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Implement Year Round Benefits Communication
Jan 19th
Many small businesses with limited staff use the open enrollment period as the one and only time they discuss benefits with employees. This activity, though necessary, can prove to be overwhelming for the staff to comprehend large amounts of benefits information all at once. Small businesses seeking more effective ways to support employees should implement a year-round benefits communication and education approach instead of limited, intense periods of information overload or otherwise infrequent communication. Doing so can help businesses provide employees with retainable information and make processes such as open enrollment smoother and more effective.
Impact on Retention
Improving benefits communication efforts can have critical business results for smaller companies. To help understand a few revealing workplace realities, the 2011 Aflac WorkForces Report study found that when it comes to making benefits decisions, a mere 8 percent of workers agree that they are fully engaged in making those decisions, a sentiment their employers share. Some 63 percent of companies agree that workers need to be more engaged, and just half feel their employees take full advantage of the benefits they’re offered.
By proactively encouraging worker engagement when it comes to making benefits decisions, employers can help workers be better prepared and protected against an accident or illness, resulting in significant financial implications for both themselves and their employers.
When evaluating workplace benefits communication at small companies, 39 percent of workers agree they would be less likely to leave their jobs if they were well-informed about their benefits. The turnover cost alone is an incentive for employers to make changes in how and how often their organizations share benefits information.
Small businesses must acknowledge the possibility that communication needs improvement. For example, almost half (46 percent) of employees at small companies say their HR departments communicate too little about employee benefit plans, and just over half (52 percent) of HR decision-makers at small businesses believe they communicate very or extremely effectively with employees.
Reap significant rewards by developing more-effective benefits communications, including healthier, more-protected and more-engaged employees. Four best practices include:
1. Being a Valuable Resource
Without real information, employees often turn to less-than-reliable sources for insight and guidance. The majority of workers (62 percent) get their insurance advice/information from colleagues, friends and family. In fact, employees at small companies are the least likely to get their information/advice about employee benefits from company HR professionals (39 percent).
When employees don’t know better, they don’t do better in terms of adequately protecting their income and well-being, leaving many workers underinsured and vulnerable to the financial ramifications of an unexpected health event. Over time, unexpected health events can impact the productivity of a small business.
2. Using Surveys
Electronic communications have made it easier than ever to survey workers at minimal cost. Unfortunately, little more than half (52 percent) of organizations conduct surveys that increase their understanding of employee satisfaction with benefit offerings. Even fewer—just 43 percent—survey employee understanding of benefits communication.
By taking the time to understand the preferences and needs of workers, employers can increase employee satisfaction with benefits packages and help provide the peace of mind that comes from knowing their employees have adequate protection. Additionally, employers can use these surveys to identify unaddressed health insurance needs, enabling HR decision-makers to better address benefits communication needs and find ways to make benefits information more robust and accessible.
3. Helping Eliminate Common Benefits Mistakes
Roughly 77 percent of workers have admitted to making mistakes about benefits coverage during their open enrollment process, leaving many employees feeling negatively at the end of the year about the process, including being stressed, confused or regretful. A closer look reveals that nearly half of workers (47 percent) say they have made mistakes or have regrets, such as putting too little in their flexible spending account (FSA), or not electing available benefits coverage like voluntary, dental or vision; or chose benefits they didn’t need or chose the wrong level of coverage.
The brevity of annual benefits decisions requires a comprehensive, year-long education and communication program. Best practices include diversifying materials to encompass print, Web, email, and face-to-face meetings; hosting multiple in-person meetings throughout the year; and including spouses in the decision-making.
4. Consider Retaining a Benefits Consultant or Broker
Giving employees the opportunity to speak directly to a benefits advisor or a representative from a brokerage or insurance carrier can be incredibly effective in terms of education. In fact, 50 percent of workers at small companies agree they’d be more informed about benefits if they sat with a consultant or broker during enrollment.
Keeping up with complicated, ever-changing regulations is increasingly difficult, especially for small businesses. Partnering with brokers or benefits consultants can help companies bolster their insurance benefits with little impact on the bottom line. Brokers and benefits consultants can also advise and assist in developing effective communication strategies and enrollment processes.
According to Aflac’s study, companies that use brokers or benefits consultants are likely to offer more robust benefits packages than their competitors, believe their benefits packages are more competitive than those of industry peers, and communicate more often about their organizations’ benefits.
Conclusion
Developing effective benefits communications is difficult, particularly when it comes to educating workers about their insurance options. However, using reinforced, year-round communication, small business HR decision-makers can make information sharing simpler for employees, enabling them to make better choices for their families, and generating stronger retention and greater appreciation for their total compensation packages.
