Does your employee benefits plan give employees what they want? If you answered “no” or “I don’t know,” it’s time for a needs assessment. This evaluation is an easy way to gain in-depth information about what your plan gets right and what may be missing. It gives employees a chance to voice their opinions and recognize that you care about them — both in and out of the workplace. It also gives you insights into issues you may not have considered. There are a number of ways to gather this information.
Focus groups
One of the most common ways to conduct a needs assessment is through focus groups. Employees chosen from across your organization are invited to share their opinions about your employee benefits plan. During the focus group, you ask a series of questions designed to initiate discussion about what employees like and don’t like about your current program, any changes they would suggest and concerns about cost.
Here’s how it works. You must first choose employees who represent a diverse selection of your workforce, including but not limited to:
- Employees with more than five years of service
- Employees with fewer than five years of service
- Managers
- Supervisors
- Clerical staff
- Technical staff
- Remote employees
Don’t form a single, large group. You want employees to feel comfortable and encourage discussion. Arranging a number of small groups (5-10 employees) should work well.
Be sure to ask the group thought-provoking questions, not questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, you may want to ask:
- What do you consider some of the strengths of our employee benefits plan?
- What are the weaknesses of the plan?
- What is the best benefit we offer?
- What benefit have you used the least?
- What benefit would you like to see offered?
- What positive interactions have you had with our current insurance carriers?
- What negative experiences with the plan would you like to share?
You may also want to inquire about how you can support employees. Providing sample communications for the group to evaluate is a great way to get the conversation going. Asking employees to share positive experiences with other employer plans or vendors can help you understand what employees respond to favorably.
Employee surveys
Another popular way to conduct a needs assessment is through an employee survey. Your survey should include a limited number of questions and statements about the plans available. For example:
- How satisfied are you with your options for health care?
- Is your basic life insurance benefit enough to cover general expenses for your beneficiary? Are dental and vision benefits important to you?
- Our employee benefit plan is competitive with plans offered by other employers in the area. (Agree or disagree.)
- There are enough doctors to choose from in our medical plan. (Agree or disagree.)
- I have the benefits I need to protect my family. (Agree or disagree.)
These questions should be answered according to a scale:
- Numeric scale: For example, answers are rated on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being “disagree” and 5 being “agree.”
- Approval rating scale: For example, extremely satisfied, neutral, quite dissatisfied, etc.
Keep in mind that the more advanced the scale, the harder it will be to evaluate.
You may also want to provide employees with space to answer direct questions. For example:
- What benefits do you rely on most?
- What benefits would you like to see added to the plan?
- Are there benefits for which you would be willing to pay a portion of the premium?
These freeform questions can raise your awareness about what coverage employees value most.
Other forms of research
There are many other forms of research and feedback you can use to measure employee satisfaction with your plan.
- Personal interviews: Talk to a wide range of employees one-on-one to find out what they think about current benefit offerings, what additional benefits they would like to access, and what benefits may have lost their appeal.
- Utilization review of each employee benefit: Data from your third-party administrator or insurance carrier can help you determine what benefits are being used and how often.
- Demographic research: Evaluating your employee population can help you predict which benefits may be important to them. Younger employees value flexibility and personalization, while employees who have been in the workforce longer value health care and comprehensive retirement plans.
No matter which way you conduct your needs assessment, make sure you have the data needed to formulate a comprehensive and competitive health care plan.
Start early
If you are interested in conducting a needs assessment, be sure to talk to your broker or benefits adviser approximately six months before your benefit plan renewal. This gives you plenty of time to work together to moderate focus groups and interviews, design an employee survey and evaluate utilization review data and demographics.
Your broker or benefits adviser can then provide you with the guidance needed to formulate changes to your employee benefits plan as needed and implement a new strategy for the upcoming plan year.
