Good data and the way it is used is the key for the future of employee benefits, according to a panel at this year’s World Captive Forum in Miami.
The panel included Anthony Tropea, strategic benefits leader, global health and wellbeing of GSK; Marc Reinhardt, director Americas of Generali Employee Benefits Network; Paul McNiff, senior consultant of Willis Towers Watson; and Ricardo Almeida, head of business development of Maxis Global Benefits Network.
When asked by NcNiff on what Maxis is hearing from their clients on how they can help them over the next three to five years, Almeida explained that data is a number one priority for Maxis but also how the firm uses digital platforms to analyse the data that they gather to make it more efficient.
In agreement, Reinhardt said “data is key”, but pointed out that asked that once companies get that data, what are they doing with it?
He explained that a lot of work and investment goes into getting the data and making it analysable but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done around this to reach the next level.
Reinhardt suggested that some companies are already working on this. He noted that at Generali, “we still see many clients that have not reached to that step. They have the data but what is the next step from here. I think the industry needs to be learning and educating in this area”.
Later in the panel session, McNiff noted that employee benefit costs are significant and are continuing to rise. He stated: “After base paying salary, typically the two biggest components of spend will be post-retirement spend and risk and healthcare benefits.”
He discussed the cost of healthcare around the world but focused on the rising cost of US healthcare and how quickly that cost can add up for a company, especially a larger company with more employees to cover.
Reflecting back to the data, Almeida added that Maxis are currently seeing a lot of growth in the market.
