The Secret to Better Employee Recruitment

Rumors of a talent shortage. High turnover rates?

While there is some debate over the cause, one thing is for sure: companies are having an increasingly difficult time finding and hiring employees. This has put many business owners in a constant hiring cycle to keep fully staffed – a process that can be both time consuming and expensive.

Many companies have tried raising their pay and offering sign-on bonuses, which while attractive to employees, isn’t always enough to get high-quality staff on board for the long haul. After all, if everyone is offering these perks as part of the recruiting process, it’s no longer an exclusive offer – rather, it becomes an expected part of the onboarding package.

Instead, recruiting and retention experts have suggested something they feel is much more important when it comes to hiring and keeping employees: the ability to empathize with their needs as an employee. By taking the time to truly understand their concerns – and create recruiting campaigns that speak directly to them – you’ll be better able to attract the interests of employees who are looking for a long-term career opportunity with a company that values them as both employees and people.

Positioning Yourself as a People-Centric Company

Browse a few of the popular online job boards, and you’ll notice that most ads talk specifically about the company and their needs – instead of the needs of their prospective employees. And while this is important information to include, it can be conveyed more effectively by flipping the language so that it resonates more deeply with prospects.

Before you start writing, here are a few things to consider:

• What are the core issues your employees care about? Typically, it’s things like compensation, operations and training that pop to the top of the list. If you don’t know for sure, then ask for feedback from your current employees. Exit interview data and online reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed (for example), can also be very insightful in learning what employees like about your company – and what they don’t.
• Is the language in your ads reflecting those issues? Sell employees on your company by writing job ads that reflect the things they care about – particularly in terms of their quality of life.

Lastly, it’s one thing to position yourself as a people-centric company, and quite another to embody those values. If you want to recruit and retain the best talent, you need to make sure your ads don’t just sound good, but that they’re an accurate reflection of your company culture. By being fully transparent throughout the hiring and onboarding process, you’ll set honest expectations for employees about what it’s like to work for your company – which will go a long way towards keeping them with you and growing your business.  

- Doug Myrick

Here’s how to ensure employees know how to pick the right benefits

Annual enrollment is an important time for employees — but it’s also a stressful one. The choices they make can affect their financial health, yet the average employee spends less than 30 minutes selecting their benefits, according to research from benefits provider Unum.

With annual enrollment planning underway, now is the time for employers to ask themselves, “How can we help employees make the right benefits decisions?” The answers may be more valuable than they think.

Today’s workforce is the most diverse in history, with four generations actively working, and a fifth connected through benefits and pensions. A robust benefits package is increasingly important for recruitment and retention, challenging employers to provide choices and options that support diverse needs.

About 80% of employees prefer a job with benefits over one with a higher salary but no benefits, according to the American Institute of CPAs. As such it’s vital that employers ensure their workforce is engaged with their benefits and taking full advantage of what is available. Here are five ways employers can make sure that happens.

1. Acknowledge that decision support addresses personalized needs. Tools that demystify the benefits selection process can help employees make choices that align with their risk tolerance, financial circumstances and unique needs. The best tools lead employees to a recommended suite of benefits options that fit their individual physical, emotional and financial health.

2. Know that year-round engagement improves benefits literacy. While employees appreciate benefits, they aren’t experts. Indeed, roughly one-third of employees are outright confused about their benefits, according to recent data from Businessolver. Keeping up a cadence of communication about benefits throughout the year can help address this challenge.

3. Recognize the power of a total rewards statement. It empowers employees to maximize the benefits available to them, and these tools can be accessed any time, not just during enrollment. The most impactful solutions aggregate all employee benefits options in one integrated offering that demonstrates the full value of compensation and benefits investments made by them and their employer.

4. Think about different generations. Customizable benefits options are a crucial step in meeting the needs of today’s workforce. For example, our latest data shows that nearly two-thirds of millennials are concerned with managing their monthly budget, while over 50% of boomers are most worried about a large, unexpected cost. Having core medical plan offerings along with complementary voluntary options helps employees address varying financial needs. Likewise, paid parental leave and different health plan options assist families at any stage, and they make it likelier that your employees will engage with their benefits and remain with your organization.

