Tag Archives: voluntary benefits

What’s the hottest, zero cost benefit in Employee Benefit planning today?

two coworkers meet to discuss voluntary benefits

The answer may surprise you. Hint: AFLAC

58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck after the inflation spike. This means that most of your employees are relying heavily on their paycheck to keep them from becoming financially vulnerable. If an employee falls ill or gets hurt, they’ll likely have little to no income coming in. On top of that, state Disability is so restrictive and can involve such an arduous process that your employees simply can’t count on it.

Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary Benefits, commonly referred to as AFLAC, can help employees maintain their income by paying cash benefits directly to them. Employees can use these cash benefits to help cover rent, groceries, and other daily living expenses while they’re out of work.

It’s true, major medical policies can be adequate for addressing most of your employees’ direct medical expenses. However, out-of-pocket medical expenses like deductibles, co-insurance, office visits, etc. aren’t covered by a primary healthcare plan and can still present a problem. These expenses add up quickly and can become an insurmountable financial burden for employees.

Voluntary Plans can help cover some of the large financial burdens employees face. Did we mention there’s no cost to you as the employer? Consider offering these plans to your employees on a voluntary basis:

Accident
Short Term Disability
Life, Dental
Vision
Cancer Expense & Critical Illness

Don’t forget, you can offer these programs on a pre-tax basis. This can help lower your FICA and FUTA contributions, making these plans even more affordable to your team.

We think Voluntary Benefits are a win-win for you and your employees and should be a part of any comprehensive Benefits Package. If you have any questions regarding how to get this set up, please contact us at marketing@corpstrat.com

How to Deliver Unbeatable Customer Experience

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What does great service really mean?

A great product or service is the first half of a successful business – great customer service is the better half of a successful business. Does the mention of a company name trigger good feelings from a customer? When customer service evolves into an amazing customer experience, the answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes!’ A successful business shapes the customers’ experience by embedding a fundamental value proposition in offerings, but a satisfactory experience just isn’t good enough for long-term success.

Go above and beyond

So what is great customer service? The definition is different for everyone – to some, it is as simple as solving problems and offering solutions in an expedient manner. To others, it means overall politeness from those who represent the company. In other organizations it’s defined as a company’s willingness to give their customers, ‘the customer is always right’ approach, no matter how unreasonable their demands may be.

If you invest in your customers, they will invest in you

The human elements of customer service are what really define great customer service…doing everything one can to please, protect, enrich, and value the customer. At the end of the day, every business should be built around how to deliver an extraordinary customer experience.

To achieve a truly value-based and positive customer experience, here are the four touchstones every company should be implementing:

Be responsive – Customers hate repeating themselves, so being responsive across social media platforms, mobile applications, and engaging web pages is increasing in importance as channels expand.
Treat customers with a friendly, helpful attitude – Lousy customer service is the number one reason people choose to stop engaging with a company. Simply put, happy customers remain loyal.
Quality communication and services – With today’s technology, every business can offer personalized connections that leave people more than satisfied and with confidence that strengthens brand loyalty.
Build trust – Transparency goes a long way by showing clients that they can lean on your processes and communication to steer them in the right direction.

At CorpStrat, we deliver the CorpStrat Gold Standard, which is our version of a customer service experience. This is comprised of 5 values:

Teamwork – we work together to achieve the best outcomes for our clients
Great Attitude – we bring positive energy to every interaction
Client Interest First – All of our actions are guided by achieving our clients’ objectives
CorpStrat Golden Rule – we show up on time, finish what we start, do what we say, and demonstrate our gratefulness
Passionate Learners – We are constantly increasing our knowledge and gaining wisdom

And most importantly, when it comes to our Gold Standard…

We know it, we show it, we own it.

How To Evaluate The Right Benefits Broker: 6 Important Questions To Ask Yourself

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Choosing the right broker can be a daunting task. While all benefits brokers have access to the same carriers and rates, there are value-added services that a skilled benefits broker will also provide; usually at little, or no additional cost. It’s important to take the time to find the right benefits broker for your company’s needs.

To get the most out of your broker partnership, ask yourself these 6 important questions:

1.) Are you up-to-date on the latest health care reform regulations, receive guidance and the latest developments?

Compliance concerns continue to increase for businesses. Between ERISA and payroll taxes, maintaining compliance is becoming more difficult and frustrating for companies. Here, a benefits broker can become the compliance officer for its clients.

2.) Do you have support during your open enrollment that includes educational materials, meetings, and other communications?

There is a lot that can go wrong during open enrollment periods and things can get hectic, especially in the coming years as health care reform and political turmoil spiral. Benefit brokers are there to help guide you through the process to make as seamless as possible.

3.) Who do you call when you’re faced with a complex question from a former employee about COBRA coverage?

Sure, you can try calling the U.S. Labor Department or the Internal Revenue Service office, but the most effective way to handle their questions, would be to consider calling upon insurance brokers. These skilled and certified professionals will eliminate the painful task of navigating COBRA coverage for existing and former employees.

4.) Do you know how other companies of your size and demographics are providing benefits to their employees so that you can remain competitive?

In many cases, employers must offer health care in order to remain competitive with other businesses for the most talented employees and avoid fines imposed by health care reform. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer adequate health coverage or be subject to assessment if their employees receive premium tax credits to purchase their own insurance.

5.) Are you aware of voluntary and workplace benefits that you can offer without adding significant cost on your end?

Be strategic about cost saving voluntary benefits. Voluntary benefits have long been a relatively simple and inexpensive way to expand the benefits a company can offer employees. With out-of-pocket medical costs growing into the tens of thousands of dollars, voluntary benefits can extend this type of financial protection to health care.

6.) How do you educate employees about how to make the most out of their benefits and do you have an online platform to access?

Education, especially when it comes to ones’ health is especially important. By explaining and guiding your employees on the different benefit plans offered, it can help them appreciate having access to coverage in the first place. But to really help employees feel comfortable with their benefit plans, we strongly suggest providing ongoing and consistent education throughout the year.

The above is only a sliver of the value-added services your benefits broker should offer. If your current broker isn’t providing all the above, feel free to reach out to us. We’re a full-service brokerage firm offering insurance, technology, and compliance solutions for all facets of your business

Ask us how you can spend less time on the broadening workload of benefits enrollment, payroll, & compliance and more time on growing your business. Contact us today, or learn more about CorpStrat HR and CorpStrat Payroll.

Managing the Costs of Millennial Employees’ Expectations

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We all know that Millennials (Middle-class members of the workforce who completed high school and college in the first ten years of 2000s) can be a contradictory group to manage – from social media use in the office to expectations around office ‘face-time’, millennials can switch from having ‘high-touch’ employment expectations to wanting a ‘low-touch’ workplace experience.

How can Boomer managers reconcile Millennial expectations into a smooth management philosophy?

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How Can Organizations Manage Open Enrollment?

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It’s open enrollment season again, and you know what that means: The HR department is frazzled, your managers are hunting down wayward employees in the hallway, admins are bracing for a paperwork blizzard, and nobody can really explain what’s supposed to be going on.

With the proper preparation, open enrollment can leave your employees feeling better served by your HR department, and HR can act strategically to create new benefits opportunities for the employees that need them most. Moving from a traditional paper brochure open enrollment to a technology-centric benefits enrollment period can make all the difference.

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