Views

  • There is a lot riding on the Supreme Court’s health reform decision for all stakeholders. Brokers and consultants need to be prepared to advise their clients, says EBA Advisory Board member Mark Gaunya, who highlights what you should be thinking about while we wait for the decision.

    June 25
  • “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is that cliché describing what we typically do. We tend to react to things that are broken rather than anticipate and deal with things before they’re totally broken. Tom Peters eloquently coined the expression “the enemy of great is good” in his best seller Good to Great. How does this apply to all of us in the employee benefits business? It doesn’t matter if you are a producer, account…

    June 21
  • Communication is not just important for business … it is essential for the very existence and operation of any business. A benefit adviser must transfer its knowledge to clients as well as receive information – communication consists of a mutual exchange. With the advent of technology, we have cell phones, video conferencing, and emails. However, how we use these avenues is the question we must ask ourselves. …

    June 19
  • I know you can think like an employer for your employees, but what about the perspective of an employer, as in one of your clients? In the past I have written about centers of influence, advisors’ value proposition, and strategic alliances. All of these topics are necessary for advisers to concentrate on as we maintain and develop our clients and our business. But have you really thought about the adviser role wearing the “employer hat”? …

    June 11
  • Benefits are typically structured to reward and motivate employees who stay at the company for the long haul. For example, retirement rewards and paid time off usually get sweeter as time goes on. Dangling a long-term benefits carrot makes sense for driving retention right? — Perhaps not when it comes to Gen Y workers. As companies focus on attracting and keeping a pipeline of Gen Y employees, I maintain that, when it comes to benefits,…

    June 4
  • Last week I had the good fortune of attending and speaking in New York at a two day conference of HR managers from the Engineering and Consulting industry. These firms convene annually to learn how other firms deal with their issues i.e. sharing best practices. The topics, for this meeting, included navigating the regulatory environment, M&A activity, integrating employees and cultures when completing an acquisition, managing benefit costs while maintaining a quality benefit portfolio, hiring the…

    May 30
  • One of the most difficult hires for any agency to make is to hire a new producer that will produce on par with your most successful producers. While I’m not suggesting giving up on that effort, I would encourage you to make sure you are reviewing your current production team and constantly rehiring the successful producers you already have. Huh?! - Well, not necessarily in the literal sense …

    May 21
  • The annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends, which tracks major trends and attitudes on the subject of employee benefits, was recently released and it has a good news/bad news message for employers. EBA contributor Ron Leopold shares five ways progressive employers stand out in the benefits arena.

    May 14
  • One broker looks at how his company walks the talk with wellness programs and says how that can work for all your clients.

    May 10
  • An effective dialysis management program optimizes the way kidney dialysis is paid for and how treatment is provided. Read as Sam Fleet explains in today's BeAdvised how insurance brokers can help companies capture these savings by bringing them together with innovative benefit managers.

    May 8