Unlocking Employee Productivity: Insights from HUB International

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Welcome to Insights at Work. In this month's edition of the podcast,
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we sit down with Terry Boddison from Hub International.
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We dive into a new report released by Hub International that talks about benefits,
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productivity, and how employers can better shape programs for their employees.
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Terry, welcome to Insights at Work. It's a pleasure to have you.
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Thanks so much. Thanks for inviting me. We're going to dive right into the topic area at hand.
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We're going to have a great discussion and hopefully get some really amazing
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insights for the audience. But before we start, I just wanted to kind of ask a little bit about you.
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What is your role and your background? Absolutely.
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So I have responsibility for our Canadian employee benefits,
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group retirement and life insurance divisions. I have been with Hub for over 24 years now.
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The team reports to me and, you know, we're trying to build ways that we can
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be better consultants or advisors for those clients.
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Wonderful. And I know that Hub International has recently released a report,
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the North America Outlook, essentially, looking at all sorts of different findings
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when it comes to workers and productivity and all those great things.
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Would you mind giving us a bit of a high level overview around what the report
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took a look at? You know, we think that we're uniquely positioned as the fifth
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largest insurance broker in the world.
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Our goal is to be everywhere that risk exists.
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So we really get to see what's concerning our clients, like where do they feel optimistic?
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What's challenging for them? You know, what are the things that they think are
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going to help their growth, are going to hinder their growth?
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You know, we survey them once a year and bring all of those insights together
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into a fairly short and consumable report that just highlights,
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you know, the things that the business,
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our customers or our prospective customers should be thinking about and point
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them in the right direction for what's happening in the economy in the world.
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I know recently at ADP, we actually hosted an event for our accountant community.
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And part of that event included an economist from RBC who joined us.
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And we got some really great insights around what the outlook for 2025 is.
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And one of the things that they really noted was tied to Canada and productivity
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and how we seem to be struggling a little bit with productivity.
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Absolutely. I know the report that you published does actually look at that
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a little bit and dives into how employers are feeling about it.
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And in fact, I think it was 75%, I believe,
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of employers were saying that productivity was a priority for them.
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So how do you think that ties into Canada specifically in terms of overall the
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market is really feeling the crunch on trying to be more productive and clearly
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employers are feeling that as well.
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Are there any insights that we can take from the report to help?
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I think that, as you said, 75% of employers are trying to figure out how to
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improve or impact, even just impact productivity.
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And you look at its unprecedented times with the economy, the world we're living
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in, and certainly the impacts of the pandemic and remote work and typically...
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Managers and leaders maybe were fabulous in-person leaders, but are struggling
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to figure out how they lead in a remote environment or a hybrid environment.
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And we also have a time where there's five generations in the work.
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The report also dives into how employers may attack this, if you will.
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I think there was a few notes around tying compensation metrics to productivity,
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which obviously seems like a good starting point to make sure that it is a priority
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for the C-suite and leadership of organizations.
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But I'm wondering, do you think that that goes far enough?
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Do you think that actually can affect change in terms of productivity?
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Or is there something more grassroots at the employer-employee relationship
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level that needs to happen?
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Certainly, compensation is a big factor and something that is important to all
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employees, but that also includes employee benefits and financial wellness.
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And it's just a much bigger picture, I think, overall now that all has to be
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tied together in a total reward structure to make sure that you are able to
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attract and retain the best talent.
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And I think it's really important that employers are using data-driven analytics
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to understand what's important to their workforce. Definitely.
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And speaking of wellness...
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Did the report dive into anything specific around how employers are treating it?
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I know over the last several years, particularly coming out of the pandemic,
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there really seems to be a focus for many employers on wellness.
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Some, you know, focused more in on the holistic version of it,
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some mental health, some other opportunities. But I'm wondering,
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has this continued? Has this trend continued?
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Is it still a focus for employers or are we seeing a shift there?
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We're hearing that 42% of Canadian employees are looking for new jobs in the first half of 2024.
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And that includes, interestingly, 72% of HR employees.
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So, you know, it really, I think that's really a statement.
