Company helps explain true value of benefits

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The one-size-fits-all benefits package doesn't work well for employers anymore, according to Teddy Couch, president of Springfield-based Benecom, which specializes in strategic benefit communication. |ret||ret||tab|

"Employers today are looking to add more benefits without having to add more capital toward benefits," Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

What Benecom does, he added, is help employers and human resources managers deal with the challenges they face by acting as an arm of client companies' human resources departments. |ret||ret||tab|

"What we've found is that their top three challenges No. 1 is controlling the rising costs of their benefits package; No. 2 is trying to cut down on some timely and costly human resources administration work; and, No. 3, and probably the most important, is attracting and retaining quality employees," Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

He said most employers in southwest Missouri mention benefits such as health insurance and 401(k) plans as their solution to attracting and retaining good employees. However, they don't mention other benefits such as vacation time, sick days, uniform expenses and similar benefits offered, which employees might take for granted without realizing that there's a cost behind them for the employer. |ret||ret||tab|

As a result, employers were spending a lot of money on benefits, and employees didn't really understand them and in many cases, they didn't take advantage of them.|ret||ret||tab|

"We did some research and we found that the average employer was spending somewhere between 20 (percent) to 40 percent above payroll on benefits, and less than 2 percent to communicate them" to employees, Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

And that's where Benecom comes in. Couch noted that one thing the company does is to make sure new hires at client companies understand what benefits are available to them. In fact, Couch added, the point at which a new hire qualifies for benefits usually 90 days is a good time for building a bond between the employer and the employee. |ret||ret||tab|

"In the first 90 days, employees are making real critical decisions . It's amazing that when they qualify for their benefits, employees today become free agents, (asking), What's in it for me?'" Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

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Benefits breakdown|ret||ret||tab|

Employers can have Benecom's education specialists sit down with employees and go over the entire benefit package during orientation and at other points in their careers.|ret||ret||tab|

"We'll bring a team in, and we'll sit down and go over their health insurance, their 401(k) match communicate on what an employer match is, how a cafeteria plan works and those types of things," Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

Benecom provides group educational meetings, then individual meetings. During the individual meetings, Couch said, employees are shown just what their benefits packages are worth.|ret||ret||tab|

"We sit down with that employee, and that employee that might make $26,000 a year as far as pay goes, with that comes health insurance, worker's compensation, FICA, vacation time, sick days," Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

"All of those things, there's a dollar amount to that the employer pays. But we have a form called a benefits statement, and we show that employee all the things the employer does for them and allocate a dollar amount for them."|ret||ret||tab|

The result, Couch said, is that an employee who makes a $26,000 salary, might actually have total annual compensation of $37,000. |ret||ret||tab|

Having employees understand that is important when it comes to retention.|ret||ret||tab|

"So, if someone offers a dollar more an hour, or two dollars more an hour, they have to take a look at their entire benefit package and see. So it attracts and retains those employees," Couch said. |ret||ret||tab|

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Fees|ret||ret||tab|

Couch noted that Benecom, which was founded in December 2000, doesn't offer health insurance, but it does offer supplemental, voluntary insurance products, such as short-term disability, cancer and accident insurance via Colonial Supple-mental Insurance. |ret||ret||tab|

He added that employers don't have to use Colonial's products to take advantage of Benecom, though. Employers that already have benefits carriers in place can bring Benecom in for a fee. Companies that do allow Benecom's sales force which is separate from its education specialists to offer Colonial products, can take advantage of the Benecom services for no extra charge.|ret||ret||tab|

Couch said about 90 percent of the company's employer clients ask Benecom to become their sole provider of supplemental insurance products. Statistics show that 60 percent of employees generally participate in supplemental benefits, Couch said.|ret||ret||tab|

For companies that opt to use other supplemental insurance providers, Couch said the fees vary and are negotiable, depending on the number of employees and set-up fees. |ret||ret||tab|

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Clients|ret||ret||tab|

In addition to working directly with employers, Couch said, Benecom also has several of the area's larger insurance companies in its client base.|ret||ret||tab|

"They use us strategically, to communicate their benefits to their clients," he said. " When they sell a health insurance plan, we'll go in and communicate the health insurance, and we'll go in and communicate the entire benefit package to that employer."|ret||ret||tab|

The company also works with payroll companies and their clients, and human resources companies and their clients. |ret||ret||tab|

Couch said 65 percent of the company's clients are employers from the general public; the other 35 percent are insurance, payroll and human resources companies.|ret||ret||tab|

Christenson Transportation Inc. of Springfield is among Benecom's client companies. Kem Wallace, Christenson's chief financial officer, said the company has been working with Benecom for about 18 months. |ret||ret||tab|

Benecom is Christenson's carrier for supplemental insurance, so it gets the benefits communication services for no added fees, Wallace said.|ret||ret||tab|

"We decided that we needed someone who would be able to be the most current on benefit rules, regulations and requirements," Wallace said.|ret||ret||tab|

Another benefit to working with Benecom was that the company could help employees at arm's length, Wallace added. |ret||ret||tab|

"If we had someone in house doing it, there would be personal information shared that perhaps the company really didn't need to know about," Wallace said. "Especially when you're selling a supplemental product. As the business owners and operators, we really don't need to know the intimacies in a employee's life, because frankly, it can put us at risk."|ret||ret||tab|

Benecom, however, can help employees choose and understand the benefits that best suit their needs, independently and objectively, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

"We have employees from every range of age, and we couldn't possibly know all their needs," Wallace said. And because Benecom offers a wide variety of coverages, each worker can buy the insurance he or she needs.|ret||ret||tab|

Wallace said that since Benecom has come in to explain benefits and supplemental insurance to employees, participation has increased. He said the company has 30 employees and about 150 owner-operator contract drivers, and Benecom offers supplemental benefits to all of them. Using Benecom to explain the benefits and meet one-on-one with each employee saves Christenson's Transportation time and money, he said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Other functions|ret||ret||tab|

In addition to helping client companies effectively communicate benefits and their value to workers via new-employee orientation and the use of the benefits communication software system, Benecom also takes some of the load off payroll personnel by updating addresses and other information during monthly, quarterly or semi-annual visits.|ret||ret||tab|

"We've found that the average address change to an employer that an employee makes, costs them a minimum of $30," Couch said. "Instead of them going to human resources and making those changes to their address, they come to us while we're there. It's not a save-all, but it may take a five-step process and turn it into a two-step process, or a three-step process."|ret||ret||tab|

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Growth|ret||ret||tab|

Benecom's headquarters are at 3050 S. National, Ste. 230. The company has 11 full-time educational specialists and eight full-time salespeople, as well an executive account director, a marketing director and an educational specialist trainer. |ret||ret||tab|

Couch said he plans to open a Joplin office within the next six months. In the next 18 months, he also hopes to open offices in Rolla, West Plains and either Columbia or Jefferson City. The company has a Web site at |bold_on|www.benecom.net.|ret||ret||tab|

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