In the current Human Capital Management/Benefits Administration marketplace, there are many solutions available to customers. Many systems offer a WIDE range of functionalities and capabilities and these often come with a hefty price tag. Alternatively, there are often opportunities to access a version of the technology at no “cost” through a partnership with various players in the HR industry.

Any system you choose to work with will require an investment of time, and a commitment to learn and use the system. Ideally, if a company is in a position to pay for a tool, a search of the marketplace should turn up the one (ideally) that is a best fit for the needs of the HR team and their ability to use it. However, if an organization chooses to take advantage of a system offered at no “cost” by an agency partner, they should be prepared for non-monetary costs, often in the form of time.

Time is a valuable commodity that should be budgeted the same way we manage money. If your organization’s time “budget” is larger than your actual budget, a “free” system could be a great fit.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Advantage: If the system is being set up and maintained by a partner (i.e. agency), the client will have a built-in support staff whose knowledge extends beyond the benefits being offered, to the technology used to maintain the information.

Advantage: Using a system offered by an agency allows companies the opportunity to enter the HCM space with only a relatively small, initial investment of TIME. This may bridge the gap from managing employee information manually, on paper, to using a fully-integrated HCM and Ben Admin system.  This transition may take a couple of years or longer. Regardless of the timeline, having an agency partner can help in the decision-making process and also work to gather the necessary information to make an eventual move. Any system initially implemented may not be the system an organization uses indefinitely. BCI understands that as companies grow, their HR technology needs shift, and are ready to help when they do.

Challenge: The system may not meet all your needs on a single platform. In this case, you may be forced to duplicate data entry in several systems.

• Upside: If the functionality still alleviates some administrative burden or helps achieve greater accountability, there is still value in the implementation. It may also help to be a steppingstone to a more robust system in the future. In other words, it might not be perfect, but it may be good enough…for now.

Challenge: There may be limitations on customizations and flexibility. When working off a single platform, the options might be constrained by system limitations which cannot be easily or quickly modified.

• Upside: The benefit of standardization is that these systems can be built relatively quickly.

Human Capital Management and Ben Admin systems are wonderful tools that allow employers, HR teams and employees the ability to manage information and aggregate data on a platform which makes it easy to communicate with interested parties. Just like any technology, one system will not be a perfect fit for every customer. BCI offers Gen4 to appropriate clients at no monetary cost but asks HR teams to commit to learning and using the system. This takes an investment in time. BCI’s producers and support staff will work with clients who are not a good fit to find a system that provides the appropriate functionality to meet the time and monetary budget available.

Please reach out to your Benefit Concepts producer or account management team to schedule a suitability discussion, if Gen4 (or another Human Capital Management / Benefits Administration) system sounds like a useful addition to HR’s toolkit.

Allison Brannan