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And improving benefits programs, really with a specific focus on wellness,
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and I'm going to say, I'm going to drill down even further and say an emphasis
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on mental health offerings is so incredibly important.
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72% of the Canadian companies that we surveyed here, pardon me,
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Canadians, 72% of Canadians said to us that taking care of their mental health was important.
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And I think we've really seen that evolve over the years and probably has a
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different level of importance with different generations in the workforce.
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So again, there's not one size fits all in terms of what it means to take care
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of your mental health. For some,
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it might be programs that the employer is offering to help with that.
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Some might be actual financial benefits to pay for those mental health resources.
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In fact, that's probably...
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The number one reason why people don't seek counseling or therapy is because
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of the financial cost barriers to that.
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So Canadians are looking to their employers to solve those problems for them
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or to at least assist with the solution of those problems.
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And then financial well-being is a completely different topic that is also so important.
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And I know recently I attended an event with a number of HR leaders and the
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discussion was very interesting to listen to the talk around wellness and mental
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health and also seeing how some organizations, there was one in particular,
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had opted to shift their entire wellness program and benefit program away from,
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you know, having access to online counseling and things of that nature.
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And they opted to structure their program.
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So it was very much focused on some
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of the stuff that's a little bit more weighty and severe in terms of mental
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health to really fund it to make sure that people who were experiencing that
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had access to a full suite of benefits instead of trying to separate across
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the board and have diluted benefits, but broader base.
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So they really focused in on one particular area.
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Have you seen, given the industry, have you seen any trends in that way in terms
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of people kind of shifting what those programs look like?
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Absolutely. I would say that, you know, we're seeing a lot more attention on
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this and a lot more questions about how they should be structuring their plan
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to really meet the most important needs.
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You know, I think that we understand that there's rising costs.
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And it's especially in drug coverage.
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And so you've got to weigh all of the costs and all of the benefits and use,
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again, as I said, use that data to make sure that you're choosing drugs.
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Choosing the right way to serve your employee base, depending on what they're looking for.
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And I would say we're seeing a shift in the limits offered in specifically with
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mental health solutions or mental health counseling.
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And it's shifting, but maybe not quite enough to meet all the needs.
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It's still 37% of people are saying the most common reason that they don't seek
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that help is affordable.
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I do believe that if your employee base is well, they're clearly going to be
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more productive in my eyes.
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Again, no data there from my standpoint, but something that I strongly believe in.
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And I know that the survey also mentioned financial wellness,
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because as you alluded to, it's not just about physical, mental wellness.
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Financial wellness can be very impactful. We know as an organization who obviously
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is very attuned to folks' finances, given our background in payroll and connections
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to organizations like the National Payroll Institute.
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And we know that most Canadians are still really living paycheck to paycheck
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and we have lots of inflation happening.
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We have a struggle with housing. how can employers look to that type of area
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to help improve productivity wellness in that area?
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I know the survey explored financial wellness and gave some insights around that.
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A lot of the Canadian workforce are telling us that they're unprepared for retirement.
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I mean, it's just rising cost of living. They're putting off savings.
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They think they know the number that they need to retire, but they can't quite get there.
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And they are definitely looking to their employer for help and for guidance
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and focusing on their long-term needs and their ability to retire.
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And we think that, you know, to improve a retirement plan or really even in
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some cases, just to improve the participation in that plan,
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plan sponsors have to think about the design, and have to think about the education
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that they're providing to their employees in the workplace,
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but perhaps even outside of the workplace.
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Is there a component of individual planning that they can offer?
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Can they do something about training?
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And so many of the companies that we sponsor are aware that there's a gap there
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and that Canadians don't really have a solid understanding of how to plan for
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their future, or how to be prepared for retirement.
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So, you know, we think that it's not just our responsibility to help employers grow.
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Meet the capital accumulation guidelines or to help them with the plan design.
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We think it's also, you know, a really big part of our responsibility to help
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them with that education for their employees. How can we deliver that in an impactful way?
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How can we speak to them about the things that are on their minds?
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How can we be there at the right time?
