What steps are you taking to prepare for cost increases?

The rising costs in healthcare have left many employers helpless in finding a way to provide proper benefits for their employees.  Without proper guidance from a professional benefits consultant the answers may not be easy!

what have recent surveys uncovered?

In order to cope with anticipated cost increases, many employers plan on:

§ passing on increases to employees (88%)

§ reducing health benefits and programs (74% )

§ absorbing costs in the business (33%)

§ passing on increases to customers (20%)

to read more please follow this link: http://tiny.cc/g5e08

Has your team developed a plan of attack?  We would greatly appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss some of the different options that are available to you.  Please contact us today! 479-452-300 or info@groupbenefitsnetwork.com


Please visit our website at http://www.groupbenefitsnetwork.com/

Finding a Solution for Now & Planning for your Future

When times are tough many employers have had to reduce their employee benefit offerings.  As a company how can you manage to offer what you can afford and still retain and recruit key employees?  Communication, education, and planning are key! 

Communication: share relevant information with your employees about their benefits.  Assure them that you are working to make sure they have all of the coverage they need but that understanding and patience on their part is appreciated.

Education: teach your employees how to properly use their insurance.  Help to eliminate unnecessary hospital visits, illness, and absenteeism by providing low cost highly effective wellness programs, gym memberships, or yoga classes.  Provide alternatives that will keep your employees active, healthy and focused.

Planning:  given the current economic state what can you afford to provide now vs. what you would like to offer in the future?  Having a road map will greatly decrease stress and added costs while increasing employee perception.  This also allows for companies to forecast their budget based upon what tools will need to be put in place to run their benefit plans efficiently.

Some things to think about...

·         What are the basic benefits you must provide to your employees?

·         What fits into your organizational budget right now

·         In a perfect world what benefits would you like to provide to your employees

·         What is the best combination of all of the above?

If you are interested in learning more about how you can increase employee perception while still managing to offer a cost effective solution call our consultants today at Group Benefits Network:  479-452-3000 or info@groupbenefitsnetwork.com

HR: Now doing even more with less...

Budget Cuts, Layoffs, Down Sizing just a few of the phrases that HR Professionals are hearing each day.  As more and more changes are made due to bugetary constraints additional workload and pressure is placed on the HR department.  When employees are demanding better benefits and CFO's are forced to cut budget where do you turn?

Recent Surveys reveal that the majority of HR Professionals view the following as the top three priorities for their position:

1. Succession Planning
2. Employee Retention
3. Providing leadership with better management and reporting

During a time of economic turmoil what should an HR team do? Continue to forage ahead and try to provide the best benefits they can with a dramatically decreased budget? 

Human Resource Publication recently quoted Tom Redman a professor of human resource management.

He had the following to say: “There are more than 100 studies showing HR positively impacts the bottom line and improves performance. No recession will make this go away. But I can't help thinking that if CEOs genuinely believed this they would not cut HR spend.' The fact spend is being cut says something about management values - their core values are deeply embedded, they don't always appreciate HR and, in some cases, make irrational decisions.”


Now that you must do more with less what partnerships and programs will you put in place to maximize impact with a minimal budget?

To learn more about Group Benefit Networks benefit programs that are customized to meet the needs of your company please contact us at (479)452-3000.  Our goal is to provide your employees with a plan that meets their needs which will lead to proper utilization at a cost that your company can afford.