Background
This US company had roughly 350 employees in the US, and a strong established track record of serving customers across the US.
After a short but fruitful market assessment they realized the Canadian marketplace wanted their product and expansions was worthwhile.
However, establishing new manufacturing facilities, they determined, was unnecessary and instead sought to establish a sales force in 5 Canadian regions.
To attract and retain the qualified sales force they needed, they had to get benefits.
Their Challenges
- They were competing with larger Canadian employers who had access to greater coverage options. Whatever coverage they provided had to carry at least the same value for their employees.
- Sustainability. Although the costs were a fraction of their US benefits costs, they could not afford to experience runaway costs or surprise increases.
- Administration had to be streamlined and supported by a third party. It didn’t make sense to hire one employee to run the administration for Canadian benefits or train their current HR team on Canadian benefits—they needed an all in one solution
How We Helped Them
- First, we gained a clearer understanding of who their employees were, what life stage they were in and then what other coverage they might have. We then benchmarked benefits and retirement for companies in the same and similar industries that would compete for the same talent pool. We took this data, restructured the typical plan with the workable innovations and were able to provide all 5 employees with a benefits program they highly valued.
- Through shifting liabilities without reducing protection, applying improvements to their healthcare supply chain AND eliminating gaps and overlaps we were able to eliminate the risk of major increases AND deliver consistent renewals that are only half of the average industry renewal.
- We took the work off their desk, eliminating overhead and streamlining the process. We provided education sessions to employees and their families, gave them easy access to intuitive and customized online platform and phone app., and are there to support them directly. The US HR team didn’t need to learn Canadian benefits or retirement admin. and no new employee was needed.