You’ve probably heard about the benefits administration process, but do you really understand what it involves? At its core, benefits administration involves managing employee benefits within an organization, including developing and managing benefit plans, communicating with employees about benefits, conducting open enrollment, working with carriers, and ongoing benefits management. However, thanks to advancements in software, what was once a very difficult, manual, paper-intensive process has now been revolutionized into a mostly software-driven process.
What is Benefits Administration?
Benefits administration, or ben admin, is an integral process that ensures employees receive the best healthcare and other benefits, and that HR personnel can run the enrollment and ongoing management process smoothly. With the rapid advancement of technology, benefits administration software solutions have become the norm. These solutions provide automation and analytics capabilities that help employers with visibility across different departments and offer employees better benefits engagement.
Today, ben admin involves using software to help employees with their benefits enrollment and employers with managing the process during open enrollment and throughout the year. While the intent of benefits administration remains the same – to help employees with their benefits enrollment and employers with managing the process – the processes have become more streamlined, automated, and accessible thanks to today’s software-driven approach.
How Does Benefits Administration Help Employees?
One of the primary advantages of adopting a software-driven benefits administration process is the ease of access for employees. Instead of the paper-based approach in which benefits had to be shared physically with employees, software solutions provide self-service portals that allow employees to access their benefits anytime, anywhere. This is invaluable when employees are remote, working from home, or in the field.
Another one of the primary benefits of benefits administration for employees is that it simplifies the benefits open enrollment process. This helps employees to better understand what benefits are available to them and what makes sense for their individual needs. It also assists employees to make informed decisions when it comes to healthcare coverage and other benefits, by providing them with decision support tools and other resources. This, in turn, can help employees to feel more satisfied with and engaged in their work and the organization overall.
How Does Benefits Administration Help Employers?
From the perspective of an employer, benefits administration can help to keep employees happy and motivated. When employees are satisfied with their healthcare and other benefits packages, they are more likely to stay with the company and be more productive while they’re there. Additionally, using modern benefits software solutions can save HR personnel valuable time and resources, which are no longer tied up in answering questions from employees regarding their benefits.
The time savings that result from the automation of the benefits administration process cannot be overstated. It reduces the time and resources required for HR personnel to enroll employees in the right benefits plans, ensure accurate data entry, and track their employees’ benefits usage. This has made it easier to manage benefits throughout the year, freeing up HR teams to focus on more strategic responsibilities. By automating many of the ben admin processes, analytics, and reporting capabilities are also improved, which can help employers to gain better visibility on cost and other important metrics that can inform decision-making and company management.
Conclusion
The benefits of benefits administration are clear for both employees and employers alike, from simpler and more informed benefits enrollment for employees to happier, more productive, and engaged workforces, which can result in an improved bottom line. Selerix is the leader in the field of benefits administration and wants to help your organization streamline and automate your ben admin process. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions that you might have or to learn more about how we can help your organization.