Benefits Package Photo via Shutterstock
Implement Year Round Benefits Communication
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Benefits: They Come From Consumers
Nov 19th
Sometimes the best thing you can do in a cartoon is point out a simple truth. These cartoons are incredibly rewarding to write, and they almost never fail to resonate with readers.
I was pondering that sort of writing one day when I decided it might be fun to have a character in a cartoon point out something seemingly mundane as if it were some new and profound insight.
It takes the presenter a bit to explain that people buying their stuff is good, but thank goodness he and his coworkers are figuring it out.
Benefits: They Come From Consumers
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Benefits: They Come From Consumers
Nov 19th
Sometimes the best thing you can do in a cartoon is point out a simple truth. These cartoons are incredibly rewarding to write, and they almost never fail to resonate with readers.
I was pondering that sort of writing one day when I decided it might be fun to have a character in a cartoon point out something seemingly mundane as if it were some new and profound insight.
It takes the presenter a bit to explain that people buying their stuff is good, but thank goodness he and his coworkers are figuring it out.
Benefits: They Come From Consumers
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Military Benefits Report – Untapped Market!
Nov 6th
Help People Who Are Connected With The US Military (active, Veterans, Families Etc) Find Individual Benefits, Programs And Services At Federal, State, Local And Private Levels. Huge Potential!
Military Benefits Report – Untapped Market!
Obama Benefits From Good Luck Internationally, But Domestically It’s a Different Story
Nov 2nd
When a president takes office, sometimes luck is on his side, other times not.
Internationally, much progress has been made in bringing down some of America’s top enemies. The death of Osama bin Laden lifted spirits briefly but now seems like a distant memory. Muammar Gaddafi had long taunted the U.S., and the president’s patience and support of Libyan rebels has resulted in the dictator’s demise. Similarly, persistence paid off in the pursuit of American-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. Soon U.S. forces will leave Iraq. These international events are positives for President Obama.
The stock market zoomed on October 27 as a long-sought agreement by European leaders to boost the bailout fund for struggling economies. While the Dow has been on a roller coaster ride this year, overall the market has recuperated nicely from its doldrums earlier in the year. This latest international news helps.
President Obama has said the country must tackle its greatest challenge as a nation: rebuilding our economy. He connected this task with the successes of the military, saying we need to create jobs with the “same urgency and unity that our troops brought to their fight.”
Meanwhile, fortune has not been on the president’s side domestically. International successes often do not translate into domestic success. President Obama inherited a down economy that has not truly recovered. On the one hand, the recession helped him defeat his Republican challenger since the party in power usually takes the blame when the economy tanks. However, since unemployment has not improved all that much, the president needs an economic recovery or else his reelection prospects will be grim. Just ask George H.W. Bush.
President Obama has tried a number of initiatives with mixed results. The SBA has largely proven effective in providing capital to startups and growing businesses. However, less than half of the banks eligible to take advantage of the Small Business Lending Fund did so, and a number of those institutions used the available capital to repay their TARP obligations, which was not how the money was intended to be used.
The president’s first stimulus plan spent a lot of money, but did not yield the anticipated results in jump-starting the economy. His opponents argue that the initiatives have made things worse, and the fact that the country’s deficit has gotten larger does not help in the long term. He is having trouble selling his current jobs package.
Still, scaling back on the expense of the war in Iraq should reduce military spending significantly, and the president is likely planning an exit strategy for Afghanistan – if one is possible without hurting U.S. security. The new StartupAmerica is getting off the ground with a goal of stimulating economic recovery.
The entrepreneurial spirit remains part of the fabric of America. The president is doing everything he can to harness it and help small businesses, which generate a majority of the new jobs in the economy.
Obama Benefits From Good Luck Internationally, But Domestically It’s a Different Story
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Count Them: 5 Tax Benefits of The American Jobs Act
Sep 27th
In a speech to the joint session of Congress on September 8, President Obama laid out his plan to spark the economy and put Americans to work with the American Jobs Act. This jobs bill contains several tax initiatives and incentives to promote investment, and hiring in particular. The President also wants to send billions to help states keep teachers, emergency workers and others employed and fund approximately $50 billion in infrastructure projects.
The plan is targeted more at small businesses than at large corporations – which may reflect the administration’s thinking that big companies have bounced back from the financial crisis more successfully than smaller businesses have.
These initiatives require Congressional approval. And while the President is making his case throughout the country with enthusiastic rallies and “Pass this Bill!” chants, even the savviest political pundit can’t predict how exactly this will play out.
If you’re a small business owner, the impact of the American Jobs Act may be significant. Here’s an outline of some of the initiatives you should be tracking over the coming months:
1. Payroll tax cuts: The plan cuts the employer share of payroll taxes to 3.1 percent on the first $5 million in wages. According to the White House, this tax cut would benefit the 98 percent of businesses with wages below $5 million. By halving the payroll taxes on the first $5 million, the President hopes to stimulate job growth among smaller companies.
