3 Ways HR Can Show ROI to Their CFO with Benefits Technology 

A better employee experience is top priority for HR teams looking to invest in benefits administration technology, but that doesn’t necessarily align with your C-suite stakeholders’ goals. Here are three ways you can show ROI to win over your executives. 

Benefits are one of the topmost expensive line items on an organizations PNL, coming in right behind payroll and labor. Yet benefits are also one of the top reasons employees stay or leave a company (one again, second to pay). Sensing a bit of a theme here?  

Businessolver’s data shows that technology—specifically, technology designed to elevate and personalize the employee experience—can have positive impact on an organization’s benefits program. Employees are more likely to enroll in right-fit benefits, engage year-round, and experience less friction when trying to navigate through their benefit options in the moments they need them most. 

But while benefits are top of mind for HR and their employees, it’s a different story with your c-suite stakeholders—namely your CFO and your CEO. As one of the top line items on the budget, HR is on the hook to prove the value of investing into such robust technology.  

Here are three proof points you can bring to the table to prove the “so what” before your executive stakeholders have to ask. 

1. Two-thirds of all organizations use some form of benefits administration technology 
   According to a report by Sage People, benefits administration technology adoption is on the rise. As employers look for ways to sharpen their competitive edge in the talent landscape, having the right benefits technology in place is crucial component in connecting employees with their top-desired benefits while reducing administrative workload and increasing overall employee engagement. Within the data, people analytics, employee self-service, and automation rank among the top-adopted technologies in HR. And it’s no surprise—these capabilities play a big part in HR’s strategic initiatives across the organization, including: 
   • Building competitive and cost-effective benefits programs 
   • Reducing administrative workload and inefficient processes 
   • Engaging employees with their benefits and supporting their wellbeing 
   • Pulling forward data, analytics, and insights to support data-driven decision making 
2. Decision support at enrollment can save you over $3,000,000 
   Ensuring you have the right plans available for your employees’ needs is one thing; guiding those employees to right-fit enrollment is a whole other challenge. Decision support is more than just a question-and-answer tree to push people to a plan option. The MyChoice^® Recommendation Engine tool asks employees a series of questions to assess their overall wellbeing, risk tolerance, financial status, and emotional responses, all while demystifying the enrollment process over a quick, 10-minute process.  
   When our clients have decision support tools in place, 60% of employees elect a high-deductible health plan with an HSA. When decision support isn’t available, this drops to only 20%. HDHPs are much more than just a cost-saver for the business—these plans also provide a cost-effective option for employees, helping them protect their hard-earned paychecks while also unlocking a wider range of value in their total rewards program.  
   One of our clients realized these savings in real-time with us last year during their open enrollment. Through decision support with the MyChoice Recommendation Engine tool alone, this client saw a $3,000,000 reduction in overall plan spend because their employees were able to elect a plan and relevant savings vehicles that were aligned with their unique needs. 
3. HR inefficiencies cost your organization millions annually 
   63% of HR professionals feel that their c-suite still view HR as an administrative role. Yet the past three years especially have proven the exact opposite. The cost to manually enroll employees in benefits for an organization of 11,000 employees comes to just over $1,200,000. And that’s just for that two-to-three-week window in time where employees are simply ensuring they have coverage for the next year.  
   Many HR teams are stuck with inefficient and manual processes like: 
   • Answering benefits questions repeatedly 
   • Digging into file feeds and data transfers to figure out why a deduction was inaccurate 
   • Manually enrolling employees in benefits 

We could go on, but we don’t think we need to detail what your current day-to-day looks like right now! The fact is that benefits administration technology, at a bare minimum, introduces efficiencies and transparencies into the organization that ultimately impact the bottom line. Some of these efficiencies include: 

• Employee self-service tools 
• Benefits engagement and communication 
• Plan and employee insights and analytics 
• Data and file feed transparency 
• Cost and risk insights and management 
• ACA eligibility tracking 
• Compliance and security management 

At the end of the day, time and dollars spent are HR’s biggest levers to pull when it comes to building a business case with your c-suite to invest into benefits administration technology. When you can come to the table prepared with stats that show both an empathetic and dollar-driven impact for your team and the business, it’s a lot easier for HR and the CFO to get down to brass tacks and decide what type of technology is a good fit for the business instead of debating if you even need technology at all (yes, your HR people need technology).  

See how the right technology can drive better business results and improved employee outcomes through benefits in our Empathetic Technology Report.