Additional resources

Many of the major consulting firms also publish annual survey reports on employee benefits. These surveys offer comparisons of benefit plans and insights to benefits issues. You may want to consult:

  • Towers Watson's Survey Report on Employee Benefit Policies and Practices

  • Compdata's National Survey of Company Benefits Programs and Policies

 

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Employer focus
Benchmarking: how do your benefits measure up?

Employers want to offer quality employee benefits at reasonable costs – but how do you know if what you offer is competitive? Whether it is salary, retirement benefits, medical plans or life insurance, knowing how your benefits measure up to other employers in your industry is important. Benchmarking can confirm a need for change and identify areas for improvement.

So where should you start?

Begin with the end in mind

The first step in beginning a benchmark exercise is to identify the areas you wish to know more about. What do you want to learn from your search? Are you looking for information on one specific benefit? Or are you interested in finding out if your total benefits package meets norms in your industry?

Lisa Phillips, manager of employee benefits at Securian Financial Group, looks for insights on the company’s total package. "We make a concerted effort to provide an overall benefit program that compares favorably with other employers,” she says. “Individual benefits offered may be more or less generous, but we strive for the overall program to equal or exceed the value of benefit programs in the marketplace in which the company competes for talented people."

Areas you may want to consider benchmarking include:

  • Benefits being offered
  • Program spend
  • Rates of participation
  • Premium contributions (employer vs. employee cost)

Add legislation into the equation

The benefit landscape continues to change with each piece of new legislation. In 2010, the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) turned the medical benefits world on its ear. Now, nearly a year later, employers are still adjusting to the new law’s many provisions – and there are more changes to come. This is just one (albeit dramatic) example of the need to stay current on what other employers are doing to comply with or adapt to new legislation.

Editor’s note: The PPACA, which phases in over a four year period, undoubtedly may impact how you plan to offer medical benefits in the future. For information on upcoming provisions, see Healthcare.gov’s interactive timeline.

Where to turn for answers

With so many variables in play, both in the marketplace and on Capitol Hill, where can an employer turn for assistance? Securian uses national and local survey data to compare the value of our benefit programs to other peer companies.

Here are several suggested sources:

Want to know how your group life insurance plan stacks up against industry peers when it comes to amounts of coverage, features such as portability and waiver of premium or plan extensions such as spouse and child coverage and Accidental Death and Dismemberment? We offer benchmarking as a free service to clients. Contact your client relationship advisor for more information.

Resources:

“Benchmarking: How can I compare my organization's benefits to those offered by other companies?” Society for Human Resource Management, April 18, 2008.

Bridgeford, Lydell C. “PPACA heightens the need to benchmark benefit programs,” Employee Benefit News, March 1, 2011.

Nugent, Anthony J. “Measuring up: The strategic use of benchmarking and voluntary benefits,” Benefits Selling Magazine, February 2010.