Three Things for Benefits and Compensation to Talk Over

The leaves are turning, the geese are flying south and right now your TPA is your best (or worst) friend. In other words, it's Open Enrollment season all over North America.

I've been working with my client on an Open Enrollment announcement email today. Even though rate increases are comparatively low this year and the company is adding some nifty new benefits, our planning discussions keep wandering back to the cuts the company made three years ago.

I think it's hard for a lot of us in Human Resources to find the compass these days. Many of us are still worried, for one thing. Maybe feeling guilty about the tough pitches we've had to throw to employees in the last few years. Or secretly uneasy that our programs aren't really addressing business needs -- whatever those are in this economy.

One thing is perfectly clear. Finances are much more complicated for all of us. And because of that, there are things that benefits and compensation could begin to talk over and maybe even collaborate on. I'm starting to think that employees would benefit from a closer relationship between the two functions.

Here are three things that come to mind right away that could benefit from closer teamwork. Add to this list if you have more suggestions!

1. Even if your benefit deal used to be better, it sure beats going it alone

Moderating cost increases stopped companies from redesigning healthcare coverage this year -- in combination with the lingering questions about Healthcare Reform. Even though it is easy to see a lot of cost cutting on the horizon when costs start zooming back up, consider the alternative.

As two sole proprietors, my husband and I pay $1,350 a month for spouse + 1 coverage -- a figure you're not likely to find on an Open Enrollment contributions chart. Barry and I need to make sure we have the income to cover these costs. At your place, how much does Compensation take benefit cost increases into account when planning the total compensation or merit budget? The topic comes up, but are the numbers run? Scenarios with typical demographics?

Just like the family financial planning you do at home, a detailed analysis (including typical out of pocket healthcare costs) might tell another story. The company may not change its practices, but it would be helpful to hear the stories that the numbers/scenarios tell.

2. We all know what employees want

Employees appreciate Total Rewards statements. The research tells us we can count on it. It gives employees a clear financial picture by adding the value of their compensation and benefits up for them. If we can bet that statements will earn us high scores on engagement surveys, why don't more of us do them? Or do them on a regular, reliable schedule?

And then make sure that managers know how to answer questions about the statements. Knowledgeable, talkative managers -- another communications priority that employees keep telling us about.

 3. Work can make you physically sick

We all know that job stress can damage our health. However, long hours and lack of sleep (factors that HR can't really influence) are not the primary culprits.

It turns out that the top two aspects of work with the most impact are issues that performance management is designed to help straighten out -- organizational constraints (aspects of the work environment that stop you from getting your work done) and role conflict (when one boss tells you to do one thing and another has a different idea). Role ambiguity is further down the list, but we all know how stressful that one can be, and how much HR can help straighten it out.

How do I know about these findings? Jeremy Dean on PsyBlog reported today on a recent study of the effect of occupational stress on physical symptoms like headaches, backaches, sleep disturbances and GI problems. There are five more ways that work can make you physically sick with these symptoms, if you want to check out the article. It's an eye opener. 

Margaret O'Hanlon is founder and principal of re:Think Consulting.  She has decades of experience teaming up with clients to ensure great Human Resource ideas deliver valuable business results.  Margaret brings deep expertise in total rewards communications and change management to the dialog at the Café. Before founding re:Think Consulting, she was a Principal in Total Rewards Communications and Change Management with Towers Perrin. Margaret is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Pacific Plains Region. She earned her M.S. and Ed.S. in Instructional Technology at Indiana University. Creative writing is one of her outside passions, along with Masters Swimming.

Comments

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

The principal reasons for social security disability these days have psychological rather than purely physical root causes. Those two stressors ...organizational constraints and task interference... along with poor communications have always been the major obstacles to performance. They make both individuals and organizations sick.

Suspect your points complement Ann's post on "What HR Wants to Do" from Friday 10/14/11.

[Margaret O'Hanlon]

Yep, the HR practitioners in the research Ann cited might very well be interested in these ideas. Talk about poor communications -- it is sometimes a real problem within large HR organizations themselves!