Benefits consulting firm Buck is offering an AI-enabled platform for users to manage their HR administration and benefits services.
The new BuckConnect platform aggregates employer’s health, wealth management and career program benefits into one system for employees. As companies invest in a variety of new benefits offerings for workers, employees may not always have the ability to access all of their benefits information in one place, says Scot Marcotte, Buck's chief technology officer.
BuckConnect, released in November, is hoping to change that, he says.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all. It’s really understanding where the needs are of that individual and making sure that we’re putting information into their hands that is relevant,” Marcotte says.
BuckConnect can be integrated with any benefits program that a company is using, Marcotte says. Employers often work with multiple vendors to provide benefits plans, he adds. For example, if a company has one vendor for health insurance, one for a wellness platform and one for a 401(k), they can integrate all of that into one system on BuckConnect to ensure that employees engage with their benefits beyond just once a year.
“We want this to be an ongoing dialogue and not just a visit at open enrollment,” he says.
Daimler Trucks North America, one of the employers on BuckConnect, used the system to integrate payroll, health and welfare benefits, pensions, 401(k) plans and company car benefits for employees.
"With our diverse and national workforce, enabling employees to easily access all of their benefits and compensation information, and engage them in their programs, had been a challenge for us," Terri Moore, senior benefits specialist at Daimler, says in a statement. Since implementing the system, Moore says the company has seen an increase in employee engagement with their benefits. About 67% of employees regularly use the tool, she adds.
If an employee just left school, Marcotte says the tool also can be customized to provide information on a student loan repayment program or other benefits offerings a company that make sense for a recent graduate.
For employers, BuckConnect provides analytics on HR administration and benefits plans. Employers can track a particular workers performance, for example, and see how that has changed over time compared to their compensation plan, Marcotte says.
“It has to have relevance to the individual and mean something to them," he says. "We often encourage our clients to say think from the employee’s perspective.”