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And, you know, I think it's more than just putting a retirement plan in place,
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asking your payroll provider to do the deductions and set it,
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forget it. That time has passed. I think that's a great point.
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I think there's definitely an opportunity for employers.
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And I think, as you mentioned, with the five generations in the workplace,
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there's also a younger generation who has very different expectations than perhaps
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those of older generations still in the workforce.
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When it comes to financial wellness, I thought it was really interesting that
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there was a note in the report around things like supplementing insurance that
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may normally be something that someone takes on personally, like automobile insurance.
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I noted there was a little section around how some employers are starting to
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offer plans of that nature for their employee base. Is that something that's
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been around for a while or is that something new that's kind of trending upward?
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Yeah, I'd say that's something that's new that's trending upward and very,
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very new. And it's not just supplementing auto insurance.
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Again, it goes back to that using a data-driven approach to really understand
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what's important to your workforce.
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And, you know, we've got so many client examples of times where,
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you know, the people in the boardroom designing the plan were thinking that.
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Oh, we'll increase the match in our normal product that everybody puts their
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money into, and that's going to make everybody happy when, you know,
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their workforce was younger.
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Was living paycheck to paycheck and saying to them,
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okay, we're going to take an extra 1% off your pay and match that was not something
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that was going to make them happy,
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but subsidizing their auto insurance or
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giving them the ability to maybe invest in a different vehicle as as opposed
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to the regular investments that go into a retirement plan or subsidize something
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else for them that was really causing financial stress in their lives today.
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Again, goes back to that ability to,
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for your employees to be holistically well and more present at work. Absolutely.
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And I think something that resonates a little bit when we look back to the last
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five years or so, there's been a lot of talk around wellness,
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but there's also been a lot of talk around building resiliency.
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And there has been a bit of a trend upwards in terms of folks taking that on
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from an employer standpoint and really making sure that they have these emergency plans in place.
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I know in my previous life, I was in the technology industry from a data center
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and networks perspective, where emergency resiliency planning is very top of
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mind because networks need to stay running.
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But I know in some other industries, it perhaps isn't as much of a priority.
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And I believe the report said that that's starting to shift a little bit.
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But there's more and more focus being placed on preparing for the future,
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if you will, even if you don't know what the future is.
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Yeah, and I think that that speaks to the desire for a lot of employers to have
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a bit of a flexible benefit plan.
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You know, there are so many things that you could include into a benefits plan.
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I mean, we have obviously the normal health and dental and the things that people
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come to expect from their employer in terms of the benefits plan.
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But we have clients that include pet insurance.
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We have clients that include surrogacy coverage or a paid sabbatical.
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Like there's a lot of different things that are making up benefits in the minds of the employee.
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So, you know, when you think about what's going to be important,
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well, if I'm a 62-year-old male, is surrogacy coverage something important in my benefits plan?
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So it's really, you know, HR teams are really looking at things differently
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and they recognize the importance of the flexibility and benefits.
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And, you know, I think it's probably pretty important at this point to point
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out that this isn't just a big company thing. Like it doesn't have to be.
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You don't have to have flexibility in your benefits plan if you're a thousand,
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you know, if you have a thousand employees or two thousand employees.
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We're really finding that smaller employees can offer personalization of benefits, too.
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And, you know, it takes a more pointed approach. It takes some back to data
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analytics to really figure out what the best combination of benefits are.
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But this is something that's available to every size of employer.
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That's a really great point. Often we even see at ADP that things sometimes
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feel like they're centered around large organizations.
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But the reality is we also know from our small business clients that they need
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to differentiate themselves in the market, too, because they're competing for
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that same talent that a large organization is.
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So that's a great point to bring forward.
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So you mentioned that flexibility and creativity almost with some of these benefit
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programs is something that you see.
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Putting you on the spot a little bit, but is there anything that you can think
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of that was really unique from one of the partners perhaps that you worked with
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that you hadn't seen before in terms of what they included inside of their benefit plan?
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There's one example that, you know, internally we've used a couple of times
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to really highlight the benefits of flexibility and how that resonates with
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the employees inside a company.
