GuideSpark, Inc. announced two new modules for its online Benefits Learning Center solution, streamlining Open Enrollment communications and New Hire Training.
GuideSpark automates these key yet resource-intensive business processes to free up HR staff, reduce costs and allow employers to realize the full value of their benefits investments.
Each module provides a central online destination to access multimedia benefits education. The Open Enrollment module details benefits changes for the upcoming plan year, offers customized checklists of items to be completed and links to enrollment resources. The New Hire Training module educates new employees about their total compensation package, benefits enrollment procedures and orientation-related topics. Both provide a cost-effective option for using rich, engaging multimedia to educate and communicate with employees on HR topics.
Watch our new demo videos: New Hire Training and Open Enrollment
Monthly Archive for August, 2009
Today, GuideSpark announced two new modules for its Benefits Learning Center solution. These modules automate and streamline New Hire Training and benefits communications for Open Enrollment. As companies continue to prioritize doing more with less, many employers are looking for more efficient and effective ways to deal with these resource-intensive processes.
Consider for a moment the staff time and dollars go into facilitating New Hire Training and Open Enrollment each year. Many companies we’ve met with offer half-day New Hire orientations on a near weekly basis. Not to mention the time and effort that goes into the creation of the stacks of paper that employees receive on their first day. Open enrollment presents a similar situation. Each year, HR staff offer a collection of live seminars to explain benefits changes, often preceded by brochures, mailers and the like. Despite all of this effort, nearly 80% of employers believe that their employees do not have a good understanding of their benefits.
I visited my childhood pediatrician until age 28. Why? Well, I trusted his judgment and there was just a huge amount of peace of mind that came with dealing with a physician who had first-hand experience with just about every entry in my medical history. Dr. Blair was never once in the network of doctors offered by my medical plans and therefore I had to pay 20% more for care. Fortunately for me, it was only 20%.
A recent BusinessWeek article “Helping an Employee in a Personal Financial Crisis” had a number of eye-opening estimates about the effect of financial distress on employees and employers. The article sites the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation estimating the cost of personal financial woes to corporations at $4.5 Billion annually and a Chicago consultant estimating a financially unstable worker can cost a company as much as $480 per month.
As a company focused on improving the financial health of employees, it’s good to see BusinessWeek covering small business examples, as it shows the depth of the problem. While larger companies like IBM, Pepsi and Home Depot have received good press coverage over the past few years for their financial education and literacy programs, smaller companies are also taking notice and implementing programs. I think this section from the BusinessWeek article sums it up the problem well: