Year End Review

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Paul Martin & Colin Rooke are joined by Ryan Warner to summarize the conversations of 2021 and discuss what to expect in 2022.

Listen to the full episode here, or read the full transcript below.

Paul Martin:

Welcome to Risky Business, commercial insurance with Butler Buyers. Paul Martin here, your host, a business commentator on CKOM and joining me Colin Rooke, commercial risk reduction specialist with Butler Buyers. And we’re joined today by a familiar voice, at least is Ryan Warner, the benefit specialist with Butler Buyers. And Colin, we’re coming to the end of the year, the kickoff of new year. I mean, these are points on the calendar, but really psychologically, they’re really important about how you turn a page. And we jokingly on the 1st of January, at least till noon is the time many businesses are actually on budget for that one day of the year. But I mean, that says something doesn’t, it is that we’re entering a new time and we kind of think, well, we make new year’s resolutions, we make promises, we make goals and objectives. So kind of timely to have our talk today about just what is the new year holding and maybe I’ll just throw it over to you and you can bring Ryan into the conversation too.

Colin Rooke:

Yeah, absolutely. We’ve covered a lot of, some familiar topics and a lot of new topic or sort of new trends and old topics. And I thought it’d be pertinent to bring Ryan on board, just to talk about, I guess, summarize some of the other conversations we’ve had on this show around group benefits and trends that we’re seeing in the market. We certainly see costs increase in certain areas now that, I guess we were more familiarized with kind of life with COVID and just want to get an idea of some of the trends we’ve discussed, for example, something that just sticks in my mind was dental. Everyone ran and got their teeth cleaned and every apparatus that they’ve been putting off that sort of thing, is this something that’s going to continue? Where is pricing going? What do employers need to think about for the new year? Where should they be spending their resources? And how can we educate our clients and anyone listening on what to know for 2022.

Paul Martin:

That’s good. Well, Ryan, you spend your day talking to business owners day in, day out, and I’m curious on the topic of benefits. I mean, what’s top of mind for them? I would guess it has to do with COVID, it’s been such a dominant thing, but am I right in making that assumption or is it something else completely?

Ryan Warner:

Well, I think COVID is been on everybody’s mind and these vaccines and how that’s being rolled out to various employers policies. That’s been a big contributing factor to the conversations I’m having on a daily basis and preparing for what is coming in the form of benefit costs and how to remain competitive, how to continue to attract and retain talent. Of course, those are always the key messages that employers are delivering my way. It’s a competitive world. And it’s hard to find good people that are willing to put in the time and effort, so they want to reward them appropriately. And these are all key contributing factors right now.

Paul Martin:

I’m going to come back to that, the notion of COVID, but you sparked a thought for me in that, when you’re dealing on the benefit side, it is about the relationship between employer and employee. And we’re hearing this thing, the great resignation, I’m sure that’s capturing a lot of mind share for you is that businesses are seeing employee turnover. I mean, I’m not really seeing a good definition or description or explanation for the great resignation, but it apparently is out there. I mean, what are you seeing on that? And what are they saying to you about it? And what does that mean for benefits plans?

Ryan Warner:

It seems to be a lot of, kind of up in the air thinking from employees right now, they’re all, I guess, more aware of the fact that there are other options out there. There’s a lot of job openings, constantly new postings, I mean, businesses are always trying to grow. So they’re always looking for people. And I think folks, as a result of the pandemic have had maybe more time to sit back and kind of contemplate their position and what they want to do going forward. So I think employers more than anything are trying to figure out how do we really convey the value that all of these various benefits and total rewards or compensation components truly are in front of the employee. So, it’s not always clear in the employee’s mind, the wide array of benefits that they have access to. So more and more I’m talking to employers about how to deliver that message so that employees aren’t jumping ship for a quarter more an hour or something that’s just foundational around compensation, but really looking at the whole picture.

Paul Martin:

I’m certain that employers see benefits as part of the hiring package? What’s the perspective from employees? I mean, has the great resignation, has COVID, has this upheaval changed that perception or are they more demanding, less demanding? Is it a real factor, not a factor in their thought processes?

Ryan Warner:

Well, for those that I would say is part of this great resignation and if they’re going out and trying to do their own thing, obviously, then probably, well, I shouldn’t say obviously, but they’re probably not as tuned into the various costs and coverages associated with all of the various components of their compensation package, that said those that are hunting for other jobs are absolutely making sure that their employer has benefits to take care of their families. I mean, they’re trying to get a better sense of what are the mental health support components that are there. They’re looking for pension plans and group RSPs, I mean they’re looking for a wide range of coverages, not just necessarily the pay, but again, the key is how is this being delivered? How is it being communicated either at time of acquiring a new employee or attracting a new employee or to retain them, how are you communicating it so that your employees know exactly what they have? So they’re not jumping ship just because they assume something is more attractive elsewhere.

