Artificial intelligences of one sort or another have been quietly increasing their workloads behind the scenes in a variety of industries for years, but 2023 will likely go down in history as the year that AI finally made the jump from a cutting edge technology to a revolutionary one. 

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While there still seems to be a long way to go before a generalized artificial intelligence that’s capable of seamlessly mirroring human functionality is developed, AI with more specialized uses coupled with processing powers/speeds far beyond human capabilities have already hit the market and are in the process of restructuring operations at companies all over the world.

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The insurance brokerage business is no exception, of course, with AI well-positioned to reshape the industry through the automation of many time-consuming tasks, for one, with significant improvements in efficiency already being reaped by the companies that have been early adopters in the AI space. 

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While much of concern around AI often involves lost jobs and the devaluation of human labor, which are certainly valid fears and can potentially pose significant risks to current business, social, and governmental frameworks (if those systems do not evolve alongside the development of AI in a complementary way), there are of course advantages to be gained for the workers who utilize these emerging technologies beyond the benefits to company bottom lines. For example, insurance brokers who have incorporated AI into their data entry and processing routines have been able to spend more time focusing on establishing and improving relationships with clients. 

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When considering AI and its potential impacts on the workplace, it’s also important to recognize what AI can not do well, which includes strategic thinking and negotiation skills -especially the kinds based on years of real world experience - and the ability to establish relationships that are based on trust and mutual benefit. 

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What AI does do well is provide insurance brokers with data-analysis-based insights, roadmaps for streamlined workflows, and automation for the most mundane necessities of the job, giving brokers more time to do the things that they do best and the things that make them successful in their roles.

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Some specific ways that insurance brokers have been putting artificial intelligence to work to the benefit of their business are via improved customer service platforms and through increased risk management proficiency, which can both lead to a significant competitive advantage, especially over less technologically-forward competitors. 

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In terms of customer service, one of the chief advantages AI is able to provide insurance brokerage offices is the ability to respond faster and more accurately than ever before, which leads to increased customer satisfaction, retention rates, and organic business development. Even more, AI has the power to analyze customer patterns, interactions, and behavior to help brokers know what is most important to them and to better identify customer preferences and needs. 

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On the risk management front, data analysis again gives AI a significant edge when it comes to better assessing and responding to risks. Through processing huge amounts of information and incorporating that data into risk modeling, AI is able to work in a predictive capacity, helping brokers and their clients to identify and minimize threats before they materialize in many cases, including enhanced fraud detection. 

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Despite the clear advantages that AI can provide insurance brokerage businesses, there are still a substantial number of insurance brokers that aren’t currently utilizing this technology on the job. That said, the number of insurance brokers taking advantage of the opportunities AI provides has grown rapidly in just the last few years, with more than 50% of brokerages expanding plans to use AI over the course of the past few years.

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According to a recent survey from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 86% of respondents consider AI to be ‘mainstream’ technology at this point, which is great in terms of customer comfort and familiarity interacting with this kind of technology especially for customer service support, but it also means the window to obtain a competitive advantage through general AI is shrinking, so there’s no better time than now to start implementing AI into your business processes if you want to gain an edge. Waiting until later just means you'll likely be behind and trying to catch up at that point.

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You can read more about AI in the insurance brokerage space here.

Over the last couple of years, employers have been offering more comprehensive and varied benefits packages, which has emerged as a stiff area of competition among companies competing for the same talent in the white hot labor market that emerged as hiring rebounded following the initial economic turmoil at the onset of the pandemic. 

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As more and more offerings have become available, however, employees have become more likely to overlook some of the potential perks and benefits package components that could be providing significant value if properly utilized. According to research from The Hartford, 70% of employers believe that employees are not effectively taking advantage of the benefits package offerings and perks that the employers are making available. 

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And how much value are employees leaving on the table with so many benefits flying under their radar? Estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics predict that employees could effectively increase their salaries by 30% if they were optimizing the benefits that are already available to them. 

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With so much additional compensation to be mined, employees would be wise to take another glance at their employer’s benefits offerings with a particular eye toward some of the more commonly overlooked sources of value and/or savings, including childcare and dependent care benefits, fertility benefits, commute/transit compensation, tuition contribution programs, and employee assistance programs (EAPs).

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According to one study, about 1 out of every 5 workers is currently managing some kind of significant caregiving responsibility between child care, senior care, special needs care, or some other kind of substantial care giving relationship. While 61% of employers offer flexible scheduling that can ease some of the pressure of juggling work and caring for a dependent, fewer than 1 in 4 companies currently offer childcare support.

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In the current benefits boom, however, the number of employers offering these kinds of caregiving benefits is expected to climb to more than 50% in just the next few years, so supply appears to be in the process of catching up with demand. 

