Increasing Overall Company Performance with Strategic Benefits Packages

As our booming economy transitions from the employer-driven era to the candidate-driven job market, strategic benefits packages have never been more important for improving overall company performance. According to the 2018 Employee Benefits report issued by the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), benefits account for approximately 1/3 of total employee compensation costs. 92% of employees stated in a recent SHRM survey that benefits play a major role in their overall job satisfaction. When employees are satisfied, companies can reap "the benefits of benefits" as reported by AXA, an industry leading benefits consulting company. The ROI includes:

• Better overall performance reported by 58% of companies with strategic benefits packages as opposed to 34% for companies without them.
• Recruiting is improved by 19% vs 8% when a tempting benefits package is on the job offer table.
• Increased retention to 28% vs. 11% - This retention advantage may be the most significant of all for increasing overall company performance. Job turnover costs the US economy $30.5 billion annually. For SMEs, recruiting, onboarding, and training takes a significant investment in time and money. The longer an employee stays, the stronger the ROI, and competitive benefits packages can go a long way toward retaining the most valuable “knowledge employees.”   

Employers Competing in Today’s Candidate-Driven Job Market

With these numbers in mind, enterprises need to prioritize strategic benefits packages to improve overall company performance and maximize ROI in a business environment where job-hopping is now the rule rather than the exception. Recruiting and retention are two of the most prevalent pain points for HR departments as millennials continue to advance from entry level to middle management and even the C-suite. A recent Gallup poll indicated that 50% of millennials don't plan to stay with their current employers, and 60% are always open to new job opportunities. 21% have changed jobs within the last year. As a vital tool for recruiting and retention, competitive benefits administration must be a priority for startups and even well-established enterprises who need to retain their valuable human assets in an extremely competitive, candidate-driven job market.

With our priority established let's take a look at some of the common pain points that SMEs and startups face with benefits administration, and the solutions which Platinum Group's integrated iSolved HR/Payroll software brings to the HR table.  

Little or No Dedicated HR Department?

With many SMEs, the ominous responsibilities of benefits administration may fall on the shoulders of the company owner or a busy office manager. That may work for a while when the company has just a handful of employees, but as the business grows the burdens of COBRA/HIPAA administration, ACA compliance, different compensation plans, benefits enrollment, and payroll deductions can quickly overwhelm the individual responsible for establishing, tracking, and managing competitive benefits. With iSolved software, benefits and payroll are interconnected and the versatile computing power of the Cloud is available for SMEs as the business grows. You can streamline your HR obligations with iSolved and harness the power of the Cloud without the need to make a huge capital investment in an expensive onsite computer mainframe and the IT team to maintain it. 

Curious how all of this works? Read this in-depth iSolved guide.

Eliminate Complex Paper-based Benefits Administration Burdens

Stop the presses! With iSolved, paper is out and digital is in. From onboarding new employees to automated 401K deductions to providing accurate up-to-date data for ACA compliance, iSolved provides the single database solution. IRS 1094 and 1095 forms populate automatically based on eligibility rules. Open enrollment is easy for employees and email alerts ensure that important enrollment deadlines aren't missed. When important life events affect benefits coverage, iSolved manages and simplifies the changes without generating a time-consuming trail of paperwork. Benefits statements are easy to generate as well, keeping every employee up to date with readily available benefits status.

Coordinate Different Benefit Providers With Carrier Connect

Health, dental, vision, and life insurance may all be enticing benefits for employees but employers frequently find themselves dealing with a host of different providers to include them all in a competitive benefits package. If your company's HR “department” is really just the HR person, learning a new system for each individual benefit provider can be complex and time-consuming. iSolved offers optional Carrier Connect service to streamline benefits processing with multiple insurance carriers. Updates are transmitted to carriers as often as needed with iSolved’s interconnected automated process. 

Keeping Up With COBRA

The Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act, COBRA, was passed in 1986 to assist Americans with continuing employer-sponsored health coverage for up to 18 months after parting with the company. Since then COBRA was revised in 1999, and all companies with more than 20 employees who offer a group health plan are subject to COBRA laws. There are also additional state laws in 44 states, and severe fines for noncompliance. A fine of $100 per day is the high cost of failing to notify an employee of applicable COBRA rights when they're eligible. Even more costly, according to this report at Inc.com, a company may risk revocation of its tax deduction for the group health plan. With such high stakes in a business environment where job-hopping is so prevalent, the wisest companies are outsourcing COBRA management to experienced COBRA administrators and that’s where iSolved comes in. 

With 44 states and the federal government continually making changes, COBRA compliance becomes quite a challenge for businesses. Optional COBRA Service with iSolved offers the following advantages for streamlining compliance and avoiding disruptive penalties including:

• Maintaining required COBRA documentation
• Updates for all required notices
• Track and keep up with legislative changes to stay in compliance
• Issue notices For new enrollees
• Notifications of qualifying events
• Premium collection
• Eligibility management 

About iSolved HR Solutions From Platinum Group

The most competitive benefits package in the world is of little use if employees find it difficult to enroll, engage, and stay up to date. iSolved streamlines all of these processes from hire to retire. Today’s most qualified job candidates set the company culture bar quite high, and an obsolete, cumbersome onboarding process can quickly send them looking somewhere else, in many cases right into the arms of your competitors. iSolved engages employees from onboarding to retirement with intuitive, easy to use solutions. HR managers can streamline administration for benefits, time and attendance, and payroll, all integrated into a single database. The days of separate departmental “silos,” conflicting systems, and multiple logins are all in the past when you upgrade to iSolved, so please don't hesitate to contact Platinum Group today. 

Or, listen to this helpful, pre-recorded demo here:

Platinum Group is a full service human capital management (HCM) resource that allows businesses to manage their payroll, benefits compliance, track time and attendance and other various human resources functions in a way that maximizes efficiency and eliminates redundancies with the platform, iSolved. For more information about Platinum Group or to schedule a demo of iSolved please visit our website.