Background
This healthcare technology company was already growing fast in the US and UK for nearly 15 years, that's when they set their sights on Canada.
They viewed Canada as an untapped market with skilled and educated workforce and favorable government incentives.
They had rapid expansion plans.
Attracting and retaining quality staff was paramount to their success, and from some early research on Canadian corporate culture they knew a meaningful benefits and retirement plan would a be key to their success.
Their Challenges
- Although knowledgeable in the US and UK, they had little knowledge of Canadian benefits and Canadian retirement plans. They needed guidance.
- They needed a benefits program that had to evolve and grow with the rapid growth. The administration, coverage and costs had to be scalable and predictable.
- They had plans for US and UK employees to transfer to their Canadian subsidiary and needed to ensure the benefits and retirement program were consistent in this different environment. They needed the Canadian benefits and retirement programs to mirror their corporate vision.
How We Helped Them
- Since 1981 we have been guiding cross-border companies on understanding the Canadian benefits and retirement landscape. Once gaining a better understanding of this healthcare technology companies needs and background, we leveraged this experience, to provide them with a meaningful understanding of the opportunities and risks in Canadian benefits and retirement programs—enabling them to make fully informed decisions, fulfill their fiduciary responsibility and meet their goals.
- Designing the right program with the ability to evolve and grow with a company on all fronts (admin, coverage, cost, sustainability) requires forethought, experience and the right reputation with providers in Canada. Forethought is in our company DNA and we firmly believe in the David Bowie quote “The future belongs to those who can hear it coming.” Experience, we’ve got that covered—proudly serving cross border companies with Canadian benefits and retirement programs since 1981. And finally the reputation was crucial here, because they were brand new to Canada, and Canadian insurers usually want 1 year of operation in Canada AND they wanted the treatment coverage and service of the company they would be not the company they were (350 employees not 2 employees). We put our reputation on the line for Canadian benefits providers to recognize this company as serious entity, and not just one of the hundreds of cross-border companies that show up in Canada overnight, claiming major growth, and disappearing the next day. The final result—a Canadian benefits and retirement program that seamlessly grew with them—there was no: admin hang ups, coverage issues, added costs or major increases.
- By following the David Covey principle “seek first to understand, then to be understood” we gained tremendous insight into this company’s core philosophies; how they wanted to treat their employees and how they wanted their employees to feel. We also had the opportunity to collaborate with the US and UK advisors to better understand their respective plans. In gaining philosophical and technical insight we designed a program that mirrored corporate their corporate vision ensuring consistency with their Canadian retirement and benefits programs.