4 Advantages of Managing Benefits in Your HRMS

Benefits management is a core HR function and as such, if your HR team (person, outsourced supplier, etc.) is anything less than excellent, it can be a huge demotivator for employees. In fact, benefits are what Fred Herzberg would’ve classed as a ‘hygiene factor’. In other words, while your people probably won’t get super-enthused and motivated if benefits are managed well, they will notice and become demotivated if they are managed badly.

So, what’s the answer? Well, given that the vast majority (91% according to a 2011 survey) of organizations have some form of benefits automation, having the best possible HRMS benefits module offers the following advantages.

Timely, Good Quality Communication

For benefit enrollment and management, informing your people of their choices and detailed options is a critical activity. While this is still mainly done via email and even face-to-face presentations, more and more, integrated social HRMS is offering more up to date workplace alternatives such as podcasts, web-based videos and online chatrooms and forums. Not only does HRMS benefits management offer more interactive communication with employees it directly leads to better-informed benefits decisions.

Generations X, Y, Z &…

For the first time in employment history, we’re seeing up to four generations in the workplace, each with varying values, drivers and demands when it comes to their careers and reward packages. As the variety and breadth of benefits on offer expands, more sophisticated and flexible solutions within modern HRMS software are needed to manage them. This range of preference also links to the point about communication above, with broad variances in how different generations prefer to receive their information.

Employee Engagement and ESS

A key factor in engagement levels is whether the employee feels appropriately rewarded for their work. During a period when pure salary increase appear to be a thing of the past, it is vital that staff understand how their benefits contribute to the total reward package. Modern HRMS benefits modules can provide such ‘total reward statements’ anywhere, anytime via employee self-service (ESS) functionality. The capability to not only access such important data but to do so at their own convenience, including via mobile devices is an increasingly important employee expectation. What’s more, the standard ESS benefits apply: decreased processing time, increased data quality and accuracy and reduced HR administrative overheads.

Legislative Compliance

Whatever country’s employment law you are subject to, a good HRMS benefits module will help ensure your organization’s compliance. For example, when it comes to benefits management in the U.S., COBRA, HIPAA and FMLA are some of the federal laws to be considered. With serious penalties for non-compliance, having your software do the heavy lifting makes perfect sense.

Benefits management (particularly for large workforces) is a complex business with both employees and national governments demanding perfection or else. Throw in issues such as healthcare reform (again, most notably in the U.S.) and the very practical benefits of delegating much of the routine administration to your HRMS become clear.