5 Reasons for Employee Benefit Plan Design Change
Could it be time to reassess your employee benefits plan design?
In a Benefits Canada article written by Brian Lindenberg, we are presented with five compelling reasons for improving and/or designing employee benefits programs in your workplace.
- Your employee benefit plan risks are changing or have changed.
The whole purpose of custom employee benefits plan design for your workplace is to manage or fund the risks of organizational and individual health, as well as employment risks, repititional risks, and compliance risks. Lindenburg gives the example of paying for higher-priced prescription drugs. Your employee benefits plan must be responsive as benefits risks increase or change, and become more costly.
- Your employees are becoming more transient.
According to a 2015 Mercer Insider Employees’ Minds survey, “35% of all employees are seriously considering leaving their jobs, despite being reasonably happy” with both their current company and their career opportunities. Employment is now measured in months or a few years rather than decades like generations past. In the next ten to twenty years, it is expected that a significant number of employees will shift to become contractors. As more and more contingent workers become the norm, the stability and security of pay and traditional employee benefits may no longer be enough to maintain your talented workforce.
- Your employees will need proactive health management and advanced medicine.
Recent years have seen a major shift towards proactive health management rather than traditional health benefits that only respond when someone is sick. Changing technology and advances in medicine are also bringing in new medical treatments including genetic testing and digital health technology. Does your employee benefits plan design give your employees the freedom and ability to take advantage of new healthcare technologies?
- Your workforce is becoming more diverse.
Age and culture are major value drivers for various aspects of employee benefits in Canada, such as disability and life insurance. Flex benefit plans try to address the fact that certain employee benefits are more important to different people but often fail to address every individual’s needs.
- Your employees expect higher levels of customized benefits.
Today’s economy is driven by high customization and individualization. People can choose exactly what they want and when they want it. On the other hand, traditional employee benefits plans (like the one you may have implemented in your workplace) are based on the collective needs of the workforce rather than the individual. Customized benefits may be worth looking into.
Summary
Overall, the argument is that Canadian’s expectations towards their employee benefits plan design are becoming more customized and that benefit plans will need to embrace recent advances in healthcare, medications and technology. The Canadian workforce is also becoming more diverse and more transient in jobs and the people that do those jobs. All of these factors could mean that how you think your employees value their employee benefits plan today, or in the future, may not actually be accurate. You can read Benefits Canada’s full article here.
Is your current employee benefits plan design meeting the needs and expectations of your employees or the workforce?
Call Alberta’s trusted employee benefits company, Benefits Strategies Inc., at 1-780-437-5070 to speak with one of our employee benefits advisors about custom designing an employee benefits program for your company and your valuable employees.
