It’s no secret that today’s economy runs on outsourcing. From manufacturing and accounting to IT and more, 90% of all organizations outsource at least one job. There are some evident advantages to outsourcing talent, but what about outsourcing benefits?
. Free Up Valuable HR Time
HR departments had a heavy burden during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the workforce transitions back to the office or into a permanently virtual or hybrid environment, HR departments continue to juggle a multitude of responsibilities.
Companies can ease the burden on their HR team members by outsourcing benefits. Benefits are often a time-consuming and cumbersome part of HR responsibility because they require implementation and ongoing training. Outsourcing those responsibilities can free up time that’s better spent on helping the team navigate the “new normal.”
2. Increase Cost Efficiency
This wouldn’t be an article about outsourcing without mentioning cost efficiency. After all, cost reduction is the primary reason 70% of companies outsource. Managing and offering employee benefits in-house can be cost-prohibitive, especially when fringe benefits are added to the equation.
Benefits companies like Fringe have dedicated partnerships with service providers, so companies can offer desirable lifestyle benefits without maintaining relationships with each individual provider. Plus, there’s no need to hire an in-house team member to onboard outsourced benefits, saving more money in salary costs.
3. More Comprehensive and Diverse Benefits Offering
As the workforce becomes increasingly diverse, the need for diverse benefits becomes more imperative. There isn’t a way to give every person what they need to thrive with a one-size-fits-all benefits package.
Outsourcing lifestyle benefits to a customizable benefits provider like Fringe is terrific for ensuring all employees have their needs met. With Fringe, companies give each employee a set number of points to use on the Fringe platform. They can use those points to choose from over 100 unique lifestyle benefits. It’s a terrific way for organizations to meet their diverse team’s individual needs.
4. Specialized Expertise
The benefits ecosystem becomes more complex each year. Essential benefits like health insurance require HR departments to learn new laws and implement complicated processes. Add FHA accounts and lifestyle benefits into the equation, and it can become overwhelming quickly.
Every HR team member cannot know everything there is to know about the evolving world of benefits. However, it’s too cost-prohibitive for most companies to hire HR team members for each portion of the benefits landscape.
That’s where outsourcing employee benefits becomes invaluable.
Companies can depend on benefit providers’ expertise. High levels of expertise trickle down to the employees, too. Instead of relying solely on the HR department for benefits-related questions, employees can reach out and get information from the benefits service provider, which leads to employees who feel empowered by their benefits packages — not overwhelmed by them.
5. Privacy and Autonomy
Discussing benefits with an employer can be embarrassing for some employees, especially when it comes down to issues of health, home life or financial status. For instance, if a company provides free transportation for employees who need it, an employee might not feel comfortable expressing their need for assistance.
Alternatively, a disabled employee might feel uncomfortable asking how inclusive the wellness benefits are, just like another employee might feel uncomfortable discussing their mental health issues at work.
Outsourcing benefits allow people to speak to an unbiased third party from outside the company about their benefits, and providers are comfortable answering these questions. With self-directed benefit selection, like what an employee gets with a lifestyle benefits platform like Fringe, they can search and discover benefits autonomously without the need for an intermediary.
6. Happier, Healthier Employees
The most substantial advantage to outsourcing benefits is the result of happier, healthier employees. Too often, benefits packages are complicated and unusable — they require the employees to be elderly, sick or dead to use them. They’re often wrought with complex paperwork, unnecessary jargon and exhausting requirements.
It’s why 80% of employees never open their benefits package and why 49% of those who do open them up can’t understand them.
Benefits are no help if employees can’t use them. Outsourcing benefits ensures every employee has their needs met and questions answered. It ensures the HR team has enough bandwidth to deal with today’s evolving demands. It results in every employee feeling valued by their employer, and happy, healthy employees are the cornerstone to today’s most successful companies.
Outsourcing Employee Benefits for Increased Flexibility
Comprehensive, diverse and customizable benefits can only be obtained with gargantuan budgets or by outsourcing employee benefits. The reality is that today’s world is constantly shifting, and it requires companies to adapt at a record pace.
Adding new team members, catering to hybrid teams and adjusting to a digital-centric workforce requires extreme flexibility and HR resources. Outsourcing employee benefits is a terrific way to meet employees’ needs and cater to their well-being while still being nimble to today’s fast-paced evolution.
By having benefits providers take care of the benefits, companies can focus on taking care of their employees and making changes without having to worry about how it will affect the benefits packages. In addition, it allows companies to operate with extreme flexibility in a time where flexibility is non-negotiable.
Fringe’s customizable lifestyle benefits platform allows companies to outsource their lifestyle benefits with ease. Employees get to choose the benefits they want, so even the most diverse teams get their needs met.
Contact our team to schedule a free demo today!
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