And while the survey indicated that younger and higher-income employees have more interest in communication via social media than older and lower-income employees, employers should not take this to heart. “I don’t think you should assume people nearing retirement don’t use Facebook,” says Massey. “While gen Y has opened the door to that sort of thinking, I think it serves everybody very well to do something [that is] more modern and has better potential to engage people.”
In fact, according to an eMarketer report, baby boomers’ use of social networking sites such as Facebook increased to 46% in 2009, from 31% in 2008.
Any communication strategy—whether online or print or a combination of both—will work as long as it gets employees thinking about their benefits. However, social media is here to stay. “Going forward, if organizations embrace these new technologies, they’re really going to contribute a significant step forward in the engagement of employees,” says McElroy. And then what we’ll have is successful communication. BC
Consultants talk
Consultants play a huge role in helping plan sponsors help their plan members. Here, they tell us what plan sponsors want and reveal the leading trends that are hitting their radar these days.
Plan sponsors want…
Our clients are asking for solutions to implement lower-risk pension funding and investment policies and strategies.
— Tony C.L. Williams, president, PBI Actuarial Consultants Ltd.
[Plan sponsors] are also looking for some leadership in the debate on whether we truly have a pension crisis and what should be done. In addition, they are increasingly seeking guidance to steer them through the new accounting requirements brought on by the International Financial Reporting Standards. Finally, plan sponsors would love to have a solution that off-loads defined benefit (DB) pension risk at a reasonable cost.
— Fred Vettese, chief actuary, Morneau Sobeco
Plan sponsors are asking their consultants for numbers. They require detailed financial and utilization information to support decision-making. Plan sponsors want to know how legislative changes will impact their plans financially. They want to know what the financial impacts will be of any proposed changes to an existing plan design.
— Mike Sullivan, president, Cubic Health Inc.
Leading trends in the consulting industry…
Corporate Objectives
The Canadian economy may be recovering, but plan sponsors are still very conscious of the challenges they faced during the recession. They want to ensure that the benefits they offer—and all of their HR programs—are aligned with business objectives. If the program isn’t meaningful to the people the organization needs to achieve its goals, plan sponsors will remove it from their lineups.
— Sarah Beech, managing director, Canada, Hewitt Associates
Wellness
I still see wellness as a leading trend factor in the future, and it is going to be up to the consulting community to get that message out.
— Thomas A. James, vice-president, consulting, Pal Benefits Inc.
Going forward, the consulting world will continue to help in cost reductions, but through wellness programming, the reduction and/or elimination of the need to access the benefits plan is possible. Bringing wellness to the masses will be critical.
— Don Williamson, president, The Williamson Group
Risk management and cost
Risk management and shared cost and responsibility in the small to mid-size enterprises market. Many more companies are coming to terms with the realities of traditional DB plans and looking to either redesign benefits plans and share costs more with employees to reduce risks or switch out of DB altogether to a defined contribution (DC) plan.
— Kevin M. Sorhaitz, principal and consulting actuary, Buck Consultants
The small and mid-size employers are realizing that benefits can no longer be viewed as a commodity (shop to get the best price). To effectively control the cost associated with this element of compensation, they need to take a more consultative approach that addresses what is driving their benefits costs.
— Dan Lawrie, president, Dan Lawrie Insurance Brokers Ltd.
Shifting from DB to DC
Barring fundamental changes to the regulatory and legislative frameworks that govern pension and benefits programs in Canada, traditional pension and benefits consulting firms will need to manage this shift from DB to DC sooner rather than later.
— Jill Wagman, principal, Eckler Ltd.
Brooke Smith is managing editor of Benefits Canada.
brooke.smith@rci.rogers.com
> click here for a PDF version of this article
© Copyright 2010 Rogers Publishing Ltd. This article first appeared in the July/August 2010 edition of BENEFITS CANADA magazine.