Knowledge Series

Is Your Benefits Strategy Aligned with Your Business Goals?

In most cases, the answer is no. Business owners often view benefits as an expense and only focus on lowering their monthly cost. This is understandable because benefits can be expensive and may feel out of control. As such, it seems wise to negotiate lower rates.

While we can help you to get lower rates, we’ve learned that rates are not the most important issue and that focusing on them could cost you more money in the long-run. Rate negotiations often result in reducing the quality of your coverage or changing suppliers, which undermines the perceived stability of your plan in the eyes of your employees.

These changes could even cause a valued employee to leave your company for better benefits with a competitor. Losing an important employee can be extremely disruptive and could cost you a lot of time and money. There is also the problem that your benefits may no longer be attractive to potential employees. These are some of the hidden costs of focusing on price and missing the big picture.

That's why we recommend that you view your benefits program as a strategic tool that can help you:

  • attract and retain better employees,
  • boost morale,
  • improve productivity,
  • and help you achieve your business goals.

By understanding what you expect your benefits to accomplish we can focus your budget on achieving those results.

We have created a special program called The Strategy Alignment Process ™. It’s a step-by-step process that helps you align your benefits strategy with your overall business goals.

  1. Assessing your current situation is the first step:
    • What do your employees think and feel about your plan?
    • How does it compare to your competitors' plans?
    • And does it give you a competitive advantage?
  2. Step two is clarifying both your business goals and your benefits goals to make sure they are aligned.
  3. Step three is developing a benefits strategy based on three elements:
    • corporate culture,
    • workforce advantage, and
    • cost advantage.

We have learned that this strategic approach can help you:

  • save time and money,
  • attract and retain excellent employees,
  • and achieve your business goals.

If you are interested in working on your benefits alignment strategy, we offer a free 90-minute starter session. To schedule the starter session, call 905-577-7685 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Benefit Leadership

Some clients are benefit managers while others are benefit leaders.

Benefit management generates incremental changes that are designed to keep your budget under control. Benefit managers use supplier negotiations and cost shifting through employee contributions, coinsurance, limits and formularies to maintain the status quo.

Benefit leadership challenges the status quo by envisioning an ideal future, setting the direction and developing strategies to produce change. Benefit leaders use creativity, inspiration and motivation to overcome resistance to change.

Take a moment to imagine an ideal future in which your benefits program helps you achieve your business goals. You might come up with statements such as:

  • It would be great if our benefit costs were stable and lower than our competitors.
  • What our company really needs is to attract better employees while keeping our best employees.
  • If only our employees understood and appreciated their benefits.
  • What our employees really need is to feel secure, have more choice and feel empowered.
  • I wish benefits didn’t take up so much of my time.

If these statements resonate with you then The Strategy Alignment Process® can help you develop benefit strategies tailored to achieve your business goals.