What Brokers Can Be Thankful For This Year

Quick look: The season of gratitude is here, and it’s an ideal time for brokers to pause and take stock of the many things they are grateful for. Thankfully, market trends are pointing toward a continued need for benefits and PEO brokers, and the right HR outsourcing partner can help them continue to meet those demands.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, as is the new year, making it a natural time to reflect on what has gone well so far this year and what may lie ahead in 2024.

Brokers across the United States should be especially grateful. According to market research firm Technavio, 56% of the HR outsourcing market’s expected growth between 2022 to 2026 is slated to come from North America. Further, the market is expected to see an incremental growth of $10.90 billion between 2021 to 2026.

These industry trends reiterate your clients’ ongoing need for your services, something worthy of adding to your broker gratitude list.

Your clients depend on you—and will continue to do so

The business landscape constantly transforms, but one thing remains steady: small- and medium-sized employers will continue to turn to their brokers to help them differentiate themselves in the market by offering competitive employee benefits packages, assistance with recruiting, and performance management guidance.

Employee benefits

Your clients rely on you to present cost-effective benefits packages that cater to their increasingly diverse workforces—and that need will remain steadfast.

Per SHRM’s 2022-2023 State of the Workplace Report, human resources (HR) professionals claim that increasing mental health benefits is a priority, as is improving cost efficiency. The report also found that providing good healthcare coverage is a higher priority than in previous years.

Additionally, HR Dive’s latest Identity of HR report discovered over half (57%) of surveyed businesses utilize benefits outsourcing/consultants. Further, the study showed that HR professionals are adapting to employees’ desire for more robust total rewards packages, as there was a 7% increase this year in student loan repayment/other educational benefits and an 8% uptick in retirement benefits/contributions. Echoing SHRM’s research, the Identity of HR report stated that maximizing value with budgetary constraints ranked in the top three priorities for companies.

Talent acquisition

The job market may be cooler than this time last year, but hiring remains a top priority, according to HR Dive research. The Identity of HR report revealed that 42% of HR departments regularly use outsourced staffing services, which brokers can align them with.

SHRM’s latest State of the Workplace report reinforces this finding: 65% of HR executives aim to increase employee headcount, and 62% want to specifically recruit from more diverse or underutilized talent pools. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered recruiting tools, which small businesses may access via a professional employer organization (PEO) like ExtensisHR, can aid in this search by eliminating subconscious biases. Many AI programs remove names from resumes to help eliminate bias, leading to a larger qualified talent pool, and giving candidates a fairer chance.

Performance management

Monitoring and evaluating employees’ performance is a growing priority for businesses. Per the SHRM report mentioned above, 42% of HR professionals feel that facilitating fair and effective performance evaluations is an organizational priority (up 15 points year-over-year).

While many SMB leaders feel performance management is critical, they may be stretched too thin to develop a robust, effective strategy and turn to their brokers to connect them with a helpful HR outsourcing partner, like a PEO.

Finetuning their performance management approach is an effective way for businesses to strengthen their culture, which, according to HR Dive, is HR professionals’ second largest priority. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management states that when organizations maintain effective performance management strategies, they are likely to experience the following outcomes:

• A valued diverse and inclusive workforce and environment
• A motivated workforce working at its highest potential
• Increased customer, managerial, and employee satisfaction
• Heightened awareness for mission-related outcomes by key stakeholders
• And more

The right partner to help you best serve your clients

A strong pipeline is a gift—and so is having a trusted PEO partner to source highly sought-after solutions like access to best-in-class employee benefits, recruiting services, and expert HR guidance. Even better is a partner that not just understands but prioritizes your needs as a broker.

ExtensisHR does all that and more with its:

• Breadth of HR services, including payroll and tax administration, HR road mapping, and dedicated HR guidance.
• Customizable employee benefits packages in which clients can leverage ExtensisHR’s economy of scale, as well as benefits planning and administration services.
• Complimentary recruiting services for PEO customers, including everything from job ad creation and interview assistance to skills assessments and offer letter consultations, that pair the latest AI tools with a professional human touch.
• Unparalleled customer service, including a support team that answers the phone in 11 seconds or less.
• Discounted access to 15Five, a leading performance management and employee engagement platform that includes engagement surveys, feedback gathering, weekly employee check-ins, one-on-one meetings, performance trend tracking, and more.
• Broker-centric philosophy, designed to help you expand your offerings, differentiate yourself, secure new and long-term clients, earn competitive commissions, and experience a seamless RFI process.

ExtensisHR is thankful for all its current broker partners and grateful for the trust you put in our services. If you want to learn more about how collaborating with ExtensisHR can benefit your book, contact us today.