits, and data analytic options you need.
To learn more about how smarter benefits administration can save your company time and money, contact our small business payroll and HR experts today.