If you are a business owner or executive, you know that a key aspect of your job involves constantly looking for ways to help your organization grow. One effective strategy for growth is a process called “benchmarking.” This process consists of evaluating a company’s processes and success and comparing them to those of other organizations in order to uncover performance gaps. A business may perform benchmarking by comparing itself to either industry competitors or to companies in other fields (general benchmarking), but how do you choose a benchmarking consulting company?
Benchmarking Consulting Offered From Firms
Consulting firms often offer benchmarking to help businesses improve its processes for providing products or services. Understanding how your organization compares to your competitors is essential to business growth. It’s important to choose your consulting firm carefully, as any benchmarking advice that is even slightly misleading may potentially harm your organization.
Questions To Ask When Choosing A Benchmarking Consulting Firm
As with any plan to help a business grow, it’s always imperative to conduct extensive research. With regard to benchmarking, this involves asking questions. If you own or manage a firm that offers health insurance and employee benefits, (401k & retirement plans, wellness plans, etc.) there are four key questions you should ask when seeking a benchmarking company.
Do You Have Valuable Industry Knowledge?
When choosing who should perform benchmarking for your organization, you should first inquire whether they have valuable information and insights to offer on your industry. For example, if a company conducts a survey (or receives access to one) that reveals which benefits employees value most, this may compel you to evaluate which benefits you place the largest emphasis on and why. Your consultant can also potentially offer predictions on future trends in your industry (e.g. which types of health insurance or retirement plans will become the most popular, whether premiums will increase or decrease overall, etc.).
Can You Show Us What We’re Lacking From Our Competition?
The answer to this question is, in part, tied to the previous question. If a consulting firm has extensive knowledge of your industry, it can use this information to determine what is causing your organization’s growth to stagnate relative to competitors. Competitive benchmarking is, in fact, designed to help you discover how well (or poorly) your business is performing compared to industry leaders. For example, a leader in your industry may offer certain benefits that your company does not (e.g. discounted gym membership, paid time off, commuter assistance, etc.).
Are You Able To Help Us Attract & Retain Talent?
The success of your organization is defined not only by the quality of its products or services, but also by the competence of your employees. A reputable company that uses benchmarking consulting can help you attract and retain top talent year after year. There are several types of benchmarking an organization can conduct in order to identify talented workers. These include performance benchmarking, which consists of collecting and comparing quantitative data, or internal benchmarking, which involves comparing employees or processes within a company. Additionally, process benchmarking consulting can help your business evaluate its methods for recruiting and hiring employees by comparing them to those of industry competitors.
How Will You Make Our Benefits Plans Stand Out?
Ultimately, one of your main objectives as a business that offers employee benefits is to make your benefits plans appealing by using cost-effective methods. Your consultant can perform analyses of benefit plans that are highly demanded and use its conclusions to improve the quality of your organization’s plans and/or how they are marketed. Be sure to ask your consultant to clearly explain the rationale behind its strategy.
Talk To The Benchmarking Consulting Professionals
Reach out to the professionals at New City Insurance for more information on the different types of benchmarking and how they can help improve your organization’s performance. Since our founding in 2008, we have been dedicated to helping our clients obtain high-quality insurance solutions. We are also committed to reshaping the insurance industry as we know it.
New City invests substantial resources in benchmarking plan designs and contributions across many of the major industries. Our system is designed to help you provide carefully customized benefits packages based on your business needs. We comprehensively survey the market for information on standard plan designs and, if you are falling behind your competitors, we can help you understand why. Additionally, we can help you attract and retain the talent you need in order to be successful. By capitalizing on multiple types of benchmarking, you can potentially help your organization grow exponentially.
Call New City Insurance today at (888) 210-2759 or contact us online to request a consultation or to learn more about benchmarking.