We’ve been using Benergy since 2006. My broker recommended it to me as a useful HR tool. We’ve been using Benergy ever since and are very happy with it. We use the communications portal and the benefits statements. The communications portal allows us to relay important benefits and HR communications and updates.

I like the fact that I can provide benefit statements. I also like the fact that I can keep all of Nioxin’s benefit and HR communications up to date. Benergy makes it easy to update all our HR communications including employee handbooks, policies and procedures documents and safety manuals. We have them all stored under the HR section of the Benergy site. It’s great because employees have an access point for all this vital information.

We initially wanted to better explain Nioxin’s benefits to our employees, so we were looking at ways to develop benefit statements. I found out that the Benergy site had those capabilities. Although that was originally our immediate need, we quickly discovered there are so many other benefits we could use. I guess you could say we kind of lucked into it! In addition to the benefits capabilities, Benergy has helped us build on our health program by encouraging our employees to change their lifestyles by doing more health related activities.

No, I did not. I was aware of Benergy and the quality of the product. I also knew that the statements I was originally looking for had been added to Benergy’s capabilities. I thought it would be a good fit for us, especially since we are a small company of 150 employees spread throughout the United States and had a decentralized sales force. So, to communicate effectively to everyone can be very difficult. Since our employees and sales force are all tech savvy, it just seemed like the perfect marriage.

The response has been very positive. Employees now have a place where they know they can find all of their information, whether they are looking for health information, researching a policy or procedure or reading the company handbook. In addition to our employees using the site, Benergy has also been useful from the standpoint of being able to show our customers what our purpose, values and principles are.

I would say we have definitely reduced the questions from the field and our employees. They now know where to get the information they are seeking. Questions like “How do I find a Doctor?” are common. Now we are able to steer employees to the link and they are able to research things for themselves. From my point of view, it is so much easier and so much more efficient.

I would estimate that Benergy gives us back 10 hours a week which allows us to make tremendous enhancements to our system. The most recent program we came up with gave Credits for Healthy Lifestyles. Normally there is no way we would be able to focus on those sorts of things because we would be worrying about the communications portion. Benergy frees up our time and allows us to come up with new programs to execute.  

The fact that we are able to keep data current. Everything is time sensitive and this allows us to make sure our handbooks are not expiring. We initially introduce them to the handbook by giving them a hardcopy when they start with the company and then say all future updates to the handbook can be found online.

My staff loves the fact that they can point employees to the web site and let them know that they can research things online. Since we’re in a manufacturing environment, we made passing a basic computer course a requirement so that ALL employees are able to access their information and communications online.

We use A.D.A.M.’s signage and provide all of our new employees with general information cards. We are constantly driving awareness to the notices on Benergy and the sign up kit. We also do a lot of promotions via the Benergy website because it’s the best way to communicate.

We also use the Synergy distributed monthly through Benergy, and produce a print newsletter called the NioNews that is published every quarter. NioNews has a feature on health, too, but we are constantly pushing the Benergy website as our main source of communication.

It definitely makes us look bigger than we are. It gives us a lot more technical bang for the buck. To be very honest with you recruiting pre-Benergy involved us having to send out our benefits package and allow everybody to look at it. Now all we have to do is send out a letter and let them access the general site. All I have to do is send the User ID and password and they are able to logon for information. From the standpoint of promoting the recruiting aspects I love it.

From an onboarding perspective, people get inundated with information when they first join a company. With Benergy, they know what our package is. Even if they never have the chance look back at the handbook they were given, they will always tend to look at the web site. People are visual and have a tendency to be more willing to look at something online.

I would definitely recommend it. I would tell them that it’s so much more than a benefits tool because it can be your HR host site which I believe is over and above what anyone would expect. The benefits information side alone is great, but the bonus is that we have been able to utilize it from the HR side. Benergy has been a dramatic help for us and I would highly recommend it.

My broker is Bachman Insurance Services (BIS Solutions). I have known Ray Bachman since 1985. He and I have worked very closely to develop my plans at Nioxin and prior to that my plans with Edwards. He is a service oriented broker. Nowadays it can be difficult to find a broker that takes the time to help you develop plans and make the decisions that are best for your business, versus just trying to sell you something. I wanted someone that would be willing to help me make the right decisions for my business and he always comes through.