In a U.S. News & World Report article, Todd McCracken, president and CEO of the National Small Business Association, was quoted as saying: “The impact of payroll tax cuts is fairly substantial. It gives [businesses] the cash flow that they need to think about expanding. If they’re thinking about hiring, it’s going to make it more affordable for them in the near term.”
2. Payroll tax holiday: The plan would eliminate the entire 6.2 percent payroll tax on any increase in payroll (for added workers or increased wages) up to $50 million above the prior year.
3. Extend 100 percent expensing into 2012: Companies can fully depreciate certain purchases in the first year (instead of having to amortize these purchases over as long as 20 years). The goal here is to encourage new investment.
4. Tax credits for hiring the long-term unemployed: The plan proposes a $4,000 tax credit for any business that hires an individual who has been unemployed for at least 6 months. And considering that a recent review of job vacancy postings on sites like Monster.com by the New York Times revealed that employers have a strong preference for people who are still employed or just recently laid off, the long-term unemployed need all the help they can get.
5. “Returning Heroes” tax credit for hiring veterans: If a company hires a veteran, the tax credit increases to as much as $5,600, and reaches $9,600 if the veteran became disabled in the course of serving. Unemployment rates among veterans are truly shocking (13.3 percent), so most would agree with the idea of encouraging the private sector to hire or train our veterans.
Of course, since the initial framework of the plan was first revealed, many in the small business community have expressed their disappointment that the plan doesn’t address one of the biggest challenges facing small business success and growth: the difficulty startups and small businesses face in securing credit from banks.
And here’s where one of the more compelling initiatives from the Administration comes in. The White House plans to ask the SEC “to reduce the regulatory burdens on small business capital formation in ways that are consistent with investor protection, including expanding ‘crowdfunding’ opportunities and increasing mini-offerings.”
I know that many are skeptical of Washington’s ability to help the private sector. But the potential to get money flowing to startups and Main Street businesses could be a game changer. Small businesses should closely monitor the progress of the above proposals over the course of the next few months.
Image from Mishchenko Mikhail/Shutterstock
Count Them: 5 Tax Benefits of The American Jobs Act
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Reiki Healing Health Benefits
Sep 13th
Learn about Reiki, Chakras,Auras,Kundalini energy.Find recommended books,Cds,magazines,natural health resources,webtools,links..
Reiki Healing Health Benefits
Selling the benefits of charity
Aug 8th
Everything we do, we do because somehow it benefits us.
We go to work for the satisfaction (I hope) and because we get paid. We smile at a stranger because it feels good to be nice (and perhaps we’ll get a smile in return). We pick up litter when no one is looking because telling ourselves a story about being a good person is worth the effort.
Some people have figured out that charity is an incredible bargain. For the time and money it costs, the benefits exceed what could be attained in almost any other way. A bargain compared to chocolate, or an amusement park visit or buying a shiny new car you probably don’t need.
For some, the benefit is in the way society respects the donor. Hence buildings named after Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates. For many, though, hidden charity is worth far more, because the incentives are purer. A donation earns you peace of mind.
I’m fascinated by people who see no benefit in donating to charity, who, in fact, see a negative. My hunch is that for these people, the worldview is: if charity is important, I better give more. If that’s true, the thinking goes, then whatever I give isn’t going to make me feel good, it’s going to make me feel worse… for not giving enough. Easier to just avoid the issue altogether.
I think marketers of causes that do good have a long way to go in selling the public on the core reason to give… don’t give because you get a tote bag, or a prize at the charity auction or even a plaque. The scalable unique selling proposition is that being part of the community is worth more than it costs.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Employee Wellness Benefits Keep Your Company Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
Mar 2nd
While Congress continues to debate health-care reform legislation (will the law stay the same, change, or even be eliminated altogether?), many employers have started emphasizing wellness as a way to cut health-care costs. And a new survey from Principal Financial Group, conducted by Harris Interactive, indicates U.S. workers are embracing the idea.
The number of workers using weight-loss programs their companies offered surged to 53 percent in 2010—a 25 percent increase compared to the prior year, reports The Principal Financial Well-Being Index, which surveyed small and midsize U.S. companies. In fact, weight-loss-related benefits were one of employees’ most-wanted perks. Asked what health benefits they’d like their employers to offer, 27 percent of respondents said fitness facilities, 24 percent wanted discounts on fitness center memberships and 17 percent wanted weight-management programs at work.
“Americans in general are more aware of the impact of obesity on their health,” said Lee Dukes, president of Principal Wellness Company, a subsidiary of the Principal Financial Group, in announcing the results. “Employers and employees are asking for these programs more than in the past.”