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So it was a retirement plan meeting that we were having, and it was with an
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oil company in Northern Alberta,
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and the executives in that company had a group of employees that were,
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they had turnover much higher than in their other groups, and they wanted to
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increase the company match.
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I mean, exactly the example that I used earlier, and we went in and really talked
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to them about, well, what problem are you trying to solve?
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What's the demographic of the group that you're trying to solve this problem
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for? Like, what are we trying to get at?
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And again, it went back to this group of employees that was working and living paycheck to paycheck,
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didn't want more in their retirement plan, didn't want the extra one or two
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or three percent coming out of their paycheck every week or two weeks.
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And we worked through a plan for them to subsidize workbooks.
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They wanted something that was going to impact their pocketbook immediately,
00:18:36.781 --> 00:18:42.961
not something that was a longer term. And it had a big impact on the turnover in that group.
00:18:43.161 --> 00:18:46.121
So that's something that is really outside of the box thinking,
00:18:46.121 --> 00:18:50.481
in my opinion, and worked well for that employer. That's super interesting and
00:18:50.481 --> 00:18:58.101
really gives a nod to knowing your audience when you're trying to formulate some of these plans.
00:18:58.421 --> 00:19:04.341
And perhaps what may work around the boardroom table might not work in the oil
00:19:04.341 --> 00:19:07.461
field and may not resonate as well with those employees.
00:19:07.461 --> 00:19:11.621
So I think that's really interesting and something that makes a ton of sense
00:19:11.621 --> 00:19:15.921
to try and look at the individual needs of the employees when formulating these types of plans.
00:19:15.921 --> 00:19:22.021
Now, we've talked a lot about productivity and wellness and how perhaps employers
00:19:22.021 --> 00:19:24.261
can improve those things inside the organization.
00:19:24.821 --> 00:19:29.121
I know analytics are a large part of what we do at ADP Canada.
00:19:29.181 --> 00:19:33.961
I'm sure what you do at Hub International as well and understanding the needs
00:19:33.961 --> 00:19:36.261
of different employers and employees.
00:19:37.441 --> 00:19:40.361
Is there any, can technology help us with this?
00:19:40.541 --> 00:19:46.861
How can we understand perhaps some of those nuances? Is there a space for technology
00:19:46.861 --> 00:19:49.641
to help guide some of these discussions?
00:19:50.101 --> 00:19:53.801
I think that this is probably the biggest advancement.
00:19:54.061 --> 00:19:57.821
You know, I don't think 10 years ago we would have been talking about personalization
00:19:57.821 --> 00:20:03.401
of employee benefits because it just felt like it was, in this instance,
00:20:03.441 --> 00:20:08.101
I would say for larger employers, it probably felt like a big mat to crack.
00:20:08.381 --> 00:20:10.961
Because, well, how am I going to get to know what's important to everybody?
00:20:10.961 --> 00:20:15.361
How am I going to understand what the demographics of my workforce is at any given time?
00:20:15.561 --> 00:20:19.581
And, you know, we have something that we call persona analysis that we utilize
00:20:19.581 --> 00:20:25.341
with all different sizes of clients. And it really helps them understand the
00:20:25.341 --> 00:20:28.701
different demographics of people in their employee population.
00:20:28.801 --> 00:20:31.501
How long have they been with the company? How old are they?
00:20:31.701 --> 00:20:34.741
Male, female, married, like just things like that.
00:20:34.841 --> 00:20:39.241
And we can even overlay some postal code information to help understand whether
00:20:39.241 --> 00:20:44.461
the employees are financially fragile, and then look at the benefits plan they
00:20:44.461 --> 00:20:48.321
have in place, and really just quite simply using technology,
00:20:48.581 --> 00:20:52.361
show them where there may be gaps or where there may be parts of their plan
00:20:52.361 --> 00:20:57.501
that aren't hitting the mark or parts of their plan that are incredibly important
00:20:57.501 --> 00:21:01.601
to maintain, because those are the things that are most important to their employees. So.