5. Be sure employees know that savings vehicles contribute to financial well-being. Employees of all ages and income levels are facing financial stressors — but they may not be the same ones. Offering different financial benefits, such as student loan assistance and emergency savings accounts, in addition to retirement benefits, enables your employees to address both their immediate and long-term financial needs.

More than ever, employers have a responsibility to help employees make informed decisions when it comes to selecting the right benefits. Otherwise, they risk losing top talent to organizations that are better implementing benefits strategies and technologies.

By meeting the needs of a diverse workforce with an array of benefits options supported by appropriate decision support resources, employers can ensure they’re meeting their workforce’s needs and retaining valuable employees.

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5 Injury Prevention Tools Desk Workers Can Use

Pro-gamers and office computer users have more in common than you'd think — at least in their injury risk profiles. One surgeon is sharing tools that will help them both.

VIDEO: Dr. Levi Harrison’s advice for pro-gamers can also help reduce injury risk for any computer user.

1) Basic stretches: Pointing your arms out straight, flex the wrist either upward or downward, and pulling back gently on the hand, holding for 30 seconds.

2) Queen’s Wave: Keeping your arms extended, fingers pointed upwards, shake the wrist back and forth 10 times. For fuller motion, you can also rotate your hands in a circle, 10 times in each direction, with a fist or an open hand.

3) Wrist Rotations: Rotate your fist or your open hand 10 times in each direction.

4) Gliding exercises: Harrison developed a specific set of movements that target both nerves and tendons in the hand, designed to prevent carpal tunnel issues. The four-part move involves holding the fist in a claw position, a “tabletop position,” a half-fist and a full fist.

5) A Dose of Warmth: Harrison encourages people to run warm water over their hands or wrists periodically, just to keep things loose.

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Should I be getting an updated IRS determination letter?

If you maintain a qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or pension plan, that covers more than 100 employees, you are likely in the midst of your annual plan audit. During this process, your auditor might ask for a copy of your updated IRS determination letter, leaving you to wonder: How do I answer that question? And, should I be getting an updated letter?

While those are sensible thoughts, a better question is, can you even get one?

As a reminder, an IRS letter is obtained when a qualified retirement plan is filed with the IRS, which then checks the plan to ensure that all legally required provisions are included. If the IRS is satisfied with the terms of the plan document, it will issue some type of letter on that plan. There are two categories of retirement plans, and the types of letters they can receive, and their ability to receive them, varies.

The first category of retirement plans is a pre-approved plan, often referred to as a prototype or volume submitter plan. This is a type of form plan document that includes a variety of optional provisions that may be selected by the employer. Most employers obtain their pre-approved plans from a vendor, such as a third-party administrator. The vendor that supplies the plan is responsible for filing it with the IRS every few years and for obtaining a favorable “opinion” or “advisory” letter.

Employers that utilize that form plan (which has been pre-approved by the IRS, hence the name) are generally entitled to rely on that letter as applying to their particular plan document. Under current IRS rules, vendors that offer pre-approved plans are still able to obtain updated opinion letters every few years as their plan documents are revised for legal changes.

The second category of retirement plans is generally known as “individually designed” plans, which are custom plan documents that are typically drafted by legal counsel. Historically, the employer sponsoring the plan would file its plan with the IRS every five years for review, and if the plan provisions were acceptable to the IRS, the IRS would issue a favorable “determination” letter.

An employer’s ability to obtain an updated letter for an individually designed plan has been significantly curtailed in recent years. Starting in 2017, the IRS limited the determination letter program to only newly adopted or terminating plans (see IRS Revenue Procedure 2016-37 for more information). Recently, the IRS announced in IRS Revenue Procedure 2019-20 that “statutory hybrid plans” (which are pension plans that include a cash balance or pension equity design) and certain merged plans may also obtain updated determination letters. A short summary of the new rules can be found here.

