If you missed our February webinar on Benefits Outsourcing, you’ve come to the right place. We sat down with PlanSource’s own Brian Phillips and Donny Usher to discuss all things outsourcing. They reviewed recent industry statistics, debunked common misconceptions, and explained just how much outsourcing can do. Keep reading to hear what Brian and Donny had to say regarding benefits outsourcing and how it can help HR teams.

As a result of the Great Resignation, 4.5 million US workers quit their jobs in November 2021. This is an 8.9% increase from the month prior and numbers indicate this will be an ongoing trend. As turnover rates skyrocket, HR teams are balancing the burden of additional admin work and their own inter-team turnover. They are challenged to come up with new strategies to boost retention and attract new talent while still managing traditional HR admin work. Donny summed up the pressure many HR teams are feeling with the perfect analogy: “It’s like being a triage nurse, what’s the next emergency? It’s hard to be strategic in that day-to-day.”

Additionally, M&A deal announcements were up 24% from 2020 for a total of 62,000 globally. Not only are HR teams having to respond and strategize to combat the Great Resignation, but many are also managing all the additional work that comes with a merger or acquisition. Gone are the days of HR being an administrative field – recruitment, engagement and retention strategies are now the top priorities. However, that doesn’t mean the daily, weekly and monthly administrative tasks are gone, which is why many HR leaders are looking for a new solution.

Benefits outsourcing can alleviate a lot of pain-points for a lot of HR teams, so why the hesitation? We asked our webinar audience about their biggest concerns and found:

• Our benefits are too complicated (50%)
• It’s too expensive (33%)
• It will cause people to lose their jobs (33%)
• We won’t be in control of our ben admin (33%)
• We are too small/too large of a company (17%)

Donny debunked these common misconceptions as he explained that outsourcing today is a highly customizable experience. HR teams can select the services they need to fill any gaps they may have. This can save them money by not having to hire a new team member while not taking jobs away from their current workforce. Additionally, benefits outsourcing partners are industry experts; there are no benefits too big, small or complicated that they can’t handle. Overall, your outsourcing partner is just that – a partner and extension of your team. They are here to work with and for you and relieve administrative burden.

​Brian brought up a good point as he delves into the benefits of outsourcing, “Consider the daily and weekly tasks and support you provide to manage your benefits program. How much of that is tied to strategic initiatives versus admin tasks that could potentially be outsourced?” This reflection is important to understanding just how much work could be taken off your plate by an outsourcing partner.

Daily support includes helping employees navigate their health choices, dealing with urgent eligibility processing and answering whatever questions may come up along the way. On a weekly basis, HR has even more workflows, processes and approvals to do from life event processing to document verification and more. Outsourcing can help manage all these tasks to make sure the items that come to HR are ones that truly need their attention.

Monthly billing and reporting can take weeks of time and effort. An outsource partner can work directly with carriers to manage list bills and work through discrepancies on your behalf. Even if you aren’t currently doing carrier and payroll audits every quarter or taking on big annual projects, your outsourcing partner can start doing these things for you. This way, you have an all-around better benefits program.

To hear more about what benefits outsourcing can do for you, see a product demo and hear a real-life outsourcing case study, you can watch our free, on-demand webinar here.

Additionally, register now for our 2022 Benefits Benchmark Report Sneak Peek webinar on Wednesday, March 9 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT for an exclusive first look at key benefit trends, insights and takeaways from this year’s report data.