The Value of a Strategic Benefit Plan for Schools, Cities and Counties

A competitive employee benefits package is essential for attracting and retaining quality employees, but continuing to offer the same plan year after year is tough with rising health care costs. Some school, city and county employers may view cutting benefits a necessity, but that could have some serious long-term consequences. There’s a better answer. Implementing a strategic benefit plan can help you make small cost-saving changes over time, while still offering competitive benefits.

What is a strategic benefit plan?

A strategic benefit plan is a road map for your organization that identifies where your benefit plans will be in 3-5 years. Your insurance consultant can help you build and implement a sustainable, strategic benefits plan specific to your culture and plan analytics. The plan will outline goals, strategies and action plans in regards to your employee benefits program. Your consultant can strategically analyze ways to contain costs through a variety of plan improvements, which can be implemented steadily over time. Plans usually include an employee education initiative that can help reassure employees who are worried about their benefits.

The Benefits of Strategic Planning

Many schools, cities and counties are used to making benefit decisions on an annual basis (due to annual budgets) instead of long-term. By looking into the distant future, a strategic benefit plan can help your organization with budget planning.  It can also be incorporated into your overall strategic plan, bringing about larger conversations about HR and employee benefits to ensure that a competitive benefits package continues to be available.

Employees also prosper from strategic benefit planning. By finding ways to cut and contain costs for your organization, the employee will likely reap some of the savings as well. In addition, this type of plan will provide assurance for employees who are worried about their benefits (being cut or reduced at any time).

For more information, read Proactive Planning – How Strategy Will Help Cost Containment to learn what to consider when formulating your benefits strategy and some ideas for cost mitigation plan design changes. To find an employee benefits consultant who works with schools, cities and counties, see our Consulting Team page.