I’d like to tell you about my first cell phone – an ancient cell phone by today’s standards. And no, it wasn’t an iPhone or a Galaxy. It was a Motorola comparable in size and weight to an old military Geiger counter. And no, I didn’t carry it around. It was mounted in my car below the center console. And no, it wasn’t hands-free. It came equipped with a very short 18” cord that kinked my neck every time I used it. Spartan by today’s technological standards, I was elated with my first cell phone. I could literally run appointments all day long without stopping at pay phones along the way to retrieve my messages. I was now connected to my office and my clients.
Can you imagine a scenario whereby the primary HR function during open enrollment is distributing dozens of renewal documents (possibly heavier than a military Geiger counter) and collecting paper enrollment forms from each employee? That’s about as time consuming as stopping at pay phones along the way to retrieve your messages from the office.
Does part of your organization’s HR function consist of manually inputting benefit election changes into carrier portals and tracking employee deductions in a spreadsheet? If so, that may be the cause of the kink in your HR team’s neck.
Fast forward a few years… Can you envision a cell phone that’s not connected to your contacts, your email account, the Internet, your social media site, or equipped with all the apps you use each day? Not likely. Maybe you have a technology solution in place today to automate your employee benefit function, but does it connect to your carrier partners and your payroll provider?
Like today’s smart phones that connect many of our day-to-day activities, today’s benefit technology solutions are all about connecting the dots – connecting the dots between organizations and their workforce and their partners and providers.
If you have questions please contact Tom Henschke at 717.205.0100, or email at thenschke@murrayins.com. Tom is Assistant Vice President of Benefit Administration, Health Benefits Solutions.
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