Introduction:

• Objective: To educate employees on the comprehensive benefits offered by the organization and empower them to take full ownership of their personal and professional well-being.
• Importance: Understanding and utilizing employee benefits effectively can lead to improved job satisfaction, productivity, and overall well-being.

Principles:

1. Take Ownership
   1. Taking full responsibility for the benefits education program. Ensuring that all employees have access to the necessary information.
      1. Have you ever conducted an OE where you’ve communicated no changes to the benefits?
         1. If you have, you missed an opportunity.
         2. We can no longer focus on the easy path in benefits education. We must solicit questions to ensure complete understanding.
   2. Employees should take full responsibility for understanding and utilizing their benefits.
      1. Encourage actively seeking information and asking questions
2. Believe:
   1. Communicate the value and importance of the benefits program. Why is it important to you, important to the leadership.
      1. Share success stories and testimonials.
         1. Hinge Health
   2. Be open to feedback and willing to make changes to the program
      1. Do you believe your office is “always open”?
         1. You would be surprised how your employees may perceive a tough conversation with you as to why the benefits program is not working for them.
3. Simplify, Prioritize, Execute:
   1. Employees face common obstacles in understanding benefits.
      1. How can we make sessions more interactive?
   2. Most of us are managing multiple vendors and solutions.
      1. How can we simplify the importance of each benefit and design simple resources? Use clear and concise language.
         1. FAQ’s through AI
         2. AI generated resource/contact page
   3. Develop a phased approach
   4. Prioritize the critical benefits information when speaking with large groups of employees.
   5. Host smaller specific scenario oriented group sessions.
      1. Retirement, Having a baby, Benefits 101,

    

4. Collaborate:
   1. Teamwork between HR and Management.
      1. Empower managers and team leaders to assist in benefits education.
         1. Managers are your front line advocates. They are interacting with their team’s daily. Foster a culture where benefits are a component of team meetings.
         2. Ensure there is bidirectional communication, as it is important for managers to take on a benefits education role, its just as important to serve as a resource for them.
            1. A good manager is going to see an impacted team member first, and even identify their team member is facing challenges before the team member mentions any.
            2. How comfortable are managers comfortable in coming to you?
            3. How comfortable are managers with your various solutions they can proactively provide team members?
5. Summarize
   1. We are focusing on empowering employees to take full advantage of their benefits through a comprehensive education program. We must take full ownership to ensure that all employees have access to necessary information and to foster an environment where employees feel comfortable seeking information and asking questions. The importance of the benefits program is most effectively communicated through success stories and testimonials.  Collaboration between HR and management is encouraged, with managers playing a key role in benefits education and support. This all comes together by simplifying benefits information, prioritizing critical details, and hosting interactive sessions to help address common scenarios. This approach ensures that employees are well-informed and empowered to utilize their benefits effectively.

Nicholas Ashback
Principal
Employee Benefits
nick.ashback@epicbrokers.com
Mobile: (518) 528-4642
1140 Avenue of Americas, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10018

With over a decade of dedicated experience, Nick brings a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record of innovation in the field. His appointment reaffirms our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional employee benefits solutions. Nicholas’s forward-thinking strategies and deep industry insights will be instrumental in driving clients to meet their goals and enhance employee well-being.

Nicholas’s extensive experience in direct-to-employer solutions within New York State’s largest healthcare system, Northwell Health, has equipped him with a deep understanding of the innovative strategies available to employers. This unique perspective has made him a valuable asset to employers seeking alternative solutions for their employee health plans.

His foundational experience as a large group account manager for two of the nation’s leading health insurance carriers, Anthem and Aetna, provides him with a distinctive insight into the operations of traditional insurers. This knowledge enables him to effectively advocate for his clients, driving improvements in pricing and service levels.

Through his tenure at Aetna, Nick excelled by pivoting to Aetna’s Healthcare vertical segment. His most prominent client was New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he lead the Aetna strategy and implementation of custom benefit designs for one of the most notable health systems in New York City.

Nick graduated from Siena College with a bachelor’s in finance and minor in economics.

Nick frequently performs guest lectures to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Arkansas, West Virginia University, and Manhattan University.