Choosing The Best Employee Benefits Broker In 2024

When choosing an employee benefits broker in the modern 2023, company leaders should consider how well the broker knows their industry, matches with their team, and partners with their desired insurers. They should also wield the characteristics of a great broker.

If you’re a new business, or if you’re ready to revise your employee benefits and are looking for a new broker, Pacific Prime is here to guide you. In this article you’ll learn how to choose the best broker, what makes a great broker, and the steps to make your selection.

By the end of this article, you’ll be one step closer to beginning the right employee benefits consulting to fill the needs of your company.

How To Choose An Employee Benefits Broker

When choosing the best employee benefits broker for your company in 2023 you’ll want to hire one that specializes in your industry, has access to relevant data to the needs of your company, will work well with your team, and offers global benefits if you need them.

While this can feel like quite a daunting task, we are going to make it easier for you by breaking down some key elements you want to consider in any potential broker. You will want to think carefully about the needs of your specific company in each of these categories so you can find the right brokerage fit.

Industry Specialization

An employee benefits broker must specialize in your specific industry for you to want to hire them. This is because they will be familiar with the needs of employees in your field, with your industry competition, and with how most employees in your field expect to be treated by their employers.

In addition to the brokerage having experience with your industry, you want them to have experience with an organization of your size and scope. Small businesses are very different from billion-dollar businesses, and those are different from non-profit organizations.

Some ways to check for industry specialization:

• Ask for client examples and referrals and determine if they are in your industry, what size they are, and how broad their scope of practice is.
• Ask the broker to demonstrate expertise in the industry.
• Does the broker seem competent in the key priorities of a business of your type?

Data-Based Advice

Employers will want to select a broker who can give sound, backed, and data-based advice. Your broker should have access to reputable data analytics with benchmarking that can break down how competitive your employee benefits are compared to other companies of your industry, size, and region.

A broker with this information can provide meaningful suggestions that can strengthen your employee benefits and improve your costs. They will also be able to use past data to predict the trends of the future so that you always remain competitive.

Some ways to analyze your broker’s ability to access expansive data and use it to give wise counsel:

• What kind of data does this broker offer you? Are there holes in the information you are given?
• Does the broker offer you specific counsel on things to change about your benefits, or do they only provide you with the data?
• Do they identify weaknesses in your plan, as well as the industry as a whole, and provide advice about ways to fill those gaps and improve your company’s appeal?

Matching Team-Dynamics

In 2023, you want to make sure you hire an employee benefits broker who connects well with your team-dynamics. This means that not only should you naturally be able to work well together, but you want the specific team assigned to your company to be familiar with your business.

You don’t want to be pawned off from a salesperson who knows a lot about your industry to a team who knows very little about what your business values and needs. For that reason, make sure you get to know the team you’ll actually be working with before you sign any deal.

Some ways to make sure your team dynamics will match well:

• Discover if this broker has long-term clients. If so, that implies this broker delivers strong resources and teams.
• Ask how long your team has been working. If they are seasoned, they may be more likely to have greater expertise and knowledge to pull from when offering advice.
• Pay attention to how well the brokerage listens to your needs and concerns, and observe if they connect you with the right experts to resolve those concerns.

Compensation Plan

How you will pay your employee benefits broker should always be something you consider before hiring someone. Not only whether or not you can afford it, but what types of services they charge for. Do they require compensation for every minute spent on your company or do they earn commission?

If a broker bills their clients for time spent on their projects, that means every interaction, even phone calls, and emails, can rack up their paycheck. For some companies, it may work better to negotiate consultation to be included in the standard fees paid to the broker.

Some different ways employee benefits brokers can be paid are through:

• A commission
• A flat consulting fee
• A combination of both

Global Benefits

Depending on the scope of your business, you will want to make sure your broker has experience and networking connections to secure your company’s global benefits. This is particularly important if your employees travel frequently or live abroad as digital nomads or expats.

These travel and accident global benefits could include:

• Inpatient and outpatient coverage
• Worldwide protection
• Pre-existing conditions coverage
• Medical evacuation and repatriation
• Flight cancellations and delays
• Lost baggage and valuables
• International health insurance

You will want to be familiar with the best travel insurance companies and make sure your broker can secure you a plan with them.

