To help determine employers’ top strategic initiatives for 2024, we conducted the annual CBIZ State of Health Care Survey. This survey collected responses from 388 employers from across the country, and the following represent these employers’ key areas of focus for the year ahead.
Want to see all the valuable data collected via the CBIZ State of Health Care Survey? Download our comprehensive report today.
1. Attracting, Recruiting & Retaining Top Talent
Our survey results show that attracting, recruiting and retaining quality employees has never been more important. Of our pool of respondents, 60.4% indicated that this is their number one priority for 2024.
Effective talent management is crucial to ensuring your organization is prepared to catch the attention of potential new hires and hold on to best-in-class employees. Talent management involves various interconnected processes, all of which are intended to optimize your organization’s human capital. It begins with identifying the skills required for success in various roles and aligning them with your organizational goals and values. You can learn more about the talent management process here.
2. Controlling Health Care Costs
Coming in at number 2, controlling health care costs is a major strategic initiative for employers this year. BenefitsPro reports that health care costs are anticipated to grow between 6% and 8.5% this year, according to various credible forecasts. As a result, employer-sponsored health plans may cost more than $15,000 per employee.
Traditionally, many employers have addressed rising health care costs by shifting a greater share of costs onto their employees through both contribution changes and cutbacks to plan design. However, this can be detrimental to recruitment and retention efforts, requiring employers to leverage innovative cost-containment tactics instead.
CBIZ’s State of Health Care Report contains a wide variety of outside-the-box cost-saving solutions, including alternative funding mechanisms, pharmacy-specific strategies and more. Click here to download your copy today.
3. Maintaining Regulatory Compliance
While ensuring the compliant development, management and administration of employee benefits plans has always been important, shifting regulations and an increased focus on welfare plan fiduciary responsibility point to the fact that maintaining compliance must be prioritized. Employers recognize this, which is why maintaining compliance comes in at number 3 on the list of top strategic initiatives.
Check out our inaugural Quarterly Compliance Conversation with CBIZ Employee Benefits to catch up on crucial compliance must-knows for quarter one.
4. Enhancing Employee Benefits Communication
Effective internal communication is intrinsically linked to a positive employee experience, which has a domino effect on recruitment efforts, retention rates and more — all of which can impact your bottom line. Forty percent of our survey respondents indicated that improving benefits communication is a key initiative for 2024, proving that a strong employee communications strategy is a business imperative.
5. Offering Effective Employee Compensation
Between high employee turnover, increasing payroll costs, rising inflation rates and an array of other factors, it’s no surprise that compensation is a hot topic. Research conducted by Zywave found that 50% of employers plan on raising employee compensation to win over new employees and 53% are planning on improving compensation to better retain employees. The CBIZ State of Health Care Survey also identified this initiative as a top priority for employers this year.
If your organization is looking for cost-effective ways to enhance your compensation strategy, consider leveraging the expertise of a compensation consultant.
Connect with CBIZ Employee Benefits to Align Your Strategic Initiatives with Market Trends
It’s essential to ensure that your organization’s top priorities for this year are aligned with the latest market trends. Connect with a member of our benefits consulting team today to review and optimize your current approach. Click here to get started.