00:21:02.706 --> 00:21:08.346
I was really interested to see in the report that, particularly since we've
00:21:08.346 --> 00:21:15.646
heard a lot about AI over the last 18 to 24 months, it's been very much top
00:21:15.646 --> 00:21:17.306
of mind. Everyone wants to talk about it.
00:21:17.526 --> 00:21:22.026
I did think it was really interesting that while it was included as a priority
00:21:22.026 --> 00:21:26.526
for organizations and firms, it wasn't at the top of the list.
00:21:26.526 --> 00:21:29.726
So I thought that was that was really interesting to see that,
00:21:29.746 --> 00:21:35.086
you know, productivity, benefits, cost of prescriptions, those types of things
00:21:35.086 --> 00:21:40.786
were more at the top of the list than looking to developing that that AI functionality.
00:21:41.326 --> 00:21:46.406
So I thought that was interesting. It's almost like we saw the initial amazing interest.
00:21:46.706 --> 00:21:50.766
We figured out a little bit, OK, this is what we can do. And now let's get back
00:21:50.766 --> 00:21:55.686
to reality, maybe, and figure out what we need to do overall and not get distracted
00:21:55.686 --> 00:21:59.886
by the shiny thing, I guess, is maybe the way to look at it.
00:22:00.386 --> 00:22:03.326
I think that's an excellent way to describe it.
00:22:03.466 --> 00:22:09.206
You know, I think that we're all learning. In terms of the overall key findings,
00:22:09.466 --> 00:22:13.046
I know that the report stretched North American wide.
00:22:13.046 --> 00:22:18.606
I know you are more focused on the Canadian market, but were there any key differences
00:22:18.606 --> 00:22:21.166
between Canada and the U.S.
00:22:21.606 --> 00:22:28.066
That jumped out at you or that you think are worth kind of sharing with the audience too?
00:22:28.226 --> 00:22:32.706
I know we often like to compare ourselves to the U.S.
00:22:32.806 --> 00:22:36.146
Was there anything there that jumped out? So, you know, I mean,
00:22:36.386 --> 00:22:40.946
specifically with employee benefits, there's obviously a big difference in the marketplace.
00:22:41.366 --> 00:22:45.766
And, you know, there would be some nuance in some of the statistics or some
00:22:45.766 --> 00:22:47.146
of the things that were important.
00:22:47.346 --> 00:22:54.626
But, you know, I think overall, we're looking at people and employers across
00:22:54.626 --> 00:22:58.526
North America are having are challenged in.
00:22:59.312 --> 00:23:05.832
Attracting employees, retaining employees, and how to really help those employees
00:23:05.832 --> 00:23:09.912
have more meaningful experiences at work, support them in their well-being.
00:23:10.132 --> 00:23:16.032
And as a general overall theme, those things are true both sides of the board.
00:23:16.092 --> 00:23:20.592
A number of research reports that ADP or the ADP Research Institute looks at
00:23:20.592 --> 00:23:25.692
often echo that same sentiment where there are similar sentiments for sure.
00:23:25.832 --> 00:23:28.632
In some areas, a little bit different, but for the most part,
00:23:28.812 --> 00:23:33.052
very similar responses and areas of focus.
00:23:33.792 --> 00:23:41.392
Is there anything else that you would say that as perhaps shifting to an HR leader specifically,
00:23:41.792 --> 00:23:47.252
maybe that they can do to kind of bring some of these points forward to their
00:23:47.252 --> 00:23:49.752
senior team to help sell,
00:23:50.092 --> 00:23:56.212
if you will, the overall concept of building perhaps productivity through wellness
00:23:56.212 --> 00:24:00.972
or benefits programs versus the traditional metrics that we may look at from
00:24:00.972 --> 00:24:02.092
a productivity standpoint.
00:24:02.612 --> 00:24:06.592
I think that sometimes this is where the battle is, right?
