Insight Three
Ease of use for employees is the most important factor when choosing a benefits provider, but many providers are falling short.
When choosing a provider for benefits like HSAs, FSAs, HRAs and wellness and lifestyle accounts, more than one-in-three benefits leaders say that ease of use for employees is a key factor.
Other top factors include compatibility with a health insurance provider, customer support, and innovative features. However, benefits leaders also reported that many providers fall short in these areas and that understanding which providers will best address employee needs can be one of the most challenging aspects of choosing to work with a specific provider.
Most important criteria when choosing a benefits provider
say understanding what matters to employees is the biggest challenge when choosing a benefits provider.
say ease of use for employees is most important when choosing a benefits provider.
say ease of use for employees is where benefits providers are falling short.
Where benefits providers are falling short
Despite ease of use being the most important factor when choosing a benefits provider, it’s also where benefits providers are most often falling short.
About three-in-ten benefits leaders report that their benefits providers for flexible benefits such as HSAs, FSASs, HRAs, and wellness and lifestyle accounts are not meeting expectations for ease of use and quality support for employees, and C-Suite level employees are especially likely to say this is an issue.
Challenges when choosing a benefits provider
While addressing employee needs is critical when choosing a provider, fully understanding what those needs are is one of the largest challenges benefits leaders face when choosing a provider to meet those needs.
Understanding which benefits are most important to employees
Justifying the cost differential between providers
Internal time costs for administrators
Understanding technology and features
Differentiating between providers
Analysis and action items
To drive benefits adoption, benefits leaders, and the brokers and consultants they work with, need to emphasize the employee experience when choosing a benefits provider. Understanding what employees need, and what their pain points are, can help choose a provider that addresses these needs and help benefits leaders meet their goals around benefits use, employee retention, and company culture.
The challenges that companies face when choosing a benefits provider offer many opportunities for benefits providers, brokers, and consultants. To set themselves apart, benefits providers, brokers, and consultants can help their clients gather employee feedback, as four-in-ten benefits decision makers say that understanding which benefits are most important to employees is the top challenge in choosing a provider.
In addition, brokers, consultants, and benefits providers have an opportunity to educate benefits decision makers, especially those who are newer in their career, to help them understand benefit platforms technology and features. Lively found that 21% of those who had been in their role 7 years or less find understanding technology to be a challenge more than longer-tenured professionals.
Action items for HR leaders
- Analyze the user experience and features your benefits offer employees: is it easy to get started, connect their accounts, and access their benefits? Does the provider offer a robust mobile app, accessible and knowledgeable support, and helpful educational resources?
- Analyze the features and user experience for administrators: is it easy to get set up, add or remove employees, run reports, integrate with your current systems, and get support?
- Reach out to your benefits providers to discover what type of employee education and support they offer and set up training for your team on their technology and features.
Action items for brokers and consultants
- Work with benefits providers to set up demonstrations and training for your clients on the features and technology they offer.
- With your clients, analyze their current benefits for ease of use, innovative features, support, and reporting. What is meeting their employees’ needs and what is falling short?
- Work with benefits providers that have robust support for administrators and employees, technology that is simple to use, innovative features, and straightforward, low fees to make sure you are offering your clients the best options for them and their team.