Benefits administration at Microsoft Licensing – a case study

By Bruce Shutan

As a company of the most famous software maker in the world, Microsoft Corporation, it seems surprising that Microsoft Licensing, GP was using a paper-based employee benefits enrolment and administration system rather than a more modern online platform. While Microsoft Licensing, GP (more commonly known as MSLI) didn’t have access to their parent company’s tools, employees of the organization certainly had the expectations and performance requirements of their renowned parent. And, when MSLI decided to move toward self-service and provide greater flexibility to their employees, they needed to find a solution that would sustain their high standards.

Moving from a paper-based, manual system to one that is automated would typically be a big transition for most employers. In addition to a rich benefits program that would rival those of many larger and more prosperous organizations, MSLI also had a number of complex benefit plans. This required a solution that offered flexibility and a lot of customization. They found their ideal partner in RealLife HR.

Requirements
In their search for a benefits management solution, MSLI had three main driving factors: flexibility, platform security and superior customer service. “Our plan designs are very rich, complex and generally not something small and midsize companies can handle,” says Guinevere Polistena, MSLI’s benefits program manager, explaining why last year she selected RealLife HR’s automated solution. “There’s a lot of flexibility in their platform that makes it such a good product for companies whose benefits are beyond the standard offerings.”

The challenge – 100 perceent employee satisfaction
MSLI’s HR department’s objective is clear – they strive for 100 percent employee satisfaction. Every program and service that extends to their employees must contribute to that objective.

“If employees don’t understand their plans, they will struggle with their benefit choices, and you won’t have any success no matter how much work you put into it,” Polistena explains. With a satisfactory employee experience at the heart of the process, MSLI’s requests for customization and flexibility were challenging and persistent.

One area that required customization was in setting up flexible benefit plan credits, which can be particularly difficult at companies that cover a major share of the benefit cost and, therefore, require a more tailored approach. In addition, the ability to provide custom instructions on web enrollment pages helped to better anticipate employee questions and reduce the number of benefit-department inquiries.

Kathy Amato, RealLife HR’s implementation manager, recalls the complexity of automating these administrative processes: “Our experience in carrier data exchange allowed us to facilitate customized employer eligibility import and payroll output interfaces to meet MSLI’s needs,” she says.

Enhancements to the application allowed life insurance plans with complex enrollment dependency rules to be automated presenting the employee with only those tiers and options that meet the plan’s eligibility criteria. In addition, the enrollment application was able to capture information involving spouses who are also employed at MSLI as well as other complex eligibility rules to ensure compliance with the benefit plan requirements.

Security is crucial
At a time when employers face increasing pressure to safeguard personal information and keep data from falling into the wrong hands, security is crucial. “We turned down other products because their data security didn’t meet our standards,” she reports, noting how key questions asked during the request-for-proposal process involved an effort to pinpoint where the sensitive data would sit and how secure the firewalls were that protects that information.

In addition to allaying employee fears about access to their confidential data, another motivation for deciding to implement an automated solution was to improve compliance with medical-privacy rules governing HIPAA and other federal laws and regulations.

Disaster-recovery efforts also play a role. “From a privacy perspective,” she says, “it’s much safer to have all your information housed in one spot that’s not on paper, which if destroyed for whatever reason, would not allow you to back up your claims if you have a benefit appeal.”

Making a difference
As a result of implementing RealLife HR’s automated solution, MSLI has realized a 20 percent time savings when performing manual tasks. This has freed up the benefits department and administrative assistants to focus on more strategic initiatives. For example, they now offer more advanced employee service, provide consumer-driven benefit options, and perhaps most importantly, have developed wellness programs such as blood pressure clinics and other activities to improve the health and well being of their employees.

At the end of the day, the success of Microsoft Licensing, GP’s launch of the RealLife HR solution depended on every team member’s collaboration, dedication and commitment to this partnership, which kept the project on track. Moving to an automated solution and partnering with RealLife HR has provided an extraordinary return on investment, saving both time and money.

Bruce Shutan, former managing editor of Employee Benefit News, is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.