Why Employee Benefits?

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to read this. HR is managing a heavier workload than ever before and the pressure is on to be an expert in every discipline in the workforce. I hope to equip you with some tools to manage with confidence what I believe to be HR's #1 priority - Employee Benefits. Each week I will give you..

1. One Benefit Topic to ponder
2. Some Content I Find Useful
3. A List of Upcoming Events
4. Job Opportunities I'm Aware of

Why Employee Benefits?

HR is pressed on every side to be an expert in a daunting list of verticals; Recruiting, Talent Management, L&D, Corporate Compliance, Workers Compensation and Safety, Workforce Development, Rewards & Recognition, Payroll, Compensation and the list goes on.

So how do you prioritize where to place your focus?

Ponder this - if you had to pick one discipline that had the most impact on both your existing employees and the business at large what would that be?

My Transition

I spent 20 years in Human Resources before making a pivot early in 2023 to focus solely on employee benefits. Why? Some of the catalysts for my transition were-

• I experienced the financial implications of making good, ok, or bad decisions on group healthcare to both the organization and to the individual employees.
• I saw a lack of employee benefits knowledge in the HR space (myself included).
• I witnessed employee benefits decisions being made by finance (in most businesses) rather than the HR teams that were managing those functions.
• By digging in deeply, taking risks and connecting with the right partners I was able to experience huge wins in this area for both employees and the organizations I worked for.

The Business Case

HR has complained about not having a seat at the table for as long as HR has been in existence. I get it, most of the work is thankless and almost no one in the organization has any idea how much is on HR's plate. However, I believe there is a deeper situation at play here. The C-Suite knows financials, lives and dies by the financials, and if we're honest, HR has shied away from that. What other main business function has separated themselves from the financials of the business? - finance (lol), purchasing & supply chain, sales, production & operations? The answer is NONE!

I heard one of my HR peers recently state this - "All the C-Suite cares about is the financials" WHAT? I understand that they were keyed in on placing focus on the employee but aren't managing the financials the main responsibility the C-Suite was hired for? If the executives of any company are not focused first on the bottom line, how does the company stay afloat, grow or pay employees?

I diverge..

Financials = A seat at the table. (Period!!)

Now that we have that out of the way, what is the biggest lever HR can pull to impact the financials?

Payroll - Nope

Recruiting - Nope

Event Planning - Nope

Talent Management - Nope

Employee Benefits -YEP

Here's your homework assignment: walk down to your finance or accounting department and ask them- "What are the top five expenses to the business in order."

Spoiler alert - Employee Benefits are usually the #2 or #3 largest business expense. Labor is usually #1 and you can make a strong case that HR has a massive impact on that (which they do) BUT, that number is much more difficult to affect in a large way.

Business Case Conclusion - Here's all that HR MATH together:

Financials =Seat at the Table AND

Employee Benefits = Largest Financial Lever for HR, SO..

Employee Benefits = Invitation to the table.. JUST SAYIN..??

Employee Case

Good HR is always looking for ways to not only make life better in the workplace but to impact employees on a deeper personal level. So lets go back to that list again. Admittedly this one is not as cut and dry as the financial example.

What is the HR discipline that has the greatest chance of making a personal impact on an employee?

Payroll - Nope

Recruiting - Nope

Event Planning - (For a few, yes - Ron looks forward to the open bar at the Christmas party more than anything all year long and Sue's heart warms every time she hears the word potluck)

Talent Management - Nope

Employee Benefits - YEP!

Here's some examples (but I'm sure you have your own):

• I just had a client who saved big on their renewal and split the difference. They kept back some of the savings to drop to the bottom line but also implemented an employer paid long term disability plan.
• I managed a plan that paid 100% of employee medical premiums and had we not implemented highly aggressive cost containment solutions, employees would have been paying premiums for the first time ever.
• I implemented a financial wellness benefit at my employer as an HR Director and had a guy almost in tears in my office describing how his family had a handle on their finances for the first time ever.
• I can recount dozens of times when the resources of an employee assistance program has helped an employee through a crisis.
• I could literally sit here and list 100 more examples..

Hopefully this get's you thinking - Am I doing enough? Have I not placed enough focus on Employee Benefits? Should I be gaining insight and confidence in this area and wrestling this responsibility away from finance? YES!

Some content I found useful this week-

SHRM Annual Benefits Survey was released https://lnkd.in/gskQtxrd

I wrote about it here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/jgallaghercle_shrm-hr-employeebenefits-activity-7229544342963597313-vMzW?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Reading - Margin by Richard Swenson

Listening to -

• The Double Win Podcast (Michael Hyatt) interview with Laura Vanderkam Balancing family and work and winning at both. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-double-win/id1294885433?i=1000664578189
• The Element Podcast - How to plan your (Whitetail Hunting) Season - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-element-podcast-hunting-public-land-tactics/id1192875599?i=1000663249752(I realize some of you may not like hunting or hunters but I'm a bow hunter and I promise you if you give me enough time I will change your mind ??)

Events

Carter Nedley Wiffle Bowl Sat. 8/15- Awesome event for an even better organization! Come out and see the fun and support one of the best local organizations bringing light to the darkness of pediatric cancer https://www.carternedley.org/wifflebowl2024

Cleveland SHRM Total Rewards Meeting 8/22 - Come join USI's Lindsay Rink as she discusses attracting/ engaging talent https://www.clevelandshrm.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1871925

Job Openings/ Connections Looking (Please let me know if you have an open HR/ Finance role or if you are looking for one).

• I have a contact who is looking for an HR Manager role - mid-sized business.
• Open payroll specialist role, central location off 77 - MSG me