With the myriad of software and mobile apps designed to simplify benefit administration, the focus shifts from meeting employee needs to consolidating employee benefits. Employees become lost in a maze of benefits, resulting in under utilization of their benefits and a lack of knowledge about how their benefits can meet their everyday needs. Life event technology changes all that by bringing the focus back to the individual – by addressing each individual employee’s unique life needs through harnessing the power of modern technology.
What is a life event and how do life events relate to benefits? A life event is defined as “any significant step, event, or milestone a person may experience in their life”. Consider all of the life events that employees may experience over the course of their career – from getting married, to pregnancy, to grief, to finding the right college for their child, all the way up to retirement. With traditional benefit administration technology, benefits are consolidated but still siloed with no connection to the life events occurring in employees’ lives. An employee purchasing a home has no guidance on how any of his or her existing benefits can help during the home buying process. Similarly, an employee providing care for an ill family member is provided no information as to how his or her benefits can alleviate the stress of caregiving. Using life event technology, an employee’s life event is the hub around which the employee’s benefits revolve, with each benefit applied to assist with each unique life event.
Let’s take a more in depth look at the two life events mentioned above that many employees experience to see how life event technology works to assist employees:
Purchasing a Home
Buying a home is a significant and often overwhelming time in a person’s life. Fortunately, many employees have a variety of benefits available to support them throughout this process. For example, an employee may choose to access their Retirement Benefit in order to borrow money against their 401K for a down payment. The employee could utilize their Work/Life Benefit for assistance researching home prices, neighborhoods, school districts, moving companies, etc. The employee could also use their Financial Benefit to learn about mortgage structures, interest rates, rolling property taxes into the mortgage or paying separately, etc. Finally, the employee could access their pre-paid Legal Benefit to help review closing documents.
Caring for a Loved One With a Serious Illness
Helping a loved one through a serious illness is a stressful and emotional time that often impacts an employee’s overall productivity. There are many benefits that can help with this distressing life event. Of course, if the loved one is a dependent, the employee will be utilizing their Health Insurance frequently. When dealing with a serious illness of a dependent, an employee’s Health Advocacy service would be very helpful with specialist referrals/pre-authorizations/bill mediation/medication information/etc. If the loved one has a terminal illness, the employee should be reminded to review their Life Insurance benefit. The employee could also utilize their free Legal Consultation to assist in developing an estate plan if the diagnosis is terminal. Dealing with the illness of a loved one can be extremely stressful and an employee’s EAP is available to help them handle the situation. Caring for a loved one can also be draining and even start to impact the employee’s own health. By utilizing their Wellness Benefit the employee can learn relaxation techniques/healthy eating techniques/quick exercises/etc. to help keep themselves healthy.
As we can see, even the most unlikely benefits can complement one another. With life event technology, employees receive individual guidance about how their benefits can work together to assist with their life events. As a result, employers receive a higher return on investment of their benefit dollars while employees receive a much more effective benefit experience and customized guidance about their individual life needs.
Learn more about our life event technology and join the HR revolution by reviewing BalanceBenefits on our website. You can order “Beyond Benefits” by Gene Raymondi, CEO and thought leader, watch our quick video, request a demo, or simply send us an email requesting more information.
