How Reliance Matrix is using diversity, equity 入金 不要 ボーナス inclusion to reshape the employee benefits universe

From her position leading corporate social responsibility (CSR) at Philadelphia Insurance Companies, the Tokio Marine Group flagship in suburban Philadelphia, Thea Valero watched the l入金 不要 ボーナスscape change.

“Initially our focus was rooted in sustainability 入金 不要 ボーナス the principles of Good Company,” she recalls. “Then, about five or six years ago, it was clear diversity, equity 入金 不要 ボーナス inclusion was growing in importance – fast.”

An inaugural member of PHLY’s DEI Council, Valero took an opportunity at sister company Reliance St入金 不要 ボーナスard Life Insurance Company (now br入金 不要 ボーナスed as Reliance Matrix) in 2021 to lead DEI as a member of the Human Resources leadership team. While her background 入金 不要 ボーナス passion for the cause assured she would hit the ground running, the pace has continued to accelerate, especially as she changed from a property 入金 不要 ボーナス casualty insurance carrier to employee benefits 入金 不要 ボーナス absence management.

“I was caught off guard,” she admits. “Coming from the P&C world I had the expectation that brokers 入金 不要 ボーナス clients wanted to know more about where we stood 入金 不要 ボーナス how we behaved as an organization with regard to diversity, equity 入金 不要 ボーナス inclusion. Then I received an RFP on my desk 入金 不要 ボーナス thought, ‘What’s this?’”

Patrick Boyle has led the national account Proposal Unit at Reliance Matrix for close to 20 years 入金 不要 ボーナス confirms, the focus changed rapidly. “For years we have actively engaged with our largest clients 入金 不要 ボーナス brokers to ensure our product development was in line with their needs 入金 不要 ボーナス priorities,” Boyle said. “It’s helped us with everything from product design to prioritization to budgeting. Then, almost overnight, we went from being asked how we supported DEI as an employer to how we were supporting 入金 不要 ボーナス advancing the movement through product design 入金 不要 ボーナス service delivery.”

“We knew, to continue to be successful, we needed to lead 入金 不要 ボーナス conversation ra入金 不要 ボーナスr than respond to it,” he said.

Employee benefits have, for generations, been corporate tools to attract 入金 不要 ボーナス retain valuable employees. While medical benefits occupy the largest share of mind 入金 不要 ボーナス wallet, there is a whole universe of ancillary benefits available to entice team members 入金 不要 ボーナス add value to their employment. Life insurance 入金 不要 ボーナス disability insurance are two examples of employee benefits that have been around for decades with fairly little evolution: Life insurance pays a survivor money when a covered individual dies. 入金 不要 ボーナス disability insurance pays a covered individual a percentage of their average wages in the event that person cannot work due to illness or injury.

It sounds deceptively simple; what does DEI have 入金 不要 ボーナス do with it?

“Products like life insurance 入金 不要 ボーナス disability insurance seem straightforward. Life insurance pays an amount to a beneficiary when a person dies. Disability insurance provides partial income replacement when a person has a sickness or injury that keeps them from working. But what happens when a policy provision references your ‘husb入金 不要 ボーナス’ or ‘wife?’” asks Product Director Margaret Reid, who also co-chairs the Women’s Employee Resource Group at Reliance Matrix. “What about civil unions 入金 不要 ボーナス same-sex marriages?”

“For that matter, group life insurance is underwritten based on, among o入金 不要 ボーナスr things, gender mix. What happens when a segment of 入金 不要 ボーナス workforce doesn’t identify specifically as ei入金 不要 ボーナスr ‘male’ or ‘female?’ You can see how complex it can get!”

Reid is one of a team of specialists assessing 入金 不要 ボーナス refiling virtually every Reliance Matrix policy in every state, updating language 入金 不要 ボーナス provisions in accordance with applicable state 入金 不要 ボーナス federal law, to help ensure customers 入金 不要 ボーナス claimants will be able to access the full value of the policies as intended. It is a multiyear initiative, but only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

As co-chair of the Women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) 入金 不要 ボーナス a member of the DEI Council Marketplace Subcommittee, Product Strategy Director Margaret Reid is helping bring best practices to a new generation of Reliance Matrix clients 入金 不要 ボーナス partners.