If your individually designed plan does not fit into one of those categories, however, then you cannot get an updated letter, even if you want to. So, when your auditor asks about it, just point him or her to the IRS website link above, and explain that you are not permitted to get a new letter. Of course, if you do sponsor a statutory hybrid plan, then you should consider obtaining an updated letter; your window to do so runs from Sept. 1, 2019, through Aug. 30, 2020.

Or, if your qualified retirement plan undergoes (or has recently undergone) a qualifying plan merger, then you should also consider filing for an updated letter. To qualify, the plan merger must involve plans of previously unrelated employers that experience a merger, acquisition or similar type of business transaction, the plans’ merger must be completed by the end of the year after the year of the transaction, and the determination letter application must be filed within the first year after the plans’ merger.

What if you sponsor a 403(b) plan? Well, if you utilize a pre-approved plan document, your vendor is able to get an opinion letter. But, if your 403(b) plan is individually designed, you never were eligible, and still aren’t eligible, to get a favorable determination letter for that type of plan.

This article originally appeared on the Foley & Lardner website. The information in this blog post is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as specific legal advice.

LEADERS: 'Be Good For Them...Not Always Good To Them!'

Happy Wednesday! Have you ever heard the saying stated above as the title of today’s blog page? This message/statement definitely applies to my Business Owners and the way in which they relate with their Teams in the overall operations they lead.

I have found that in my many years in working with Small Business Owners and those that seem to have the best Teams that those who lead and provide guidance to their people tend to have the best success. Yet, where I see the biggest struggles for Business Owners is where the Team dictate the process and control the day and operations. For better sake of the word, the Team/Staff have all the control and the Owner wonders why he/she cannot ELEVATE their business!

Leadership is defined by making the tough decisions and having the vision that others cannot see and that can and is very difficult. Yet, true Leaders set the path, set the targets and ULTIMATELY SET THE EXPECTATIONS!! Leaders that set these type of parameters are being good for their people, setting up a future and setting up a path for overall success. Being good for your people does not always mean that you are GOOD to your people. An analogy that I like to relate this concept to is that of parenting.

Not one of us during the times growing up understood and most definitely liked the disciplines and guidelines that our parents set for us. Yet, we are the people we are today because of the leadership and guidelines that our parents set forth for us. “They were being good for us and during those challenging times it most definitely did not feel like they were BEING GOOD TO US! The leadership they showed is what created the success we get to experience TODAY.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER TODAY: Are you avoiding the tough decisions with your Teams for FEAR that you will not be GOOD to your people instead of being GOOD FOR your people? What is one decision you know needs to be made that is uncomfortable, challenging and will disrupt the current status quo YET at your core you know it is the right decision to move your Agency/Business forward? Think of a time that for you a mentor, coach, manager or boss made decisions that did not feel GOOD to you YET now as you reflect back you see IT WAS GOOD FOR YOU? Do the same for yourself and YOUR TEAM, and show the true colors of LEADERSHIP!

- Doug Myrick

👩‍🏫 Stay teachable 👨‍🏫

👩‍🏫 and 👨‍🏫‍ 

Good afternoon! I hope everyone had a great weekend.

This valuable bit of wisdom is from a tweet by Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce.

Vala’s tweet inspired me!

So, I took his tweet and modified it slightly ...

• The best entrepreneurs are lifelong students.
• The best entrepreneurs are teachers.
• The best entrepreneurs are storytellers.
• The best entrepreneurs are innovators.
• The best entrepreneurs are mentors.
• The most important entrepreneur skill is to learn how to stay teachable.

I am passionate about the essential importance of lifelong learning. It’s what separates the best business owners and entrepreneurs from the rest.

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- Doug Myrick

How an employer can support employees during the cost-shifting crisis

Our healthcare system is experiencing a vicious cycle: hospitals provide care for the uninsured. These providers charge more to the insured population to stay profitable. Employers, as the primary gatekeepers to healthcare, take on the financial burden. They shift costs to employees to relieve the load.