00:24:06.772 --> 00:24:13.992
Between the benefit of the benefits and the cost of the benefits and really
00:24:13.992 --> 00:24:18.772
structuring your plan to make sure you're reaching your workforce,
00:24:18.772 --> 00:24:25.292
you are meeting their needs through that personalization and that flexibility of benefits,
00:24:25.512 --> 00:24:32.732
but also have a focus on the cost of the plan and know that you are spending
00:24:32.732 --> 00:24:34.892
your dollars in the best way possible.
00:24:35.032 --> 00:24:40.732
I sound a bit like a broken record, but using the data of your employee population
00:24:40.732 --> 00:24:48.892
to understand how you can really get the biggest impact for a reasonable cost. And I.
00:24:49.446 --> 00:24:53.946
Believe that the younger generation, this is just my opinion,
00:24:54.226 --> 00:24:59.386
really, but I believe that the younger generation is more open,
00:24:59.806 --> 00:25:06.006
I think, in sharing some of those unique needs that they may have in terms of
00:25:06.006 --> 00:25:07.766
what a benefit program could look like.
00:25:08.226 --> 00:25:14.146
I personally have some folks on my team who are not of the same generation as
00:25:14.146 --> 00:25:15.206
me. We'll leave it at that.
00:25:15.706 --> 00:25:21.946
And they're definitely a lot more open in terms of communicating even with each
00:25:21.946 --> 00:25:24.826
other when it comes to things like salary.
00:25:25.226 --> 00:25:29.786
And I think this would be beneficial. There's a certain level of confidence
00:25:29.786 --> 00:25:33.226
there that I don't think we always give them credit for.
00:25:33.346 --> 00:25:37.946
They're a bit more attuned to openly communicating perhaps their feelings and
00:25:37.946 --> 00:25:39.626
what they're looking for from an employer.
00:25:39.626 --> 00:25:47.266
Have you noticed with any organizations who worker or their workforce skews
00:25:47.266 --> 00:25:51.686
to a younger generation or if there's an industry perhaps that does,
00:25:51.886 --> 00:25:57.466
if there's a difference in the types of plans that they offer to their employees?
00:25:57.466 --> 00:26:01.226
Or is that something that's a little bit too nuanced? No, you know,
00:26:01.326 --> 00:26:04.666
I think that that's a fair and valid statement that, you know,
00:26:04.846 --> 00:26:08.706
in the industries or in the businesses where we see a younger demographic,
00:26:08.706 --> 00:26:13.586
I think that they probably look at their benefits program completely differently.
00:26:13.886 --> 00:26:20.486
And, you know, I want to just make one other comment based on the younger generation's
00:26:20.486 --> 00:26:21.946
willingness to speak up.
00:26:21.946 --> 00:26:28.806
You know, I think when we were just designing benefits plans in a traditional manner.
00:26:29.626 --> 00:26:34.126
You sometimes were getting a plan that was designed for the loudest voice,
00:26:34.406 --> 00:26:38.406
not necessarily the strongest voice or the most important, you know,
00:26:38.506 --> 00:26:39.546
the most important thing.
00:26:39.786 --> 00:26:43.846
So a benefit strategy that really focuses on...
00:26:44.729 --> 00:26:48.849
All of your employees and their well-being and asking and, you know,
00:26:48.949 --> 00:26:53.989
being really proactive in asking the questions and understanding what's important
00:26:53.989 --> 00:26:58.549
to all of them, not just the youngest ones or the loudest ones or the ones willing to share,
00:26:58.709 --> 00:27:03.529
like seeking those opinions and looking at employee well-being holistically.
00:27:03.769 --> 00:27:06.869
I think you've got the ability to really energize your workforce,
00:27:06.889 --> 00:27:13.069
not just simply offer a benefits plan that ticks a box. You know,
00:27:13.209 --> 00:27:18.409
it really does have the ability to be a very positive influence in your organization.
00:27:18.529 --> 00:27:29.669
And I think that it can impact culture and it can really strengthen what the
00:27:29.669 --> 00:27:33.209
company believes in and really make a statement about that.
00:27:33.489 --> 00:27:38.209
And probably the only thing that we haven't talked about that I think is really
00:27:38.209 --> 00:27:40.389
important is how you communicate that benefits plan.
