HR professionals and corporate advisers (EBCs) have access to a wealth of employee, personal data. We know that this data, when used well, can be transformational for advisors, businesses and employees – a client retention instrument through ROI reporting or to engage end users with messages that really resonate, in turn increasing engagement and therefore revenues.
Yet, as an industry, we’ve historically struggled to get it right.
Perhaps a lack of appetite to face up to the challenges of how we store and share data securely, GDPR compliance, incompatible formats, data corruption issues and high-profile data breaches have led to us maintaining the status quo. Scares such as Marriott: fined
£18.4million for a cyber attack – over 339 million guest records were exposed. Famously in our own sector, a Scottish local authority fined £250,000 after ex-employee’s paper pension records were found in a supermarket car park. Even more recently a virtual GP service, used by health insurance providers has fallen foul of data rules, underlining the absolute importance of using secure platforms for personal data.
But it’s not just fear, we’re also missing out on grabbing the opportunities that great data offers.
Another reason we’ve struggled with data has been a lack of easy-to-use, secure and affordable digital systems. The financial services industry has started to see some technology- led changes over the past few years, however employee data – including relevant benefits and pensions information – still seems to be difficult to get hold of. How many valuable policies languish unused by employees because employers and advisers are working blind, without easy access to data, to either make changes to the reward or the way they communicate the benefit?
With multiple provider and advisor systems in play, along with employers collating data from HR and payroll programmes; combining different data sources and maximising the opportunities of ‘big data,’ have been a consistent headache for larger organisations and completely out of reach for SMEs who don’t have the budget or need, to implement expensive platforms.
In 2019 Cloud8 came to life, with the idea to create a better, simpler, modern way of delivering reward packages. We took our experience in employee benefits – and the growing frustration in the market at the lack of helpful technology – and distilled them into an original, intuitive, digital benefits platform: BEAM at Work.
We know that in the UK there are millions of engaged employees making almost-constant decisions via workplace technologies. These decisions are informed, they are emotional, sometimes they’re even subconscious. If you can use the data that already exists to understand more about these decisions, the user experience can be significantly improved, which in turn shines a light upon opportunities for both advisers and employees to get more from their current benefits, pensions and reward offerings.
BEAM at Work and the expertise on tap at Cloud8, are already being used nationwide by EBCs, intermediaries and advisers who want to transform the way they – and their clients, work. The platform allows advisers to quickly and easily create and deliver online benefit portfolios and offerings, all managed in an intuitive broker hub. Client data that would normally take hours to collect and interrogate
is secure, GDPR compliant and can be easily accessed. Advisers can encourage policy upgrades through the smart software and help their clients to develop pro-active communications through the platform’s tools, ensuring maximum employee engagement with digital benefits. Simply, everything is in one place, accessible from one screen. And with over half the UK workforce currently working remotely, there’s never been a more crucial time to make the transformational shift to digital technology that meets the expectations of employees and employers.
To quote author Geoffrey Moore: “Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the web like deer on a freeway.”
If we’re not to get left behind, now’s the time for us – as employee benefits professionals – to go digital and harness the power of data.
- Dipa has been a buyer and user of EB software, with extensive experience of collaborative working with advisory firms, HR and employees. At Cloud8 this gives her a unique perspective on technology development and clients’ business challenges.