Paul Martin:

That’s an interesting concept or a comment that you make that sometimes it’s less about what’s in the package, more about making sure they understand what’s in the package. This is something Colin talks about a lot. Do you help employers actually craft messaging and be able to say explanations of the programs? Are you part of that explanation? Like, do you show up and do briefings?

Ryan Warner:

Absolutely. The insurers, I would say do a decent job of making materials available. I think where the challenge lies is that consistent drip of information so that employees are recognizing what’s there. If you hit them with everything all at once, often, so much of the package gets lost in the noise of just so much information. So it’s really more about fine tuning your communication strategy to make sure that you are flagging various value ads, various components of the plan throughout the year and ongoing, I think that’s the best strategy to take, to making sure employees are aware of what they’ve got.

Paul Martin:

Just stand by for a second. I just want to ask Colin about that. I mean, Colin, you spend your time talking principally to business owners and managers, and we’re talking here about how you transmit that to the next tier of employees within an organization. I mean, how do you approach that?

Colin Rooke:

You’re referring specifically on the risk reduction work. What we do is, when we’re having a conversation building on a plan, it usually starts at management executive level. However, we talk about, okay, well, who needs to be involved? Who do we need to bring together into this circle to execute on this? Or can we develop a team right here and now? It’s rare that those individuals in the first meeting would then be the very responsible for carrying out the work. So our job is to create the urgency, to organize and prioritize and also quantify, okay, is this worth doing? Are we in agreement that we should put the time and effort into this topic? And then from there we say, okay, well, who’s best to execute on this inside the organization? We’ll work with that person, so we’re not just bugging you, the client or an executive saying, is it done? Is it done? Is it done? We’re making sure the right people understand what we’re doing and why, and then we’re working together to accomplish that.

Paul Martin:

All right, well, listen, we got to take a little break. And when we come back after this, Ryan, I want to ask you about, what trends you see for 2022. So keep that in mind, we’ll be back to you in just a minute or two. You’re listening to Risky Business, commercial insurance with Butler Buyers, Paul Martin here. Back after this.

Welcome back to Risky Business, commercial insurance with Butler Buyers. Paul Martin here, your host, and joining me today, along with Colin Rooke, is Ryan Warner, who’s the benefit specialist with Butler Buyers. And Ryan, just before the break I sort of suggested that if you could give us a hint or a thought of what you’re seeing about trends that are coming in 2022. I mean, is sentiment shifting in this or employers leaning in new directions or is the industry going in new directions? I mean, what do you see as the topics of conversation right now?

Ryan Warner:

Well, table stakes right now is all, seems to be surrounding mental health in particular and how to prepare going forwards for some of the increased costs that are a ripple effective of claims being at all time highs and the disability space, employee assistance programs and counseling services, employers are wanting to support their staff and their family members to make sure that they have access to those types of resources. The industry is seeing costs go up in the disability space in particular. So I think being proactive and helping employers understand that getting folks access to the types of counseling that can really support mental health challenges in advance of it becoming a disability is only going to help. So I really do see that continuing to be a major topic of discussion as employers brace for increased costs there and also trying to figure out how to improve their services.

Paul Martin:

Colin, you got a thought here.

Colin Rooke:

Yeah, Ryan, from the insurance, insurer perspective, are they sort of proactively reaching out or expanding, either their offering or their suggestion, like are they doing anything on their end saying, we know this isn’t going away. We know mental health is a big topic. We know that our customers are dealing with issues that really, I don’t think they could have ever predicted they might be dealing with. You think of the idea of, if your employer said, “Hey, do you want to do the same stuff for the same pay from the comfort of your bedroom wearing pajamas,” that would be great. And then suddenly, we’ve got this rise in mental health and of course people are burnt out, stressed out, but anything coming from the insurers, just saying that we’re thinking of that. And this is what we suggest the businesses do for their people, or is there work being done in that space.

