Survey of benefits administration

FLEXIBLE BENEFITS

Nine in ten large organisations that currently outsource some part of their benefits administration are unhappy with their administration arrangements, says a survey by B2E Solutions.

The survey found that three-quarters of survey respondents intend to change their administration arrangements in the next two years.

Key results

50% of organisations surveyed would like to bring their administration in-house.
45% of respondents have already implemented an option of an all online enrolment and administration function.
59% of the sample still use Excel spreadsheets to manage benefits.

Flexible benefits administration

According to B2E Solutions, the most obvious conclusion to emerge from the survey is that a successful flexible benefits programme requires three key features:

a well thought-out administrative system that reduces errors, is flexible around requirements and may be supported by a responsive supplier
a robust and flexible piece of technology that can enable this in a cost-effective manner
a clear business case, based around the "harder factors dealing with costs savings and control".

A final word

"One clear conclusion is that simply adopting flex is not the path to better benefits management. The root of the dissatisfaction seems to lie in the administrative arrangement companies have in place to manage their benefits. As we all know, flex potentially increases the amount of administration, so an inadequate administrative system will be even less satisfactory with flex. Merely outsourcing this problem does not appear to help." -- B2E Solutions.

Want to know more?

Title: Benefits Administration in the UK: Survey of trends, drivers and best practice, B2E Solutions.

Survey sample: The research is based on information received from 223 of the "largest private limited companies in the UK". The average respondent organisation employed 26,000 employees

Availability: Contact Girish Menezes, email: girish.menezes@b2e-solutions.com

B2E Solutions is a consulting firm "primarily focused on helping clients help their people use technology more effectively". To find out more visit www.b2e-solutions.com

Posted 3 October 2005