Partnered Insurers

Employers will want a broker who partners with the best insurers, both locally and internationally. Because insurance is such a huge part of employee benefits, you want to work with a broker who can get you the best coverage because they already have a relationship with insurers.

As an example, Pacific Prime works with the top health insurers and partners to guarantee your employees have the coverage they need when they need it.

A few insurers Pacific Prime partners with are:

• Cigna
• AIA
• Aetna
• Allianz

Characteristics Of A Great Broker

A great employee benefits broker will have a state-of-the-art benefits management portal, work with the best vendors, have simplified claims and plan usage analysis, have superb benefits design and advice, and offer flexible benefits plan options. These characteristics and more are essential.

A great broker will:

1. Have employee benefits solutions that meet the exact needs of your company. Some of these solutions will include group health insurance, wellness solutions, group life, and disability insurance, and group travel and accident insurance.
2. Know all the important tricks when structuring an employee benefits package, such as how to blend benefits, have a focus on prevention, and emphasize education.
3. Be familiar with the top non-monetary benefits such as psychological benefits, medical benefits, and lifestyle benefits.
4. Understand the importance of offering health insurance for employees as a critical part of the benefits plan.
5. Know the most important employee benefits for a small business if that applies to your company.

5 Steps To Selecting An Employee Benefits Broker In 2023

The first step to picking the right employee benefits broker for your company in 2023 is clearly defining what you want in a broker. After that, you list a few brokers you hope will fit those requirements and you interview them, vet them, and then ultimately make your decision.

Let’s talk about these 5 steps in a little more detail now.

     1. List Out Your Non-Negotiables

Before you contact any brokers, you need to decide the non-negotiable needs for what you do or don’t want in a broker. Knowing this beforehand gives you direction to find a broker that meets your needs and the needs of your company’s employees.

     2. Gather a Few Brokerage Candidates

Talk to other company heads you trust in your industry to get an idea of some great brokers you could consider hiring yourself. You can also search through SHRM Broker Finder. Make a list of these candidates.

With over 20 years of experience servicing over 5000 companies and 500 school campuses, we recommend Pacific Prime as one of your candidates.

     3. Interview Your Candidates

Once you have your list, you will want to interview your candidates using the criteria in our first section. Ask yourself if each candidate:

• Specializes in your industry
• Offers data-backed advice
• Matches with your team-dynamics
• Has a compensation plan that works for you
• Offers global benefits if you need them
• Partners with the best insurers

     4. Contact their References

After you interview each candidate, take the time to look through their clientele to glean what you can about the broker from those they serve. Is your company similar to the broker’s existing clients or rather different?

Be thorough so you feel confident you know what to expect your broker to deliver.

     5. Make Your Selection

When you’re finally ready, you will make your decision. And voila! You’ve got yourself an expert employee benefits broker ready to consult about the needs of your employees!

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an employee benefits broker do?

An employee benefits broker analyzes, secures, manages, and strengthens employee benefits and company insurance packages. They are independent contractors hired by a company to negotiate with insurers the costs and benefits of that company’s employees.

Why would I need employee benefits consulting?

Company leaders may want to procure employee benefits consulting to learn the latest trends in terms of employee benefits in their industry, gather data about which benefits are the most important and successful for employee retention, and acquire the best company insurance deals.

Conclusion

You’ve now learned all about how to choose the best employee benefits broker for your company in our modern 2023. If you follow these steps, you’re sure to weed out the brokers that aren’t the right fit so you can find the diamond in the rough.

After this article, you’ll want to learn how to design an employee benefits plan in 2023!

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Serena Fung

Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime

Serena Fung is a Senior Content Creator at Pacific Prime, a global insurance brokerage and employee specialist serving over 1.5 million clients in 15 offices across the world. With 2+ years of experience writing about the subject, she aims to demystify the world of insurance for readers with the latest updates, guides and articles on the blog.

Serena earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Canada. As such, she is an avid advocate of mental health and is fascinated by all things psychology (especially if it’s cognitive psychology!).

Her previous work experience includes teaching toddlers to read, writing for a travel/wellness online magazine, and then a business news blog. These combined experiences give her the skills and insights she needs to explain complex ideas in a succinct way. Being the daughter of an immigrant and a traveler herself, she is passionate about educating expats and digital nomads on travel and international health insurance.

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