Ryan Warner:

Honestly, I think it’s a really challenging space for everyone. Insurers, I think each one has their own approach. They’re dealing with their own pools and how this mental health impact is hitting each of them. I don’t know that there is one blanket answer that’s going to solve this overnight. So the key messaging we’re getting is, this changing of guard and how plans are set up. So right now, something like psychotherapy is not typically a common paramedical service provider. So if you don’t have that on your plan, that’s one item that could be embedded, employee assistance programs, or EAPs is another one that insurers are saying, this is a great program. It’s not high cost. It’s something that you can put in there to give employees access to essential counselling support in a variety of ways, not just mental health, but to get them access to more counselling support, to get them in a better place prior to it becoming so severe that they find themselves off work for a long period of time.

We’re all learning right now. I mean, the last couple years has been chaotic to say the least. I mean, I think everybody’s, like you said, burnt out, stressed out, challenged with whatever their own personal situation is. So I think we’re learning, but I do expect that we’re going to see insurers start to speak out quite a bit more as to some of the things that they would recommend to help combat some of this activity.

 

Paul Martin:

It’s interesting Ryan, because I think the headline story that I picked up from you here today is that disability claims are record high. And I mean, that’s obviously the thing that’s going to turn the heads of employers, because that will ultimately reflect in premiums. And I suspect there’s not one employer listening here who says, well, I’m going to encourage disability claims. I mean, they’re trying to help their people so that they, as you said, get the help they need before it becomes a disability claim. And I’m just curious, I mean, what’s driving this increase. I mean, is it just the uncertainty that’s centered around COVID and how that has just messed things up and people get insecure and uncertain, and that leads to deeper problems?

Ryan Warner:

Well, I would say I’m far from a mental health expert, so I won’t tread down that path other than to say, the vast majority of claiming activity in these pools at least has a component of mental health related to it. So it’s not to say that all claims are only mental health, but a significant portion, upwards of 80% of all the claims that are coming in have a mental health element. I suspect it’s a whole combination of a lot of very complex issues. And I think as we’re learning more about mental health and what creates some of these challenges for folks, I think that just almost compounds the reality that I have support. Maybe I need to take time just to get myself in the right space.

So the access to counselling, I think unfortunately, the old school way of thinking is still prevalent. I think there’s enough people that still are not seeking counselling because they’re trying to deal with these issues themselves. And then ultimately gets to a point where it’s almost too far gone and it results in a very serious outcome. So I don’t know for certain on what the solution is or what the reasoning is behind it, but we are definitely in a transitory period right now where the COVID situation is just amplified all the challenges that everybody’s facing.

Paul Martin:

Well, I find this quite interesting and I’m guessing that somewhere in the midst of all of this too, is the, if I could call it media attention, from Olympians to whatever saying it’s okay to talk about mental health, we have the day of the year where we… it’s a day dedicated to speaking up. And so it’s no longer just swept under the rug, it is actually mainstream. And if you want evidence of it, you just talked about it, look at the number of claims, they’re going up. Business people, you need to pay attention to this topic.

Ryan Warner:

Definitely, definitely. You know what, I can’t say enough that there are solutions available or services available that don’t have to cost the plan fortunes in premium. And I mean, it’s one thing to put them in play, but then to also support and continue to communicate that they have those things available to them in a very private setting. It’s not as though folks are trying to get a sense of what you’re dealing with. It’s, here is private access to counselling support, the comfort of your own home. And I would definitely encourage employers to take a look at this, if they don’t have it on their plan today.

Paul Martin:

We got just a minute left. Colin, you want to jump in?

Colin Rooke:

Well, yeah, and it’s also frankly, good for business to talk about mental health. I mean, we talk a lot about engagement and presenteeism and productivity and absenteeism. For years, if you’ve been suffering alone, and then of course, now people are talking about it more. I mean, it would make sense that, you would feel more likely to bring forward how you’re feeling and then therefore lean on the plan for some help. I mean, it does make sense. And I think you’re right, employers need to recognize this and put in the work or else suffer the sort of consequences of what’s going on behind the scenes, if this is ignored.

Paul Martin:

Yeah, and also, I mean, that brings us back to that conversation about the great resignation. If you want to hire the best talent, you’d better be cognizant and sort of, actually sort of conversant in the language that we’ve been talking about here through this show. It’s top of mind and like it or not, there it is. So learn about it, deal with it. And I think the message I’m getting from you two today is, you are a resource that can help employers get through this, to navigate it, and to become just more skilled and better at what they do.

Gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us. My guest today, Ryan Warner, the benefit specialist with Butler Buyers and Colin Rooke, our resident expert on all things related to risk management with Butler Buyers, commercial insurance. Thanks again for joining us. Talk to you next time.