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Some of the ways that employers are stepping in to meet these needs are by reimbursing employee expenses related to childcare, paying third–party childcare providers directly through group enrollment, or even providing in-house childcare for employees on site. 

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Workers who are paying for childcare - whether out of their own pockets or indirectly through their employers - may also qualify for exemptions from federal taxes up to $5,000 per year.

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Fertility assistance and support is another often overlooked benefit that is resulting in employees leaving substantial value on the table unclaimed. Of course, like caregiving benefits, the circumstances particular to each employee will dictate whether or not fertility benefits like IVF, surrogacy, egg freezing, and/or adoption are applicable, but employers are certainly increasing access with 8% to 10% of employers adding fertility benefits to their employee benefits packages each of the last few years, with 40% of employers now making these benefits available as of the latest data. 

Commuter perks also offer employers an opportunity to provide tax-free benefits to employees, with the IRS enabling up to $300 per year per employee to cover transportation expenses. These kinds of perks are actually mandatory in many cities and states, and employees can even expand upon the base offerings in many cases by devising their own customized arrangements that include fuel and/or maintenance expenses.

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Tuition reimbursement offers a similar tax-free opportunity by allowing employees to claim a maximum of $5,250 per year in educational benefits before educational receipts begin to affect federal income taxes, though workers can still qualify for further financial assistance for education expenses beyond the employer contribution.

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Lastly, employee assistance programs, or EAPs, are another great avenue for saving on mental health care expenses. Most programs offer a set amount of counseling sessions that are fully tax-deductible for employers and can save the employees utilizing these services the hundreds of dollars per appointment that each session would have cost out-of-pocket had the EAP not been in place.

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Clearly, the underutilization of benefits is causing a lot of employees to essentially forego considerable compensation that they have rightly earned through their work. While not every benefit is going to be equally relevant or available to every employee, that of course is the case with most other employee benefits too. The most important takeaway may be that each employee would be well served to thoroughly survey the available offerings and perks to ensure that they are maximizing their usage of their benefits package in light of their own personal circumstances and needs. Further, employers would be well served to encourage their employees to do so, as the positive effects from offering well-thought and comprehensive employee benefits will be curbed at least if the employees aren’t maximizing that value and fully appreciating what’s being provided.

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You can read more about this topic here.

According to a new survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, most employers feel obligations toward their employees that go well beyond agreed upon pay for agreed upon work.

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The issue that inspired a sense of duty in the greatest number of respondents was updating employee skills to maintain relevance, which 88% of employers identified as a responsibility that their company shoulders. 

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Somewhat fewer responding employers felt an obligation toward employees with regard to helping them better balance their work and life or maintain their health, both mental and physical, which a little more than 4 out of 5 respondents felt accountable for, as well.

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In terms of building towards greater financial security in retirement, however, only 70% of employers felt any responsibility for helping employees achieve that goal.

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You can read more about the research and analysis here.

A recent piece from Corporate Wellness Magazine highlights several of the best conferences in the US for employee benefits professionals to learn, share ideas, and expand upon their skill sets and areas of expertise.

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The authors note certain desirable conference attributes, including in-depth workshops, thought leadership, networking, and the presentation of innovations within the field, in their showcase of the Healthcare Revolution conference, which is particularly strong for self-funding companies. 

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The article also includes The Annual Employee Benefits Conference, Self-Insurance Institute of America National Conference & Expo, The Benefits Forum and Expo, The National Conference on Employee Benefits, and BenefitsPRO Broker Expo. 

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You can read more about the analysis and recommendations here.

Last month, an employee at JPMorgan Chase made an anonymous social media post that revealed the lengthy expectations the company has in terms of advanced notice when an employee intends to leave their position.

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When reviewing the resignation policies in their employment contract as they were contemplating a career move, the employee in question was apparently surprised to uncover the half-year long advance warning in advance of leaving the company that the agreement reflects. 

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You can read more about the many legal and practical implications of such an onerous contractual obligation, including whether or not it is likely enforceable in the first place, here.

LIMRA put together a graph that displays how much employees value certain employee benefits compared to how important those same benefits offerings are to employers.

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The largest gap between how employers and employees rate the importance of various benefits offerings is with regard to career advancement opportunities, which is perhaps intuitive given that employers tend to be more concerned with getting a job done than who is doing it or what their specific motivation may be, while employees often have ambitions outside of the scope of their current work role. 

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Emergency Savings benefits, with a 19 point gap, and Health and Wellness benefits, with an 18% gap, however, may represent some degree of blindspot in many employer’s perceptions of these issues that they may be well served to address.

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You can find that graphic here.