In short, everyone is passing the buck until — inevitably — it’s the consumer who faces the consequences of reduced coverage, rising premiums, higher copays and larger deductibles. The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report this month that reveals what’s happening as a result of this cost-shifting crisis: More than four in 10 workers enrolled in a high-deductible health plan report they don’t have enough savings to cover the deductible.

One in six Americans who get insurance through their jobs say they’ve had to make “difficult sacrifices” to pay for healthcare in the last year, including cutting back on food, moving in with friends or family, or taking extra jobs.

Half of survey respondents said costs have forced them (or a close family member) to delay medical appointments, not fill a prescription or postpone medical care in the last year.

These statistics should be troubling for any business leader. We’re now at a point where healthcare costs are employees’ No. 1 financial concern — outranking debt, college expenses, mortgages, rent, retirement, taxes and even unemployment.

So what can today’s leaders, especially those in the benefits space, do to better support their employees? Here are three actionable tips:

1. Fully fund all eligible employees’ HSAs with the amount of their deductible. It seems simple, but funding employees’ health savings accounts can have a significant impact on not only how they perceive HDHPs, but also how prepared they feel for future unexpected healthcare expenses.

If you’re wondering how you’re going to justify this investment to your CFO, reflect on this: fully funding your employees’ HSAs with the amount of their deductible may still be less expensive than administering a lower deductible plan — and any employer contributions you make are deductible as a business expense to your company.

See also: IRS increases 2020 HSA limits

Also, aside from the direct benefits of contributing to your employee’s HSA, consider the indirect effects. A study by AHIP found that 56% of U.S. adults with employer-sponsored health benefits said that whether or not they like their health coverage is a key factor in deciding to stay at their current job, and the main reason why 82% of respondents don’t feel satisfied with their current health plan is due to the cost.

This demonstrates a correlation between retention and the type of health plan an employee has. So if your workers are frustrated with the high costs of an HDHP, funding their HSA is a great way to show you still care about their financial, physical and mental well-being, while also helping reduce turnover.

2. Actively guide employees to high-value providers and care settings. For employees with high deductibles, healthcare is a minefield: one ill-informed choice can cost thousands of dollars, thanks to the complexity of navigating the cost and quality variation that exists in our healthcare system.

For instance, many people are surprised to learn that 70% of ER visits are avoidable and can cost them thousands of dollars, compared to only hundreds if they elected to go to an urgent care center instead. Or that imaging costs — from MRIs, ultrasounds and CT scans — are one of the leading sources of healthcare spend for most companies.

Now that cost shifting has put employees’ wallets directly on the line, the onus is on employers to help them make informed decisions about how they’re spending their dollars. This means offering employees the tools, resources and education needed to discover affordable care within their network.

3. Take a holistic view of financial wellness as it relates to healthcare. No matter what voluntary health benefits you provide in an effort to lessen the blow of cost shifting — like telemedicine, for example — you’re up against one common enemy: low engagement. Mercer’s 2018 National Survey revealed that 71% of companies offer a telemedicine benefit to help employees save time and money on basic care, but telemedicine only gets about 7% engagement on average.

In order to truly help employees save money on healthcare, you have to take a holistic view of financial wellness as it relates to healthcare and make sure you’re tying all of your strategies together into a cohesive ecosystem with a single access point for employees.

This sounds complicated but, in reality, it looks like this: Make sure your employees have a single destination to find affordable care no matter their needs, be it late night urgent care or a new primary care provider; understand how their health plan coverage factors in; and surface all of the amazing supplementary health benefits you may offer, like telemedicine. Just as how all seamless consumer experiences, from Amazon to Yelp, make their services accessible in one easy-to-use portal, your employee healthcare experience should do the same.

There are so many ongoing conversations about the rising cost of healthcare that it can be difficult to remember this isn’t just an economic, political or social problem — it’s a human one. Our employees are taking on second jobs, sacrificing their dreams of retirement and foregoing important medical care just to survive this ballooning cost-shifting crisis. Use these tips to demonstrate that you, as the employer, understand their struggles and will do what’s in your power to set them up for success.

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