Practice management

As HR/benefits outsourcing becomes a larger part of employers' overall business strategy, industry professionals' primary job no longer is putting out small fires. Rather, practitioners are blazing trails toward workforce and organizational development.

Strategic partnerships come in all shapes and sizes. They can run the range from partnering on service offerings to joint marketing programs, but sometimes they involve technology. And when they do, you want to make sure that your partner's technology is aligned with your market strategy and the technology needs of your clients today and in the future.

What is the difference between a manager and a leader? According to Warren Bennis, founder of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, "Managers do things right, but leaders do the right thing." A world of difference exists between these two individuals. Which camp do you fall into? Most people have some management acumen, but a minority has the stuff it takes to be a great leader.

This month we discuss the use of article writing in your marketing and positioning yourself as an expert in your industry.

Offering a retirement plan can be one of the most challenging - yet rewarding - decisions an employer can make. The employees participating in the plan, their beneficiaries, and the employer all may benefit when a retirement plan is in place. Administering a plan and managing its assets, however, requires certain actions and involves specific responsibilities governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Employees do not save enough for their eventual retirement needs, research shows. But, with tools, help and education from financial advisers that paradigm may shift - benefiting not only the employee but the employer and adviser.

While many brokers are worried about the future, Mike Sullivan of Digital Insurance is excited about it and the many opportunities that will present themselves.

New research by Cheryl Retzloff, senior research director of LIMRA Markets, has identified a market that is largely untapped by life insurers — the single-household. According to LIMRA’s “2011 Life Insurance Buyer/Non-buyer” study that found only 39% of U.S. households recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance in the past two years, only 26% of single people recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance. This is compared to the 74% of married people.

Employees around the country are in need of direct, simple guidance to help them reach their retirement goals, according to a survey released by State Street Global Advisors.

Can you imagine a world where the “new norm” required insurers and providers to disclose what they charge upfront? Read as Mark Gaunya, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Underwriters, shares two specific messages he took to the Hill at the Cap Conference and the outcome.

The health care system is “so screwed up in where we invest our money,” and that needs to change for costs to become manageable, said a health researcher Tuesday.

FORTUNE magazine released its 2012 list of "100 Best Companies to Work For," which contained four insurers and a handful of vendors and consultants that play in the insurance space.

Is every business a potential client? The answer depends on who you ask and where you are in your business evolution. Thinking back to my humble beginning . . . every business was a potential client. If they were moving I went after them! There was no target market. There was no ideal size, industry or appropriate corporate culture. …

As the industry faces shrinking distribution, profitable growth is a top priority for life insurance executives in 2012. This is the essence of LOMA’s annual industry forecast, which includes the results of executive interviews conducted on topics such as sales, distribution, use of technology and social media, as well as the effects of regulation during the next 12 months.

This month I wanted to discuss strategic alliances as a strategy for broadening your practice capabilities and potentially changing your business model. In an ideal world, a strategic alliance will permit you to enhance your value proposition and your client offering without having to build or buy the resources, skills, and capabilities. Are any of you contemplating an alliance right now? It seems like it is a timely topic and that it’s prudent to at…

Thursday morning, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed a ballroom in Washington, D.C. of more than 200 people invested in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Last year, staggering numbers revealed a massive life insurance sales gap. In a new report, called “The Elusive Life Insurance Purchaser,” Aite Group attempts to demystify the life industry’s enigmatic consumers.

Happy New Year! Are you pumped up for the New Year? Okay, I have to admit I am running out of juicy material for my ethics blog posts. So here’s my request for help from you. Leave your responses in the comments. In your opinion: What ethical issues does our industry need to address? What is the biggest ethical challenge you have ever faced? Do you have an ethical challenge in your business practice now? What do you feel is…

Did you make a resolution at the start of this year? If so, you’re in good company. About 4 out of 10 Americans make resolutions each year. While you are setting goals to lose weight, exercise more, and spend more time with the kids, how about making one or two resolutions that can help you and your client improve your benefits communications? Here are a few ideas to…

If the health care law is implemented without the individual mandate insurance premiums would rise by as much as 25%, according to a new report by the Urban Institute Health Policy.