I have been predicting a coming "employee free agency" for quite some time. What do I mean by employee free agency? It is the shift of power in the hiring proposition from the employer to the employee. In other words, employees (at least the best talent) are increasingly going to be able to control their future, able to choose among the best opportunities. As ridiculous as this prediction may have sounded over the past couple of years, it really isn't a hard prediction to make. You see, 2010 was the first year of a decade that will have 65 out…

There has been a lot of talk of late about employers getting out of the business of offering benefits, or at least the medical insurance business. You've probably seen studies such as the McKinsey & Co. study that found that 30% of all employers will "definitely" or "probably" stop offering their workers health insurance when mandates take effect in 2014. Yet other studies, such as the one performed by Workforce Management and Business Insurance, have found that most employers won't drop their health insurance. Their survey found that 52.5% strongly disagreed that dropping coverage (and accepting a $2,000 fine per…

As you probably saw in a previous post, Kevin recently spoke at the 6th Annual Employee Benefit Adviser Summit in Dallas, TX. His message was about making changes in the broker model due to current and coming industry challenges.Brian Kalish, with Employee Benefit Adviser, attended Kevin’s session and wrote up a great synopsis of the message. Follow the link below to read the full article. Advisers must move ‘faster and stronger’ DALLAS – It is time for brokers and consultants to face the much talked-about upcoming challenges head on and move forward “first, faster and stronger” than their competitors. The…

Benefits – From an Employee Perspective Want to get creative with your employers in their benefits offering? Try moving away from the traditional programs and ideas to help them find some things that are relatively easy, directly relevant, and meaningful to employees. Start with a couple of easy internal brainstorm sessions: Look at current news reports – what problems are people largely struggling with outside of the traditional medical and lifestyle issues? Make a list of commonly reported-on issues. For example - lack of savings, credit or loan difficulties, too much debt, lack of life planning Look at your client…

As you read this article, look at it from two perspectives. First, reflect on how your own agency may be impacted by employee engagement. Second, think of your clients and the impact they are experiencing, as well as how valuable a partner you would become if you could help them improve their current level of employee engagement. See if this sounds familiar: AnyCo is a mid-sized business. Things were humming along pretty well; the firm's future seemed bright. Then, almost overnight, the economy seemed to implode around it. Revenues were on a steady decline. Margins were evaporating even faster than…

Communicating effectively within our companies is arguably one of the most important strategies to organizational success.  Unfortunately, it also proves to be one of the most challenging.  Here are a few reasons why.1.  Diversity of the Workforce – Think about the various groups that make up today’s workforce: we have 25 year olds coming in and 65 year olds on their way out, we have pre-retirees, baby boomers, young families, and young singles.  Of course, those groups have always existed in the workforce, but it’s the rapid pace of change and the technologies that make it different today from what…

One of our BGN member agencies, Lacher & Associates, holds regular education sessions for their clients and has asked us to present this week.  They are inviting all of our BGN  readers to attend.  Join us for this FREE session - Register Now! Kevin Trokey will be presenting and talking about HR as a strategic driver within an organization - what businesses need to be doing to recover and begin thriving once again after the fallout of the recession. Thu, Dec 16, 2010 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST   Webinar Description: As businesses were facing a quick and significant economic…

Guest Blogger Jennifer Benz is founder and chief strategist at Benz Communications, a boutique consulting firm that focuses on benefits and strategic HR communication. She has been on the leading edge of employee benefits communication for the last 10 years—starting with early adopter consumer-driven health plan implementations and now with innovative wellness and social media strategies. Her work has been recognized by Business Insurance, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the Profit Sharing Council of America and others. And she's an all around great person we really enjoy working with!  Connect with her on Twitter, @jenbenz, or on LinkedIn.…

Benefits brokers must forge strategic ties to HR departments I am going to say right up front, the opportunities on the benefits side of the insurance business have never been greater. Unfortunately, not every agency will survive to take advantage of those opportunities. Every week, I speak with many agencies. Not surprisingly, I get asked a lot of questions about the future of health care. What exactly does it mean now that health care reform is a reality? What does it mean for the country, the industry, our clients, and, of course, for us? Is it going to put us…

When asked why he was so successful, Wayne Gretzky responded, “I skate to where the puck is going to be.”   Sounds sort of obvious, yet challenging at the same time.  Of course if he went to where it was at that exact moment, he would have arrived too late.  But, how did he actually know where to go?  He knew where the puck would be because he knew where it needed to be in order for the play to be successful. The same idea applies with your prospects and clients.  Satisfying their current needs is safe and obvious, but will…