There seems to be a large trust divide between benefits advisors and HR when it comes to adopting innovative healthcare strategies. But how do advisors and employers get on the same page when it comes to healthcare benefits?
In a panel discussion at the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo, Stephanie Porrino, Emma Fox and Devin Donaldson discuss moving away from transactional brokering and toward strategic advising through better alignment between HR and the C-suite.
To start the session, the panelists discussed the biggest misconceptions that HR and advisors might have about each other.
See also: The murky waters of healthcare cost transparency: What plan sponsors can control
Donaldson, an employee benefits consultant for USI Insurance Services, said that many HR pros think benefits advisors are all the same. It makes sense, he says, given that they are still dealing with the same thing, even though they go through multiple brokers.
“It’s just going to take them [HR] interacting with someone with a more strategic approach to know what else is out there,” Donaldson says.
A common advisor mistake is bypassing HR to sell directly to the CFO. Fox, founder of FoxWatch, explains that while the CFO controls the budget, HR manages the complaints and employee impact. “If HR is not involved upfront, you are creating a lot of fear and mistrust,” she said.
A lot of HR leaders feel like advisors are selling a product rather than advising.
“We are taught that we are selling a product but what changes the conversation is putting yourself in a team environment with HR and your clients, working with them rather than working against each other,” said Fox.
Donaldson added that brokers can be “quick to recommend and slow to ask questions and understand.”
Barriers to a successful relationship between benefits, HR
Both sides often avoid tough conversations when trust is losing ground or goals aren’t being met.
“It is incumbent upon HR and the C-suite in communicating what they all want to achieve,” said Porrino, founder and CEO of Empower Healthcare Insights. “There’s a way that’s mutually beneficial, where the CFO is looking for financial outcomes, and HR is looking to protect the employees. There’s somewhere in the middle where everything is achieved, but it has to be out in the open.”
Characteristics of an aligned relationship
Successful partnerships move past surface-level data to look at actual plan claims, PBMs and specific provider access.
“The biggest thing is the severity and weight of the decisions,” said Donaldson.
Fox noted that success must be defined together—whether that is the highest quality care or the lowest cost—to move from being a “solution distributor” to a “thought partner.”
Key takeaways
For advisors: Do not skip HR. Lead with empathy and recognize the immense workload HR manages beyond the benefits renewal.
For HR: Do not assume change is impossible. Be willing to do the hard things and look for alternative strategies that offer more than the standard 18% annual increase.
Success requires a tolerance check on how much disruption a company can handle to achieve long-term fiscal and employee health.
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