00:27:40.969 --> 00:27:44.609
So it's not just necessarily send out the booklet.
00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:50.649
I mean, this is my livelihood and I haven't read the booklet for our own benefits plan.
00:27:50.849 --> 00:27:54.869
I don't think people generally grab that and go through it until they have a
00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:56.029
need for one of the benefits.
00:27:56.229 --> 00:28:00.529
But there's a lot of ways you can communicate now and make it easily understandable.
00:28:00.729 --> 00:28:03.829
Make sure that the right message is getting to the right group of people and
00:28:03.829 --> 00:28:07.809
make sure that people are aware of what's available to them and how that can
00:28:07.809 --> 00:28:08.889
help. That's a great point.
00:28:09.189 --> 00:28:14.669
I personally, when you're looking through benefits, they can be a little bit complex, right?
00:28:14.789 --> 00:28:19.749
You're trying to figure out, oh, do I have this? Do I not have this? What does this mean?
00:28:20.069 --> 00:28:23.909
I know we're speaking in the Canadian context today, but in the US,
00:28:23.909 --> 00:28:29.589
that becomes even more complex with the health plans and things that are included into that mix.
00:28:29.709 --> 00:28:33.609
So that's a great point. And as a marketing person, I like to hear that we want
00:28:33.609 --> 00:28:36.869
to communicate things well. So that's super helpful.
00:28:37.149 --> 00:28:40.529
So in terms of the report, I know there were a bunch of key takeaways.
00:28:40.709 --> 00:28:45.889
I think we've covered most of them in terms of how employers can take a bit
00:28:45.889 --> 00:28:47.869
of a different look at their programs.
00:28:48.996 --> 00:28:52.576
The focus areas for many workplaces moving forward.
00:28:52.816 --> 00:28:59.016
But is there anything else, Terry, that you think would be a benefit for the
00:28:59.016 --> 00:29:01.936
audience to take away from today's discussion?
00:29:02.356 --> 00:29:07.196
I just think that you're going to see this elevate increasingly over time.
00:29:07.556 --> 00:29:11.856
You know, we're seeing that in our Outlook reports, all of these things that
00:29:11.856 --> 00:29:14.896
we've talked about that we're saying are important to employers and,
00:29:14.996 --> 00:29:18.596
you know, the personalization, the communication, the use of data,
00:29:18.776 --> 00:29:21.016
it's going to be a benefit. getting more and more important every year.
00:29:21.196 --> 00:29:28.516
So they're really seeing that in job offers they're making and employees asking
00:29:28.516 --> 00:29:31.916
more questions about the benefits that are included or how that works.
00:29:32.076 --> 00:29:37.036
And so I think that really just a general elevation of the benefits discussion
00:29:37.036 --> 00:29:39.176
is going to continue to trend.
00:29:39.916 --> 00:29:46.416
And, you know, the outcome being that it can have an impact on your organization
00:29:46.416 --> 00:29:47.636
in so many different ways.
00:29:47.816 --> 00:29:53.476
That's a great point to end on, I think, and let folks know that really the
00:29:53.476 --> 00:29:55.476
world is their oyster, as they say,
00:29:55.656 --> 00:30:00.336
in terms of creating a plan that's going to resonate with their particular employee
00:30:00.336 --> 00:30:05.156
base and hopefully help them to boost some of these metrics that they want to
00:30:05.156 --> 00:30:06.956
over the coming year, like productivity.
00:30:07.816 --> 00:30:11.996
So Terry, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate you taking the time.
00:30:12.296 --> 00:30:15.636
And for anyone who wants to take a deeper dive into the report.
00:30:15.896 --> 00:30:17.516
I am certain that it is available.
00:30:18.056 --> 00:30:22.376
And it's the 2025 North American Outlook report from Hub International.
00:30:22.576 --> 00:30:26.696
So check that out if you want to take a deeper dive into the data we talked about today.
00:30:27.216 --> 00:30:30.756
Thank you, Terri. I really appreciate it. Thanks, Shauna. I appreciate being invited.
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:52.000
Music.