3 Strategies for HR Professionals to Ensure a Smoother Benefits Renewal Process

By Curtis McCone

For Canadian HR professionals, the strain of managing the benefits renewal process has reached new heights as many struggle to offer a complete benefits package that both attracts and retains employees.

Consider these three strategies to make your benefits renewal process efficient and productive.

Develop a process: Many organizations don’t have a process for renewing their benefits and may even be unaware of when their benefits are up for renewal. As a result, they may lack data to understand which benefits their employees are using or new benefits those employees may be requesting.

Institute multi-year planning: Investing in multi-year planning allows HR professionals to discuss goals and priorities with their broker and ensure the available resources – like human capital and finances – are adequate to implement them.

The demands of benefits renewals can be overwhelming. Employees might be asking for new benefits that were never offered before. The finance team might be asking to cut budgets, and management may not grasp the seriousness of employee retention and attraction. There may also be legislative changes complicating the renewal. Creating a multi-year plan can take all these factors into account and provide ample time to determine which factors will impact your program.

According to HUB’s 2018 Benefits Barometer Canada Study, less than half (45 percent) of respondents said they plan more than a year ahead for their benefits. This leaves a large segment that aren’t giving thoughtful consideration to their plans ahead of time, possibly creating a rush at the end to figure everything out.

Develop a collaborative relationship with your broker: Unfortunately, many HR professionals who struggle with renewals tend to lack a collaborative relationship with their broker. As a result, they are caught off guard when their renewals come up, move from insurer to insurer simply because it’s the least expensive option at the time, and wind up with rates that aren’t sustainable year over year.

Break the cycle by establishing clear expectations from your broker. A good broker will tell you when your renewal package is on its way and give you the data you need to make adjustments and changes for the next year. Establishing this partnership with your broker will help you better understand your business needs and allow you to work together to achieve your goals.

Renewing employee benefits doesn’t have to be the stressful, time-consuming task it has been. With a broker partner to guide you through the process, your organization can provide appropriate benefits to help you attract and retain talent while fully leveraging your financial and staffing resources.

HUB International’s team of brokers has extensive experience in designing the full range of employee benefit programs and can help you gather the data you need to navigate the benefits renewal process efficiently and effectively.