How Well Does Your Benefits Administration System Perform?

It was the highest sales total for a coffee cart day all year. The young adult program in the largest school district in Omaha had a record setting day when they set up and sold from their coffee cart the second to last day of the school year before winter break. The high sales day was not so much attributed to the tasty offerings of cookies and muffins that were available with the coffee and tea, as it was the timing of the visit. On this day nearly 30% of the district employees filtered through one of 20 health wellness clinics to have their blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight checked. The last check of the year was an opportunity for these school district employees to show progress on their health profile and receive a free local health club membership incentive if they agreed to continue working toward their goals.
As companies and corporations across the country continue to look for ways to promote employee health and lower the cost of a benefits administration system, some unique situations are developing. By encouraging employees to monitor their health statistics, some group health plans are offering reduced, and sometimes free, health club benefits if these employees allow their benefits administration system software to also track their progress. Though not punished if you show no progress, these employees see a continuing menu of services offered if they work toward or maintain their health goals.
Nearly 57% of companies are scheduled to make a major new human resources (HR) software purchase in the next 18 months. Many of these software packages will allow for more efficient and effective use of benefits administration system data. Companies that offer benefits to part time employees are also looking for ways to make these new healthcare offerings affordable and effective. While 59% of small business owners already offer paid sick leave to full-time employees, the percentage of employees offering similar benefits to part time employees is expected to grow as new health legislation goes into effect.
Small business employee benefits packages make use of mobile human resources software platforms to estimate and predict the cost of these increased benefits. For instance, current research indicates that a mere 13% of organizations have a single HR software system. The remaining companies juggle three to four different HR applications to track employee benefits and other important information. While one system may be responsible for administering and recording health benefits, another completely different system is used for learning opportunities, another for the recruiting process, and still another for wages and commissions.
An integrated benefits administration system can combine these varied tasks into one automated platform, often decreasing the number of hours needed to be invested by HR staff.