Category: Press / News

Employees as assets, the C-suite as investors

Posted on by Perry Braun

CFOs have become more involved in the decision-making strategy in recent years, and it’s changing the way companies think about benefits.

By Emily Payne | April 05, 2021 at 10:55 AM

Published by BenefitsPro

“Agility.” “Human capital.” “KPIs.” As a benefits professional, you’ve no doubt heard this kind of terminology popping up more and more in the past several years. It’s the natural result of an ongoing shift in how companies view their employees.

“Business itself continues to get complicated with respect to the cost of people,” says Perry Braun, executive director of the Benefit Advisors Network (BAN). “Whether that is recruiting, retention, who you pay, how you measure performance, how you reward, incentivize—all of this is now a function of the goals and objectives of the company. Businesses are moving into a less compartmentalized discussion structure and to a more team-based structure, aligning goals and objectives.”

View the full article here…

Benefit Advisors Network, Nectar Partner to Close Worker Recognition Gap

Posted on by Benefit Advisors Network

CLEVELAND, OHIO AND OREM, UTAH (PRWEB) MARCH 16, 2021

Benefit Advisors Network (BAN), a national network of independent employee benefit firms, is pleased to announce that it has created a strategic partnership with Nectar, a 360-employee recognition and rewards platform that enables organizations to celebrate and spotlight great work, anytime, anywhere.

Under the terms of the new partnership, BAN’s 120+ member firms nationwide can provide Nectar’s platform at an exclusive rate to their employer groups.

“An organization’s most important assets are their people, yet two-thirds of employees feel underappreciated and undervalued at work. These feelings can have serious, negative consequences on a business, including reduced productivity and increased turnover,” says Trevor Larson, Co-Founder and CEO of Nectar. “As a result, recognition tools are becoming an important component of the HR toolkit.”

Continues Larson, “Our partnership with BAN will accelerate our mission to close this recognition gap by equipping more employers with the tools to offer timely, meaningful, and frequent recognition. We look forward to being a part of the Benefit Advisors Network organization as a long-term partner.”

The ability to attract and retain quality employees is vital for a productive culture. Recognition by management and peers creates a culture of engagement supporting the emotional and social wellbeing of the employee and therefore the employer. For HR, Nectar’s analytics provide metrics to support the person-to-person as well as the team-to-team collaboration.

Nectar strives to provide simple, cost-effective means for workforces to maintain culture and boost morale through a variety of mechanisms, including social recognition, rewards, and employee perks.

“Our industry understands the extreme challenges employers are under, particularly in light of the past year as a result of COVID-19. BAN is continuously looking for the right partners and tools that will remove or ease burdens our member’s employer clients throughout the country are facing,” says Perry Braun, Executive Director of the Benefit Advisors Network.

Continues Braun, “We have done our due diligence and are thrilled to have found a highly reputable partner who will bring so much value to our members, and their clients.”

The addition of Nectar’s partnership further supports BAN’s network, where member agencies work as peers to pool their experience, industry knowledge, and data in order to streamline and maximize the growth of their businesses.

About BAN
Founded in 2002, BAN is an exclusive, premier, national network of independent, employee benefit brokerage and consulting companies. BAN delivers industry leading tools, technology, and expertise to member firms so that they can deliver optimum results to their employee benefit customers. BAN intentionally limits membership because of the highly collaborative interactions. For more information, visit the Company’s website at http://www.benefitadvisorsnetwork.com

About Nectar
Founded in 2016, Nectar is an employee recognition and engagement platform built for SMB and Mid-market organizations. Nectar is an award-winning solution that enables companies to build a culture of connection and appreciation through a centralized approach to social recognition and rewards. For more information, visit the Company’s website at http://www.nectarhr.com.

‘Strategic’ Will Be the Word of the Year for 2021

Posted on by Bobbi Kloss, BAN Director of Human Capital Management

Published by Human Resource Executive, December 2020.

This year has brought HR a host of unprecedented issues to navigate: employee safety concerns, engagement in a newly remote world, legal considerations and even the reshaping of the HR role itself. With all of that change just in the last few months, many HR leaders are looking to 2021 with a bit of trepidation: What’s next?

Bobbi Kloss, director of human capital management services for the Benefit Advisors Network, says HR leaders should be approaching the coming new year with a focus on strategy. Among everything 2020 taught HR leaders, she says, is how key it is to be prepared for everything that could come. Kloss recently spoke with HRE about what she thinks 2021 will bring for HR.

HRE: What was HR’s shining moment in 2020? Conversely, where were mistakes made?

