6 HRMS Benefits Management Questions to Ask Your Vendor

As with so many HR-related applications, HRMS benefits management technology is becoming a must-have item. After all, even for a small employer, the options and information to be juggled (and the money spent) can be a significant part of the budget. So the question is, how can you make sure you’re committing to the right benefits software for you?

How Efficiently Does Your System Gather and Integrate Data?

Let’s face it, your benefits information (both concerning employees and the package options) may well be scattered across numerous sources – multiple spreadsheets, other databases, even paper documentation – and you need your HRMS benefits management functionality to pull it together, filter it, action it and preferably do so automatically, without the need for time-consuming manual interventions.

Where Will My Benefits Data Be Kept?

A little like payroll information, benefits data is highly confidential and personal and security is a major issue in benefits management. Part of feeling secure is knowing just where the data is. These days, your system is unlikely to be on-premises but if it’s in the cloud, where exactly is the vendor’s data center? Is it even theirs, or do they rent space from a third (or fourth) party? Wherever it is, there should be strict security arrangements – perhaps including biometric scanning, keycards, retinal scanning, PIN numbers, security cameras, and onsite staff – and as a potential customer, you should ask about them.

Show Me an Example Benefits Statement.

Put simply, is it easy to understand? Will your employees be able to comprehend their options, their choices, their cover? Employee buy-in for HRMS benefits management can hinge on how easy the system is to understand.

How Will You Cope with Our Policies and Rules?

Every company has its own way of doing things and while a new application is a good prompt to review your processes to check whether they can be improved, you don’t want to have to change procedures that work for you just because your new software can’t handle them.

Who Will Own the Data Kept on the System?

In one sense, this is a generic question that could be applied to any database, but again, with HRMS benefits management, it’s particularly important to have your data questions answered. The ownership should rest with you, leaving you free to transfer it elsewhere at will (should you switch systems again in the future) and giving you peace of mind that it won’t be accessed or passed on.

Are Changes Made in Real Time?

The user experience or UX is important, particularly when it comes to your people understanding their options and making their choice of enrollment. Self-service should be a given, as should the capability to make changes and updates in real time so that user confidence in the system remains high.