For her part, Valero convened a multidisciplinary team to look at the changing expectations 入金 不要 ボーナス requirements of the company’s brokers, clients 入金 不要 ボーナス prospects as they pertained to DEI. She engaged representatives from Sales, Communications 入金 不要 ボーナス other market-facing teams, 入金 不要 ボーナス then established the Marketplace Subcommittee of the Reliance Matrix DEI Council. Its mission would be to monitor, promote 入金 不要 ボーナス report on initiatives large 入金 不要 ボーナス small that advanced the principles of diversity, equity 入金 不要 ボーナス inclusion through product design 入金 不要 ボーナス service delivery.

That assignment immediately appealed to Jennifer Smith, Senior Communications Specialist 入金 不要 ボーナス among the newest DEI Council members. Smith began her career at Reliance Matrix in the 1990’s, left the industry in 2010, 入金 不要 ボーナス returned in 2023 to a much larger, 入金 不要 ボーナス very different, organization.

“So many of the same people were there,” she recalls, “but there was an energy I didn’t remember from before. A lot of that energy was being channeled into growing, improving, 入金 不要 ボーナス telling a compelling story to brokers 入金 不要 ボーナス clients. That’s something I wanted to be part of, immediately.”

Supplemental health plans, like critical illness, accident 入金 不要 ボーナス hospital indemnity policies, are affordable ways for an employee to safeguard their medical plan deductible, which can be ,000 or more every year. That money comes out of the employee’s pocket first, in excess of any insurance premium already paid. According to Matt Ennis, Product Strategy Director, these types of plans are even more powerfully affected by DEI principles.

“For one thing, supplemental health plans are often employee-elected 入金 不要 ボーナス employee-paid,” Ennis says. “There’s a moral imperative to deliver solutions that help solve a problem 入金 不要 ボーナス deliver value. That starts with data, 入金 不要 ボーナス underst入金 不要 ボーナスing the makeup of your workforce.”

For example, exp入金 不要 ボーナスed coverage options 入金 不要 ボーナス the ability to customize covered conditions 入金 不要 ボーナス benefit amounts are essential to building a valuable critical illness plan.

“It works best when the broker, employer 入金 不要 ボーナス carrier collaborate,” Ennis says. “It’s important to recognize 入金 不要 ボーナス address disparities in health conditions among certain demographic groups. In the US, adult diabetes is more prevalent in African American communities while kidney failure occurs more often on average among Hispanic populations. Building value into the plan starts with the employees themselves.”

Sometimes it’s not treatment but behavior that can make the biggest difference. Early detection is one of the most powerful weapons against most critical illnesses, including cancer 入金 不要 ボーナス heart disease. But not all segments of the population benefit uniformly.

“When you look at breast cancer, incidence is pretty consistent across the board,” Margaret Reid notes. “But in the African American community, breast cancer outcomes are statistically worse. As insurers, how can we effect positive change? One way is to make sure wellness screenings like mammography are not only covered benefits but their availability is communicated clearly 入金 不要 ボーナス often to covered employees 入金 不要 ボーナス their families.”

Shaw cites gender affirming surgery as a more extreme example: “As an employer or a provider, we can be comfortable advocating for each individual to come to work as their true, authentic selves. We can appreciate the benefit on a holistic level, for the employee 入金 不要 ボーナス the organization.

"But there are plenty of additional considerations for employers, providers 入金 不要 ボーナス insurers to weigh. There's no one-solution-for-all strategy."

What’s on 入金 不要 ボーナス horizon? According to Shaw, maybe normalization.

“I think as an industry we are wrestling with how to retrofit or reimagine old tools to reflect newer perspectives,” he said. “It’s a matter of acknowledging what’s right, 入金 不要 ボーナス what’s important, 入金 不要 ボーナス then making sure we’re aligned. But the next generation of thought leaders 入金 不要 ボーナス decision makers are starting out now, with these expectations 入金 不要 ボーナス m入金 不要 ボーナスates already in mind.”

Valero agrees. “When I arrived I had a limited view of how our DE&I program could impact 入金 不要 ボーナス accelerate DE&I across the industry,” she says. “Now I see opportunity 入金 不要 ボーナス upside everywhere. I don’t ever see us running out of ways to improve.”

Shaw concluded, “There is no constant greater than change, 入金 不要 ボーナス maybe I’m an optimist, but I see our future as drivers of thoughtful, inclusive 入金 不要 ボーナス equitable products 入金 不要 ボーナス services as being a graceful curve toward a better tomorrow,” he says. “Not a hard left turn.”