Is Your Benefits Advisor Due a Performance Review?

You probably have a performance review process for your employees. You may even have a system for reviewing your HR processes, the software you use, and the vendors that you contract. But, when was the last time you reviewed the person advising you on one of your organization's largest employee expenses?  

Your benefits advisor shouldn't get an automatic “meets expectations” every year simply because your renewal was processed on time. They should also be helping you understand your plan, manage its costs, support your employees, identify opportunities and help you make better decisions about your benefits strategy. Being a benefits advisor is a full-service role that doesn’t happen just once a year. That’s why your benefits advisor deserves a performance review too.  

If you’re not quite sure what to evaluate them on, here are 6 key performance areas that you can look at.  

Performance area 1: Strategic thinking 

Does your advisor think (and importantly, work) beyond your renewal date? While the benefits industry is often renewal-focused, making decisions and having productive renewal conversations requires an understanding of plan performance all year round, market alternatives that fluctuate, emerging risks and longer-term strategy - not to mention your organization’s changing workforce. Truly strategic thinking is much more than simply presenting the carrier's renewal proposal, and it happens all year long.  

What to look for in your advisor: 

• Regular review of the plan, not just at renewal time 

• Understanding of your organization's goals and workforce 

• Recommendations based on changing employee demographics/needs 

• A longer-term benefits strategy that thinks into the future 

Here’s an interesting question: When was the last time your advisor brought you an idea you hadn't asked for? 

Performance area 2: Financial and plan expertise 

Can your advisor actually explain what is happening with your plan? And do it in a way that everyone who needs to can understand them? If your benefits advisor hands you a renewal number but can't clearly explain what's behind it, you're reviewing the number, not the strategy. While the numbers are important, knowing them isn't particularly useful if your HR or leadership teams don’t understand what they mean. 

Evaluate whether your advisor: 

• Analyzes claims experience, comparing utilization rates to premiums paid 

• Explains what's driving costs 

• Identifies trends in your organization and within the industry 

• Benchmarks your plan appropriately 

• Explains pooling/large claims where relevant 

• Connects the numbers to actual recommendations 

• Talks about plan design 

Here’s an interesting question: Has your broker done anything to help reduce the chances of costly claims in the future? 

Performance area 3: Advocacy 

Who do they work for when the answer isn't straightforward? Whose side are they on when something goes wrong? Do they represent you and your organization or do they sound like they work for the insurers? Your benefits advisor’s job is to be your advisor, and while they may be paid in part by the insurers depending on the compensation model, they are to act as intermediaries, meaning they work for the employer, not the insurance company. That means, how and when they show up matters. Think of the last difficult benefits problem your organization encountered. Did your advisor solve it, help you solve it, or simply tell you what the carrier said? 

Ask yourself these questions about your advisor:

• What happens when a claim is complicated or denied?

• Who deals with the carrier?

• Does the advisor help resolve problems?

• Do they proactively flag issues?

• Do they challenge carrier decisions or simply pass information along?

Here’s an interesting question: When was the last time your advisor fought a battle so you didn't have to?

Performance area 4: Employee experience and support

Does your benefits advisor do anything to help your employees understand and actually use the benefits you've paid for? A benefits plan isn't particularly valuable if your employees don't know what they have, how to use it or where to go when they have a question, even if the plan design itself looks good on paper. That means, a benefits program is only as good as employee comprehension and communication about the program. Your advisors can and should support both.

Evaluate whether or not your advisor offers:

• Employee education

• New-hire/onboarding support

• Benefits communication

• Resources throughout the year

• Help navigating confusing situations

• Financial wellness support

• Direct communication with employees

Here’s an interesting question: Has your advisor suggested alternative programs to support your employees physical and mental wellbeing?

Performance area 5: Service and responsiveness

If you only hear from your benefits advisor once a year, we have news for you. It’s not enough. What happens the rest of the year? What happens between your meetings? Things don’t stay static in your organization and they don’t stay static with your employees. Circumstances are constantly changing, and that means your benefits plan might need to too. When your benefits advisor shows up is a reflection on their service level. There’s a real difference between “they respond when we need them” and “they contact us when there’s something we should know.”

Here are some practical questions to ask about your advisor: 

• How often do you meet with them?

• How quickly do they respond?

• Who actually answers your questions?

• Do you have a consistent contact person?

• How far in advance are you notified of your renewal adjustment?

• When there are outstanding issues, do they follow through?

• Do they anticipate issues in the first place?

• Are they available outside of renewal season?

• How much administrative work are they actually taking off your plate?

Here’s an interesting question: What does your benefits advisor do on the 364 days of the year when you aren't renewing? 

If you’re not sure, then consider what they should be doing: reviewing your plan, initiating claims/utilization conversations, assisting with employee education, informing you about changing legislation, tell you about new carrier programs, identifying opportunities to change your plan design, assisting with admin related to workforce changes and helping you identify ways to manage your costs.

Performance area 6: Value

Are you getting enough value for what you're paying? Value is about more than getting the lowest renewal costs. Having the lowest premium is not necessarily a measure of success - not when that lower price comes from reducing coverage or shifting costs to employees. Instead, you want to look for signs that your advisor aligns with your values and offers you and your employees coverage that matters, flexibility when they need it and support that means something. 

Consider the following:

• Is your advisor showing you alternative options?

• Are they helping you avoid unnecessary costs?

• Are they helping employees get more value from the plan?

• Is their compensation transparent?

• Do they provide education pertaining to your administrative responsibilities?

Here’s an interesting question: Is your benefits plan still appropriate for your workforce?

If your plan is no longer serving its intended purpose of supporting employees’ current needs and circumstances and your advisor is doing nothing to balance costs with coverage, are you really getting value? 

Your advisor’s performance review

When reviewing your advisor across all six areas, you should be looking at the gaps, rather than the total.Maybe your advisor is excellent at renewal negotiations but rarely checks in throughout the year. Maybe they're responsive but don't bring strategic recommendations. Maybe they know the numbers inside out but provide little employee education. The overall score isn't really the point of this exercise; the conversation it starts is. By using this framework, you can identify the areas where your advisor might be able to offer you more. 

Here’s an interesting question: If your benefits advisor were an employee, would their performance over the past 12 months demonstrate that they're doing the job you hired them to do? And if you wouldn't accept the same level of performance from an employee, why accept it from one of your most important professional partners?

If you're not sure how your current benefits advisor measures up, a second opinion can give you a clearer picture - without requiring you to make a change. Reach out to us if we can offer that second view.