Benefits Buzz

Millennials are now  t he largest generation  of employees in the American workforce, but their Gen Xers and Baby Boomers aren’t far behind. And they will be central to developing self-sustaining and consistent leadership throughout the life of your business. That’s succession planning. We chat with Bethany Berkeley about how to effectively cultivate a leadership lifecycle across generat...

Author. Accomplished swimmer. Motivational speaker. Diana Nyad has been in the national spotlight for nearly 50 years. Her accomplishments in the water are unparalleled: swimming around the island of Manhattan or going from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. But her journey toward these feats was met with all sorts of challenges. Prepare to be inspired by the one and only Diana Nyad!

Creating a purpose-driven culture where every employee has a voice and feels comfortable being a leader is a key component to short-term and long-term buy-in of your business’ goals and objectives. Does your business encourage leading from any seat? We talk about what to look for, what the benefits are, and what you can do to develop a lead-from-any-seat culture.

Crucial conversations are just that … crucial. Your ability to have important, results-based conversations with employees help promote employee growth and lead to business success. The way you go about crucial conversations matters. We chat with an industry expert to give you tips on how to hold crucial conversations that will make a difference for your business and your employees. Check out Barba...

Many employers, and specifically HR teams, whose employees pivoted to work-from-home during the pandemic are facing a tough question soon: Should our employees return to the office? When is the right time? What does our company culture look like if they don’t return? Our Chief HR Officer Melanie Tinto shares her thought processes and experiences in facing the same questions.

In the middle of last year, tens of millions of Americans were working from home to stay socially distant. This was a stark change for many, which led to potential mental health issues emerging. Now, with more employers bringing employees back to the office, a return to the daily grind also presents some mental health issues. We have a couple experts with us to talk about the current sta...

Companies such as Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft are incorporating some sort of work-from-home model permanently for some or all of their employees. They’re not alone. Due to this, the world of HR recruiting and retention will dramatically change. Many employers will no longer be confined to an office’s location in recruiting talent. But there are challenges too. We chat with our own Kurtis Karn...

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 allows workers who have been involuntarily terminated or experienced a reduction in hours to continue their employer health insurance coverage under COBRA with a 100 percent subsidy. This has led to increased interest in COBRA and compliance. We chat with an expert on some questions we fielded from employers at a recent webinar. We answer even more of your COBR...

The way we collaborate and converse with our co-workers has evolved considerably in the last year. What has changed? What have we learned? And what does it mean going forward? Today’s guest, Whitney Johnson, has written a lot about the importance of listening and learning for today’s leaders. She joins us to discuss what she’s learned over the last year about how we communicate and what our leader...

Does it feel like you are addressing the same team performance issues over and over again, no matter what you try? The issues, and the solutions don’t work, can be costly. Fortunately, there’s a way you can identify, diagnose, and address these issues for good.

Open enrollment took on a new, virtual format for many in 2020 due to work-from-home setups and the need to socially distance. Of those who conducted a virtual open enrollment, 85 percent said they will continue to do so in future years. Why did so many employers prefer virtual open enrollment? And what can you do to re-make yours in 2021? We share one employer's virtual fair success story

The 401(k) and IRA have long been staples of retirement planning. But health savings accounts (HSAs) are as good or better than these accounts when preparing for your retirement years. Don’t believe us? We’ll show you how. Get your free white paper to learn how you can support your employees' retirement-planning needs with an HSA. 

2021 could be a big year for high-deductible health plan (HDHP) and health savings account (HSA) enrollment. Employees who are new to HDHPs might be surprised that the deductible isn’t as big of a leap as they would expect. And HSAs are often confused with FSAs, even though HSAs have a number of key advantages over an FSA. To learn more about HSAs and retirement, get your free white paper . ...

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed into law by President Biden on Thursday, March 11. For those of you who offer COBRA and dependent care FSAs, there were some pretty big changes. Fortunately, we have two big names at WEX to help us break down what this law means for COBRA and dependent care FSAs. Check out our blog post to learn more: https://www.wexinc.com/insights/blog/health/cobra...

The U.S. presidency and both houses of Congress have taken on a new, blue look since the 2018 mid-terms, with Democrats first taking the House of Representatives in 2018, then winning the presidency and control of the Senate in 2020. What does this mean for the future of healthcare and HSAs? Chris Byrd, our executive vice president for the health division of WEX, joins us as we kick off Season 4 o...

A pandemic, social unrest, and a recession ... this year's election is at the forefront of voters' minds for a variety of reasons. In our final episode of Season 3, we focus on the impact this election could have on healthcare and employee benefits.

Our annual consumer research survey yielded interesting results, as the COVID-19 pandemic has re-shaped employee benefits engagement. HSAs were at the center of it all. We break down our research, reveal four HSA consumer groups, and help you understand how to drive engagement.

These are disruptive times! That makes disruption and disrupting yourself more important than ever. We chat with leading business thinker, podcast host and author Whitney Johnson to discuss the value of managing disruption and growing yourself and your business in times of uncertainty. To learn more about Whitney Johnson and what books are available, go to: https://whitneyjohnson.com/books/

One of the healthcare conversations on Capitol Hill centers around the decoupling of health savings accounts (HSAs) from their high-deductible health plan (HDHP) requirement. Will it happen? And if so, when? And what would that mean for HSAs? We break it all down in this episode of Benefits Buzz.

Studies show that while most of us think we're self-aware only 10-15% of us really are. Are you? And why is it important? Tasha Eurich, who is an organizational psychologist and popular speaker, tells us why self-awareness can have such a transformative impact on business and so much more! Take Tasha's quiz at: https://www.insight-book.com/Quiz  And, you can sign up for her Future Ready Leader Cou...

Every second counts during the work day, especially for the always multi-tasking HR team. Integrating commonly used HR platforms helps save them time and preserve data accuracy. We chat with two of our in-house experts on integrations to talk about what integrations are, how they benefit you, and what to look for.

Social distancing and the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed the way that volunteers and charities work together to support their communities. We sit down with two of the leaders of our community to discuss what's changed, what hasn't and what you can do to give back during these times. You can support by going to: https://www.unitedway.org/ http://www.unitedwaycassclay.org/

You were introduced to ICHRAs on a previous Benefits Buzz episode. In this episode, we go in-depth on this new benefits offering to help you get the WIIFM (what's in it for me) on ICHRAs. This type of HRA has a number of perks for employers and employees, which is why their availability is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.

What if in-person isn't the best way to do open enrollment? Many employers are hosting virtual open enrollments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And this may be the best approach, both now and going forward. We chat with two of our resident OE experts to share tips and insights on what it takes to pull off a successful virtual OE.

So much has changed in human resources since the COVID-19 pandemic began. HR teams have had to pivot. And quickly. With no experience or expertise on how to manage a pandemic. We're talking to two HR leaders who will share their wins and their losses this year to help us all learn from the mistakes and mimic the successes.