Are your Staff Ungrateful or Uninformed, There's a Big Difference.

I patiently sit in the boardroom of the trucking company I had recently reached out to.  Shannon (we’ll call her) seemed receptive to meeting but had informed me they “didn’t want to waste a bunch of time”. Shannon had advised me on the phone that she was frustrated with the benefit plan but management didn’t see any problem.  

This isn’t uncommon but it always gets me intrigued to find out where the disconnect is. 
Shannon enters the room and tosses a well used benefit booklet to the centre of the oak boardroom table. She was late as she was trying to locate what appeared to be the only copy of this book in existence. 


 “Our benefit plan sucks” she declared, matter of factly. “I don’t like it, the staff doesn’t like it…” she looks at me expectantly, so I grab the booklet and begin thumbing through.  

...100% coverage for drugs, 100% coverage for basic dental, high overall maximums… 

After a quick review of what was quite possibly the best coverage I’d ever seen offered in the transportation industry, I inquired:  

“So what's your main issue with this plan?” 
She clarifies. “It sucks.” 

I wish I could say that this was uncommon but it isn’t. In fact, in a lot of cases the better the coverage the more dissatisfied the staff can get.  

How is this possible? 

They don’t understand how the plan works and I don’t blame them. 

Management, in this case,  made the very generous decision of purchasing a high cost plan to reward their staff with 100% coverage for everything!  

Shannon was brought in as the office manager and told to inform the staff they had a brand new benefit program and to let the staff know everything was covered. Which she proudly did. 

Next thing you know, the staff are coming back complaining they were out of pocket here and had to cough up money there. 

In the staff’s eyes, they were over promised and under delivered. Shannon was embarrassed and trust was broken.  

So how could this be avoided? Education.  

Shannon didn’t get the training she needed to communicate the plan effectively. Had she received the proper training, she would have been proactive about explaining the plan to staff instead of reactive and dealing with complaints.  

Every office needs a compensation “cheerleader” but that requires an equal balance of being informed and being enthusiastic.  

The fact is, staff being “ungrateful” is usually more a symptom of unclear expectations. In most cases, when they receive the correct information, know how to easily access their coverage and what to expect when they pay, they’ll be happy; or at least not resentful. 

We will be covering exactly what your administrator needs to know, how to turn them into a cheerleader and setting successful plan expectations in our webinar this month 

For a copy of our plan administrator checklist click here. 

If you would like assistance in understanding your plan click here 

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Your Friend with Benefits, 
Dean Chapman