When clients first come to me, I often hear these senior leaders talk about the lack of sleep at night. More often than not, they describe being fearful of what they don’t know when it comes to Human Resources compliance or an employee relations issue they fear may lead to a lawsuit. While we certainly alleviate their concerns by getting their HR department into shape, what I actually get excited to hear more is when a leader is worried about not doing enough to attract and retain top talent. They want to learn how to engage employees and develop them beyond the skills they have today to make a bigger impact.

With the dawn of health care reform and the increased focus on regulation and cost control, it has never been more important for employers to have a good insurance broker to help navigate the logistics and best practices surrounding benefits administration. But, not all brokers are created equal.

Innovative benefits can strengthen employee engagement at your company by showing employees their organization cares about them as a person and not just as a number. Work-life benefits take into account an employee’s life inside and outside of work and are also a great way to attract potential employees. One of the best ways to gain the interest of potential job candidates is to offer flexibility at work and advertise your organization’s innovative and competitive benefits.

Most people agree that the explosion in technological advances over the past century has made the world a smaller and more closely linked place. And it’s also changed and expanded the way that people do business and made it easier to overcome previously impenetrable geographic barriers. Despite the ease and utility provided by modern technology, companies still continue to send their employees abroad in record numbers. And they do so for a variety of reasons. Some large MNCs (multi-national corporations) view international work experience as a core competency. Smaller businesses may see expansion into a new market via business development and marketing as critical to diversifying their consumer base. Some companies look to offshore certain parts of their operations to achieve cost savings. If your organization is considering sending even just one employee overseas, think carefully about how you plan to address the following things:

When used properly, ICs (Independent Contractors) can be an excellent way to augment business services and operations. Classification continues to be hot button issue with the IRS. Misclassifying a position as an IC (also referred to as a 1099) when the position should be classified as an employee can create significant liability for a business, small or large. One of the more well known cases in recent memory involved a suit that Microsoft settled with a group of Independent Contractors for nearly $100M. At issue in the Microsoft suit was participation in various benefit programs, including employee stock options. But even small companies may find themselves targets of litigation. To help you understand exactly what is at stake, here are some areas of risk to keep in mind:

With the rising cost of healthcare, employers have never been more aware of the connection between employee health and the company bottom line. A recent study showed that 75% of healthcare costs in the US stem from chronic illnesses like heart disease and obesity that can be addressed through wellness initiatives.