Worksite Smarter.
Start this year with the end in mind

Posted on: January 24, 2023

As we kick off a new year, I was thinking…What would be the best starting point for benefits professionals to think about when and how to optimize their opportunities and client engagement? According to Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he defines the second habit as “Begin with the end in mind.” When you consider group voluntary benefits and its intent to help employers recruit and retain top talent, we must also consider that the ultimate end goal is to provide working Americans access to benefits that lead to improved financial security. So perhaps starting with the end in mind can help elevate opportunities—for you, your clients, and working Americans.

Group voluntary benefits solutions offered at the workplace is a convenient way for working Americans to obtain financial well-being for themselves and those that count on them. But is convenience enough? If it was, then why aren’t we seeing more employees take advantage and participate? Are working Americans not connecting the dots of financial well-being to their voluntary benefits? What is it about the perceived value of the opportunity that is not resonating?

Perhaps it is a lack of relevancy. So, relevancy is the word that comes to mind for me with a renewed focus on how to drive it. And I believe that driver may be data—to inspire, to inform, to take action. How we leverage and integrate data across these three dimensions is how we can demonstrate relevance with the right message at the right time with the right offer. Opportunity that goes beyond mere convenience with the right engagement has the potential to propel participation to the next level.

Also, to be relevant means to know your customer intimately and anticipate changing needs and challenges. It’s not easy to keep a pulse on the shifting perceptions of working Americans—an audience associated with the middle market—and their views on financial security and benefits at the workplace. Keeping aware of the latest trends may help strengthen your client engagement and help you build your own thought leadership. A big challenge is finding the time or the tools to curate those insights.

Fortunately, we recently launched the Workforce Financial Stability Score℠ (WFSS) and survey to do just that. The WFSS helps gauge the financial confidence of working Americans and, along the way, we ask additional probing questions monthly to capture any notable sentiments. The WFSS is posted monthly, and we’ll share additional insights quarterly. Use our findings to help you discover opportunities with insights to better guide clients.

Benefits at work need to work harder for working Americans—and the time to transform is now. Be relevant. It’s all part of making Worksite Better…together.

Happy New Year!