County to seek new ancillary benefits broker, approves follow-up employee engagement survey
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Summary
Benton County—enefits advisory committee recommended switching brokers for ancillary benefits to Integrity Employee Benefits; the board approved a motion to bring a contract back for signature and approved a $16,500 follow-up employee engagement survey funded from the administrator's budget.
The Benton County benefits advisory committee (BAC) and the county culture team recommended that the county pursue Integrity Employee Benefits as a broker for ancillary insurance (life and long-term disability and voluntary ancillary lines). The board approved a motion to bring a contract to the board at a future date for consideration.
Integrity Employee Benefits presented its public-entity specialty and said it charges no direct consulting fee; instead, it is paid as a percentage of premiums and its work typically is reflected in the premiums quoted by carriers. Integrity representatives said their approach emphasizes full-market RFPs, hands-on service and education to increase participation in voluntary benefits.
Employee engagement follow-up survey
County administration proposed a one-year follow-up employee engagement survey through Employee Strategies to measure progress since the county—onducted an initial engagement survey about a year earlier. The board approved the follow-up survey; the one-time cost is $16,500 and will be funded from the administrator's budget given a continuing vacancy in the county HR director position. The survey process will include an online survey, focus groups and targeted one-on-one interviews, and will result in a management briefing with recommended next steps.
Culture team update
Mallory, the culture team chair, briefed the board on internal initiatives (intranet culture pages, "department of the month," onboarding/training SharePoint work and benefits-committee outreach including PERA presentations). The benefits committee said it had worked to bring education and optional local discounts to employees and reported turnout figures for recent PERA sessions.
Why it matters
A broker change for ancillary benefits could alter plan options and employee education; the follow-up survey is intended to measure cultural progress after previous engagement work and to guide next steps in recruitment, training and benefits outreach.
