The landscape of benefits is changing.

More Complex Benefits Portfolio

According to human resource (HR) leaders, the two greatest challenges that HR teams are facing and a broker can help with are:

  1. Employees need more access to more nontraditional benefits.
  2. Benefits are getting increasingly complex to understand and explain.

Benefits Broker Relationship Changing

A great partnership between HR and brokers or consultants means companies can better support their employees, stem the tide of employee resignations, and get on top of high healthcare costs.

A great partnership benefits brokers too—although most companies are comfortable with their current benefits broker, over half of HR leaders said they are “somewhat likely,” “very likely,” or “completely likely” to change their current benefits professional in the next year. That means brokers can do a lot to shore up their relationship. HR leaders want their benefits broker to deepen their relationship—be more of a strategic advisor and collaborate more closely.

Developing a Deep Understanding between Brokers and HR

In May 2022, Uprise Health commissioned a study with market research firm Researchscape International. The survey involved 543 U.S. based HR leaders—professionals with a title of manager or above—at firms with 100 or more employees.

The intent of this study is to have strong data and a clearer understanding of what HR leaders need for their employees, how they are thinking about benefits, and what they want from a benefits professional (be it broker, consultant, or advisor).

Over the next few weeks, we are going to be sharing multiple materials that detail what the research study showed, industry analysis of the most important topics within benefits today, and actionable recommendations to solidify broker/HR relationship.

As a sneak peak, here are a few more topics that uncover top-level insights about benefits and HR:

  • Top pain points for employees from an HR perspective
  • Major concerns related to lack of support for adolescent mental health
  • How HR is approaching chronic condition management
  • What HR needs to drive better benefits utilization
  • The most popular nontraditional benefits
  • Expected communication and engagement with a benefits professional

Check back in for our survey insights and broker recommendations. If you are looking for more right now, we have created a full broker toolkit to help benefits professionals jumpstart client communication around mental health benefits.