Kloss: HR’s shining moment for 2020 was to be able to simultaneously manage the direction of the workforce to remote work, implement safety protocols within the office and manage the policies for quickly emerging laws to address the needs of the workforce for both employee and continuing business operations.

Individual HR mistakes included failure to be strategically prepared for an event, such as a pandemic, to occur. Just as the federal government is to have a plan for nationwide disasters, we have experienced enough workforce dynamics (outside events that disrupt business continuity)—such as major shifts in the economy, natural disasters, government administration changes, etc.—in our lifetime that have impacted business to know that we should have a plan in place.

Employers learned in 2020 the need for the business culture to represent a communication plan of clear and consistent messaging to employees. Recognizing that employees look to leadership for authoritative direction, HR is able to craft messaging to support an inclusive culture.

HRE: What should be HR leaders’ first priority for 2021?

Kloss: “Strategic” is the key word for 2021.

Be prepared for what lies over the horizon. Become knowledgeable on President-elect Biden’s administration policies and work with the C-suite to have a plan in place to align with the business goals and objectives for the short- and long-term (one, three and five years).Advertisement

Also important for HR leaders is to learn from the lessons of 2020 as to what worked and what needs to be improved. This might include reviewing policies, processes and technologies to create efficiencies that continue to improve upon the culture of the company and positively impact the company’s bottom line.

HRE: Compare HR’s role in large organizations today with a year ago. Will that continue to evolve in 2021?

Kloss: Maintaining relevancy for HR’s place at the C-suite table will continue to evolve. With a focus on the bottom line, the ability to outsource to improve efficiencies and reduce costs is a trend for many organizations across their business units. HR is becoming one of the most outsourced positions.

Overcoming this challenge in HR means that, as human resource professionals, the value brought will be in becoming strategically focused and showing the ROI of the position. This means being aware of the strategic solutions brought to the table and tying these business objectives to the bottom line.

Benefit Advisors Network, Rain Partner to Give Workers Early Access to Wages

Posted on by Benefit Advisors Network

CLEVELAND, OH (8/24/20) – Benefit Advisors Network (BAN), a national network of independent employee benefit firms, is pleased to announce that it has created a strategic partnership with Rain, whose mission is to improve financial wellness and increase worker productivity by giving employees full control over their income, putting an end to predatory financial products and practices.

Under the terms of the new partnership, BAN’s 120+ member firms nationwide can provide the Rain Instant Pay App, which provides early wage access for employees at mid- to large-sized organizations across the United States.

“According to a study by CareerBuilder, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck,” says Taylor Constantine, the head of Rain’s Partner Program. “As a result, financial wellness tools are becoming a vitally important part of any employee benefits package. Such tools not only help an organization’s employees during tough times but also lead to increased productivity.”

Continues Constantine, “Particularly at a time when the American workforce needs solutions like earned wage access, we are excited to partner with Benefit Advisors Network as we begin the process of working with multiple member agencies. We look forward to being a part of the Benefit Advisors Network organization as a long-term partner.”

The Rain Instant Pay app allows employees to withdraw advances against their upcoming paychecks. The capital is provided by Rain, which is then reimbursed according to the employer’s pay schedule.

“This is not a loan and there is no interest,” Constantine explains. “Employees simply pay a small fee for the service, which is significantly healthier than taking a payday loan.”

Other benefits of the Rain Instant Pay App include the following: 

  • There is no change in cash flow;
  • The App works with current payroll and timekeeping software;
  • There is no cost for businesses to implement the App;
  • Regular use results in reduced employee turnover and increased job applications;
  • Employers realize improved job performance and pick up more shifts;
  • App usage leads to a reduction in no-call no-shows.

Over the next few months, Rain will also launch a new pay card program that can be used to replace the employer’s current pay card programs or provide a pay card solution for those who do not currently have one.

“Adding Rain to our Partner relationships strengthens BAN’s Lead2Health resources available for our member’s clients. When an employee has money problems, they can endure ongoing stress, which impacts their health and in turn, the workplace. A corporate philosophy that includes the financial wellbeing of its workforce translates into an efficiently operating business. RAIN provides such support to an employer’s holistic wellbeing culture,” says Bobbi Kloss, BAN’s Director of Human Capital Management Services.

“Our industry is highly competitive and changes almost daily,” says Perry Braun, Executive Director of the Benefit Advisors Network. “As a result, it is critical that we continue to provide our member firms with the necessary tools, such as the Rain Instant Pay App, to further enhance the value they bring to their employer clients while also accelerating their individual firm’s growth.”

