As the crisp Autumn air announces itself, leaves take on new hues, and our daylight shortens, some employers start to think about the next calendar year. Within that planning, budgeting ensues. Many of our clients have January benefit renewals. We often start partnering with the client, their benefit broker (The BenefitWords is the best), and their employees to think about benefit plan design and costs. If looping in your current employees in is a new concept, let me share how important that is.
Most employees view their benefits as a major portion of their pay. For some employees, benefit coverage, especially medical insurance, is a key motivator for working. While employers may not always lay out the visual picture, like a total compensation statement, it is important to share the employer costs and coverages provided by the employer. With that said, the benefits provided by the employer ideally match the needs of the employee, or the cost factor is mute. In our multi-generational workplaces, the benefits one employee values may be different than another’s depending on the chapter of life they’re in.
At Milestones HR, LLC, we feel surveying your current employees about their benefit needs is a critical step. That said, when surveying employees about benefits, employers should consider several strategic, ethical, and practical factors to ensure they collect meaningful data, encourage honest feedback, and use results effectively. To keep all those in check, outsourcing a benefit survey is best. It helps the employer stay away from GINA-protected information while understanding which benefits are of the highest value to employees.
When putting together a benefit survey, it’s important to:
- Have clear objectives. Why are you asking for their input? It is to understand if they are happy with the benefits offered, that those benefits are affordable, and/or if they are in need of something that is missing.
- Be transparent that there is a benefit budget. It is ideal to share that you’re trying to maximize the resources you have to meet the majority of the employees’ benefit needs.
- Commit to anonymity. To encourage honest feedback and thoughts, it’s best to use a confidential method to survey employees. This goes beyond using an anonymous survey. Using an outsourced Human Resources professional allows employees to be transparent about their personal benefit needs.
- Use statements/questions that are open-ended and exploratory. Using language/questions that consider where an employee is in their life stage, location, and uncovering any benefit gaps, yields the best data.
- Be sure to follow up. Once the survey is completed, be sure to share the results. What action, if any, will the company take to align the benefits now and in the future?
If a benefit survey would benefit you and your team, we’d like to help! Reach out to us at Milestones HR, LLC at 608-370-4642 or angie@milestoneshr.com for a free, no obligation 30-minute exploration conversation. Check out our website at www.milestoneshr.com for our fractional human resources services.
Angie Addison, SHRM-CP, PHR
Milestones HR, LLC | Owner & Founder
www.milestoneshr.com
Contact Milestones HR, LLC at 608-370-4642 or angie@milestoneshr.com