Dukes also said the rise in the percentage of workers taking advantage of wellness benefits “is indicative of Americans’ greater sense of personal responsibility towards their own health.” Specifically, 68 percent used an employer’s personalized action plan for high-risk conditions (21 percent more than the previous year), and 84 percent took advantage of blood-sugar screenings (up from 66 percent in 2009).
Wellness benefits make sense for businesses for some obvious reasons. Employees who are healthy are less likely to miss work, get injured on the job or file health-insurance or workers’ compensation claims. The survey uncovered some other good reasons for offering wellness benefits: 43 percent of employees said wellness benefits motivated them to work harder; 48 percent said the benefits motivate them to stay with their employer; and 38 percent said wellness programs give them more energy and make them more productive at work.
Small companies aren’t as likely as bigger ones to be able to offer wellness programs, but more health insurers are beginning to offer this option. If yours doesn’t, here are some options to consider:
- Contact hospitals in your area to see what kind of education and outreach programs they offer.
- Investigate the Weight Watchers at Work program to offer a weight management plan in the office.
- Consider bartering services with local wellness providers to offer classes in yoga, stress management, smoking cessation or other wellness related topics in your workplace.
The best advice, though, is to lead by example. Provide healthy drinks and snacks for meetings and some low-calorie choices if you bring in lunch. Encourage employees to get away from their desks during lunch and walk, work out or just decompress. Discourage sick employees from coming to the office; if they must work, offer the option to work at home so your staff stays healthy. You get the idea. Small businesses need every player on the team in peak condition—a wellness program is one way to get there.
How does wellness figure into your workplace, and what benefits have you seen from it?
Employee Wellness Benefits Keep Your Company Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Small Business News: Big Branding Benefits
Jan 8th
Branding is tied increasingly to success in business large and small. While branding might once have belonged more firmly in the realm of big business with larger marketing and advertising budgets, the Internet, social media and other tools and factors have changed this. From personal brands to individual branding for each of your products or services, many small businesses are realizing the degree to which branding is an important aspect of today’s small business environment. Join us as we review important lessons to master in this critical field for the modern entrepreneur. What’s your business brand? Don’t know? Read on…
Branding Basics
Basic branding with Twitter.One of the easiest tools to establish personal or business branding today is Twitter. The microblogging platform allows great flexibility with its 140 character posts. What you accomplish depends upon your strategy and approach. This Twitter Q and A tells you more. Personal Branding Blog
Branding misteps for companies large and small.Just as both large and small businesses now can take advantage of the power of branding, so both large and small businesses can be hurt by the simplest mistakes where their brand is concerned. A Starbucks rebranding this week showed how even the largest and most powerful of companies can suffer from branding misteps. What values are your brands communicating to your customers. Financial Post
Strategy
Using social media for small business branding. Using social media (Twitter, Facebook etc.) is, as suggested earlier, amongst the easiest ways to create a small business brand on a par with larger competitors. Branding consultant Silvia Pencak shares some broader tips you may want to consider when using these tools to distinguish your business, organization, product or service. Magnetic Look
Sending your small business brand global. One of the greatest potentials for using social media tools to brand your company is the possibility of sending your small business global. Before the Internet and social media, it took a big marketing or advertising budget and representatives around the world to gain global reach for your poroducts and services. Here’s how to use the new media to gain a whole new kind of advantage. Reuters
Self-development
Does integrity boost your branding? Here are three pieces of advice for building your brand all tied to an integrity-based approach telling others more about who you are and what you represent. Elinor Strutz’s approach pushes it to the limit and demands some soul searching. But when you[re through you should have an honest brand representing your own values and built to boost the kind of business you most want to attract. Personal Branding Blog
New Year’s resolutions for small business branding. Forget about loosing a few pounds or getting into shape! While the new year is still young, make a committment to loose those aspects of your brand that are not advancing your business and getting your small business brand and the message it sends to your customers in shape. Make a resolution to improve your brand with some simple tips. Logo DesignWorks
Advertising
Interactive trends will change the way we position our businesses forever. Conventional advertising is dead. But a new breed of interactive advertising including mobile communications, daily online deals and an integrated approach to marketing has taken its place. What message do you ewant to send about your latest product or service and how should you go about communicating? SF Gate
Investment
It’s time to invest in your brand. Investing in your business is always a good idea whether it’s with time, money or energy, but here Kristen Marie Schuerlein is talking about something more. Investing in your brand, as explained above, involves figuring out who you are and what makes you different when attracting customers or clients. Kriten has five good reasons to invest in your brand today. We think you’ll find it worth the effort. SuccessBug
Success Stories
How product reflects your brand. Toronto-based Ella’s Botanicals reflects its values and committment to locally produced, hand-made products with every bar of soap or bottle of lotion the company produces. Your brand cannot simply be a clever marketing campaign super imposed on a product that doesn’t match it’s image. TheStar.com
Small Business News: Big Branding Benefits
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