About BAN

Founded in 2002, BAN is an exclusive, premier, national network of independent, employee benefits brokerage and consulting companies. BAN delivers industry-leading tools, technology, and expertise to member firms so that they can deliver optimum results to their employee benefits customers. BAN intentionally limits membership because of the highly collaborative interactions. For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.benefitadvisorsnetwork.com

About Rain

The Rain Instant Pay app provides early wage access for employees at mid to large-sized organizations across the United States to improve financial wellness and increase employee productivity. Rain’s mission is to regrow financial freedom by giving people full control over their income and to put an end to predatory financial products, replacing them with on-demand pay. Find out more at https://rain.us, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Ways employers should strategize on paid time off benefits

Posted on by Bobbi Kloss, BAN Director of Human Capital Management

As published by Employee Benefits News on July 20, 2020.

Paid time off is one of the most desirable benefits, and often the most negotiated benefit for applicants. Whether the time is allocated in buckets of vacation, sick, and personal leave or lumped together under a single policy, a 2019 WorldatWork PTO study found that over 60% of employers design and market their PTO policy as a way to attract and retain employees.

Design, strategy and company dollars continue to be redefined to create a competitive total rewards package encompassing base salary, wellbeing, benefits, recognition, and development promoting employers of choice. Companies large and small would do well to incorporate the following strategies into their compensation packages:

  • Unlimited PTO – Employers, start-ups, and nonprofits are offering this perk.
  • PTO buy/sell plans – These allow an employee who needs additional days off to purchase additional PTO on a pre-tax basis or sell PTO back to the employer.
  • Mandated or employer-sponsored paid leaves – This leave allows for parental leave, leave for school activities, or to seek medical treatment.
  • Expanded parental leave policies – Offering these expanded or unlimited leave and PTO policies enable employees to have more time away without the need to tap into their traditional paid time off.

Unused PTO
Even with PTO topping the list as the most desirable benefit and companies expanding PTO policies, according to surveys conducted by both U. S. Travel and WorldatWork, employees increasingly leave PTO on the table. A study by Namely found that employees with unlimited time off take two days less than the average for employees with a limited PTO policy. These employees cite competition within employee groups to see who works harder, who can move up the corporate ladder faster, or gain access to better projects by not taking time away.

The Shocking Costs of Unused PTO
Stress, productivity, health, happiness, and creativity are the costs of unused PTO that can be measured by factors such as the rate of turnover, health care costs, and accountability measures. The individual costs to employees who have no ability to roll-over their PTO can be over 200 million days lost annually. This loss equates to employees giving up $62 billion in benefits for an average of $600 annual loss per employee.

Costs associated with the PTO carryover liabilities from U.S. companies, according to the U. S. Travel survey, equals $224 billion annually. Although with unlimited PTO there is no accrual of PTO, therefore, there is no payout required at termination of employment and no balance that employers need to carry on the books.

Time off barriers
When employees are working in a non-supportive culture, it can be a barrier to their using earning time away from the office. Companies have been known to utilize a variety of passive-aggressive tactics with employees. The U. S. travel survey found the following cultural perceptions from employees in regards to leaving PTO on the table:

  1. Returning to a large work-load;
  2. Inability to roll over or bank time;
  3. Not being able to financially afford time off;
  4. Time off becomes harder with the advancement in the company;
  5. A desire to show dedication to work;
  6. Fear of being seen as replaceable.

Employees also save or bank their time for high impact life events, (medical necessities, family/ caregiver needs, births/adoptions). The U.S. does not mandate a paid Family Leave (with the current COVID-19 or state law exceptions). As a result, many employers do not provide paid leave. The good news: a Mercer study shows that the gap is closing, however, with 40% of employers surveyed offering a paid parental leave policy.

Holistic Well-being Culture
A work and well-being survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that the positive effects of returning from paid time off left employees with less stress, increased energy, more motivation, and a positive mood. These resulted in an increase in productivity and quality of work.

Leaders can build a supportive culture by:

  1. Using PTO when sick or in need of mental health days and for vacation themselves. If leaders come to work ill that can send a negative image to employees.
  2. Encouraging others to use PTO and then sharing positive experiences of being away.
  3. Supporting “unplugging” from work-related technology, using out of office messaging, and phone apps such as Thrive Away to block time away.
  4. Reviewing workload and cross-train so the important work has coverage.
  5. Allowing employees to have appropriate time to transition smoothly back into a daily routine.

By building a supportive wellbeing culture around PTO benefits, a positive net effect of the work-life balance is a workforce that is whole, healthy, and productive. In return, the holistic health of the employees leads to the holistic health of the organization.