Making its home amongst scores of other technology companies, GuideSpark recently relocated to its new home at:
1000 Elwell Court, Suite #225
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Positioned a stone’s throw from the scenic marshlands of the San Francisco Bay, our new offices have everything a growing company needs, including scores of handy parking spaces, easy access to the freely flowing 101, and a short drive to salubrious downtown Mountain View.
Now if we could just figure out where to eat lunch…
Connecting retirement benefits to the health benefit open enrollment period can dramatically increase 401(k) participation, found Bank of America Merrill Lynch. By providing easy “one-click” access to enroll in or make
Drive 401(k) participation by tying to Open Enrollment
contribution changes to 401(k) plans during open enrollment, employers have seen an increase in participation. The study showed an 11% year-over-year increase in the number of employees making a change to their retirement plan election as a result of the association with the health care open enrollment period. And nearly all of these election changes were positive (93%), meaning employees started or increased contributions to a plan.
The on-boarding process is critical to the productivity and retention of new employees. And while on-boarding is defined as the first 90 days of employment, most experts agree that a new hire’s assessment of a new employer
Meaningful New Hire Connections
is formed much, much sooner. In fact, like so many other things in life, your greatest opportunity to build trust and excitement about your organization is likely with the very first impression you make.
A recent study by Fidelity and the NBGH revealed that employer spending on wellness programs grew 43% to $154/employee in 2010. This level of growth and investment provides evidence that wellness
Start with a Financial Health Assessment
initiatives are: (1) becoming much more comprehensive and (2) demonstrating tangible business value.
In our own experiences with HR professionals, we see the expansion every day. Wellness strategies are evolving and many employers are looking to better understand how employee money issues are impacting the productivity of their organization.
Engage employees with video and social media
Video and social media are the way to engage employees these days, says Brian Baker, Vice President at Aon Hewitt Consultants, in a recent interview with Benefits TV.
Baker discusses balancing the “tell” with the “show” by crafting benefits messages using video.
Aon Hewitt presents their four Cs to an effective strategy for employee benefits communications and change management-through-engagement. They recommend utilizing video and social mediums to disseminate communications that are:
Employees seek retirement advice from their employers
A majority of people have agreed they would like more guidance from their employer about how to achieve retirement goals according to the 11th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey.
Perhaps not surprisingly, employees with a higher overall education level are more likely to be financially well in retirement. Only 63% of employees with only a high school diploma participated in a retirement plan, as opposed to 84% of those with a college degree.
Once upon a time, the number one priority for benefits programs was to attract, motivate and retain talented employees. That time was 2007. As the economy melted down and layoffs began, retention quickly took a backseat to benefits cost cutting priorities.
Benefits Communications Turn Risk Into Opportunity
As the economy improves, the tide may be turning once again according to several new studies. Here are some key findings:
Despite the optimism regarding the economy in 2011, employees are still feeling cautious about their money,
Employees Remain Cautious
according to the Q4:2010 Principal Financial Well-Being Index survey. Here are some of the key takeaways:
40-52% of workers are delaying their retirement.
70 is the “new 65,” according to Sun Life Financial. Their Unretirement Index, along with Towers Watson’s 2010 Global Workforce Study, show that 40-52% of Americans will delay their retirement due to ill financial health.
Towers Watson found 68% of those workers will continue working in order to keep their health care coverage, while 61% cited their lacking 401(k) plans as the reason for staying. Sun Life found that only 25% are “very confident” they will be able to cover medical expenses in retirement.
Voluntary benefits are ineffective without proper education.
Conceptually, offering voluntary benefits has a lot of attractive qualities for employers. In fact, 65% of employees said their voluntary benefits made them feel more loyal at work. But is simply offering them enough?
Voluntary benefits are ineffective without proper education, according to MetLife’s 2010 research and survey. These are valuable options for employees and employers alike, yet they are shrouded with misconception.
Consider the following statistics found in the recent studies:
