Aberdeen Group Recommends Increased Employee Involvement in Benefit Plan Management as a Best-in-Class Practice
AUSTIN, TX, Nov 05, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Asure Software (NASDAQ: ASUR), a leading provider of workforce management solutions, announced the availability of a report for Human Resources Professionals titled, "Taming the Benefits Management Beast: Driving Costs Down and Satisfaction Up," from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), underwritten by iEmployee.
In the report, Aberdeen Group found companies are striving to balance having a competitive benefits program and controlling costs. iEmployee allows companies to better manage benefit programs, through web-based, self-service employee time tracking software solutions, ultimately lowering the costs and administrative burden to Human Resources departments.
Based on the research, Aberdeen Group cites surveying employees on benefits program satisfaction, introducing or expanding health wellness program offerings, and increasing employee involvement in managing their individual plans as keys to success.
"Medical insurance is far and away the most expensive benefit item being offered by organizations, and it can be a budget buster," according to David Weldon, Research Analyst, human capital management at Aberdeen and author of the report. "The answer is not found in reducing medical insurance coverage, but in finding ways to make it less needed." Cases in point include wellness and disease management programs, both of which attempt to rein in the need and cost of other health care by keeping employees more healthy.
As important as it is to gain control over benefit program costs, best-in-class organizations understand the need to still provide a robust offering of benefit items that attract and retain workers and make sense for their employee needs. "The gains for the organization include increased retention and job satisfaction, and decreased budget and administrative costs," Weldon remarks.
"The Aberdeen Group's findings corroborate much of what we hear from our customers who use iEmployee self-service solutions everyday to manage and administer their benefit programs. Our hope is that the Aberdeen Group's findings raise the level of awareness of how critical issues like online benefits management are tied to things like employee retention, operational costs, and benefits costs," said John Stockton, Vice President of Product Management for Asure Software.
"It's always a challenge for HR to quantify the impact these elements have on not just the business of HR, but the organization as a whole. What the Aberdeen Group report provides is a roadmap for any HR professional to measure their current company against best practices and know where they need to point their resources -- and iEmployee provides a proven employee self-service solution to facilitate personal involvement with benefits management."
Human Resource and Benefits Management programs at Best-in-Class organizations are credited with increasing employee job satisfaction by 11 percent and employee retention by 15 percent. At the same time, the best-in-class companies have reduced the administrative burden on HR by 6 percent, and decreased the benefit program cost per employee by 7 percent. iEmployee helps companies achieve these improved operational gains by empowering employees to play a greater role through increased access to benefit programs, information and options.
To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.iemployee.com/products/taming-benefits-management/
About iEmployee
A pioneer in On Demand Workforce Management solutions, iEmployee delivers web-based, human resource management solutions that enable customers to easily and affordably transition to time and attendance electronic timesheets, benefits self-service, online human resources training, online expense reporting, salary planning and online paystubs and W2s. All products are fully hosted by iEmployee, there is no software to install or hardware to maintain, thus providing a quick and painless way for customers to take their first step into a fully-automated HRIS solution. For more information, please visit www.iemployee.com.
About Asure
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Asure Software (ASUR), (a d/b/a of Forgent Networks, Inc.), empowers small to mid-size organizations and divisions of large enterprises to operate more efficiently, increase worker productivity and reduce costs through a comprehensive suite of on-demand workforce management software and services. Asure's market-leading suite includes products that optimize workforce time and attendance tracking, benefits enrollment and tracking, pay stubs and W2 documentation, expense management, meeting and event management, and asset tracking and reservations. With additional offices in Seekonk, Mass., Vancouver, British Columbia, and Mumbai, India, Asure serves 3,500 customers around the world. For more information, please visit www.asuresoftware.com.
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SOURCE: Asure Software