This story is a guest contribution from Brightplan, a financial benefits vendor that makes it easy for HR and business leaders to enhance the employee experience, improve productivity, and drive positive impact for businesses.
When sourcing an employee benefits vendor for your global organization, data security, self-service, and a proven track record are usually at the top of the list, but what else should you look for? Finding a benefits vendor for your global workforce requires the careful consideration of many factors.
For instance, you might want to give some thought to the vendor’s global presence, and their capacity to deliver services at scale by country. Can they demonstrate an understanding of the nuances of each country? What kinds of personalization do they offer? And what about their language capacity?
Whether you’re just starting your search or are narrowing down your selections, here are five considerations to help you find the right vendor.
1. Does the employee benefits vendor deliver a consistent, country-specific experience?
A benefits vendor may claim to be “global,” and in fact have presence in only a few countries. While this may work for some companies, you may need a vendor with greater reach if your employees regularly work from countries around the world. When considering a benefits vendor for your international team, look for vendors that can deliver a consistent experience for each country that you operate in. This could mean that they offer in-country advisors that can provide localized expertise. These types of advisors should be able to provide up-to-date guidance in accordance with local and national regulations.
2. Does the vendor create time savings for your HR team?
When employees have questions about their benefits, they’ll typically contact human resources. Unfortunately, most HR teams are overwhelmed and spread thin as it is. Ideally, an employee benefits vendor will help reduce the number of inbound questions, taking the burden off the human resources department. An automated platform that pulls information from trusted organizational and financial sources can shoulder that burden and become the first contact for employee’s benefits questions. Additionally, a virtual coach with details about 401(k) plans, health insurance, and other offerings can engage with employees to answer questions and help them learn more. Best-in-class AI solutions provide information that’s personalized to employees’ questions and is presented in their language with links to relevant information and company documents. Some platforms may also provide HR with access to aggregated data, highlighting employee insights by country. This can provide additional value when thinking about how to best support employees.
3. Does the vendor offer 24/7 support and real-time answers for your employees?
If your goal is to grow employee engagement internationally, consider vendors who can provide customized support through AI. An intelligently trained AI coach can learn a person’s unique situation and provide realistic benefits guidance based on their needs. This offering should be able to provide personalized responses and assist employees around the clock, regardless of time zone, location, or language. Ideally, it would also offer employees financial guidance and benefits information in real-time, with the ability to schedule more time with a live person as needed.
4. Does the vendor use technology that is compliant with country-specific practices and regulations?
When considering the backend of a vendor’s platform, make sure all technology is deployed in accordance with the local and national data practices and regulations of each country your organization operates in. The right employee benefits vendor will have practices in place to keep your data private and secure. This ensures your employees’ data won’t be shared or sold with third parties and used to market products to them. Vendors should also include a specific contractual commitment to follow best practices and hold security certifications to keep your employees’ data safe.
5. Has the vendor previously helped organizations similar to yours?
Not all global businesses are alike. When thinking of your organization’s specific industry and employee demographics, it’s helpful to look at whether a vendor has worked with similar organizations in the past. Consider your organization’s preferences for receiving communications, as well as any needs for support during your future growth and development. Also be sure to assess whether a potential vendor is a good culture fit. Even though they will be external, their services will be front and center for your employees, so the culture fit around benefits will make a difference in adoption and usage.
Making your employee benefits vendor selection
Once you’ve gathered all of this information and weighed the pros of cons of various vendors, it’s time to make your choice. Selecting the right global employee benefits vendor will enable you to take strategic steps in better supporting employees while improving engagement and boosting retention. Additionally, it will allow the HR department to focus on more strategic matters, which also helps to better support employees – regardless of where they’re located.
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