Blog

New Website Launched for 360 CBA!

We are excited to show off our new website creation for 360 Corporate Benefit Advisors! They are a United Benefit Advisor partner firm who has been challenging the status quo and delivering solutions to employers.

Visit the website at 360corporatebenefitadvisors.com to experience easy navigation, life-like animations, and to learn what they are all about!

Tags: Benefit Content, Benefit Portals, Blog, Blogging, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits, Facebook, Featured, UBA, Website design, Website Design

Oral Health Custom Content Article!

At eTekhnos, we post for clients weekly to ensure traffic on their Social Media sites. Here is an example of our latest custom piece we have posted for our clients about Oral Health and how it impacts our overall health.

Have you heard the saying “the eyes are the window to your soul”? Well, did you know that your mouth is the window into what is going on with the rest of your body? Poor dental health contributes to major systemic health problems. Conversely, good dental hygiene can help improve your overall health. As a bonus, maintaining good oral health can even REDUCE your healthcare costs!

Researchers have shown us that there is a close-knit relationship between oral health and overall wellness. With over 500 types of bacteria in your mouth, it’s no surprise that when even one of those types of bacteria enter your bloodstream that a problem can arise in your body. Oral bacteria can contribute to:

Endocarditis—This infection of the inner lining of the heart can be caused by bacteria that started in your mouth.
Cardiovascular Disease—Heart disease as well as clogged arteries and even stroke can be traced back to oral bacteria.
Low birth weight—Poor oral health has been linked to premature birth and low birth weight of newborns.

The healthcare costs for the diseases and conditions, like the ones listed above, can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Untreated oral diseases can result in the need for costly emergency room visits, hospital stays, and medications, not to mention loss of work time. The pain and discomfort from infected teeth and gums can lead to poor productivity in the workplace, and even loss of income. Children with poor oral health miss school, are more prone to illness, and may require a parent to stay home from work to care for them and take them to costly dental appointments.

So, how do you prevent this nightmare of pain, disease, and increased healthcare costs? It’s simple! By following through with your routine yearly dental check ups and daily preventative care you will give your body a big boost in its general health. Check out these tips for a healthy mouth:

Maintain a regular brushing/flossing routine—Brush and floss teeth twice daily to remove food and plaque from your teeth, and in between your teeth where bacteria thrive.
Use the right toothbrush—When your bristles are mashed and bent, you aren’t using the best instrument for cleaning your teeth. Make sure to buy a new toothbrush every three months. If you have braces, get a toothbrush that can easily clean around the brackets on your teeth.
Visit your dentist—Depending on your healthcare plan, visit your dentist for a check-up at least once a year. He/she will be able to look into that window to your body and keep your mouth clear of bacteria. Your dentist will also be able to alert you to problems they see as a possible warning sign to other health issues, like diabetes, that have a major impact on your overall health and healthcare costs.
Eat a healthy diet—Staying away from sugary foods and drinks will prevent cavities and tooth decay from the acids produced when bacteria in your mouth comes in contact with sugar. Starches have a similar effect. Eating healthy will reduce your out of pocket costs of fillings, having decayed teeth pulled, and will keep you from the increased health costs of diabetes, obesity-related diseases, and other chronic conditions.

There’s truth in the saying “take care of your teeth and they will take care of you”. By instilling some of the these tips for a healthier mouth, not only will your gums and teeth be thanking you, but you may just be adding years to your life.

Tags: Benefit Content, Blog, Blogging, dental, dental health, Employee Benefits, health, oral health, Social Media

2017 UBA Healthplan Survey Video

It was recently unveiled the latest findings from our 2017 Health Plan Survey. With data on 20,099 health plans sponsored by 11,221 employers, the UBA survey is nearly three times larger than the next two of the nation’s largest health plan benchmarking surveys combined. The eTekhnos team put together a video to let our clients know about this years changes.

UBA Partners can contact us to have the video branded to their firm to share with clients and prospects at any time.

Here are some of the top trends!

Tags: Benefit Content, Benefit Portals, Blog, Blogging, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits, UBA, Videos

Custom Content Article

At eTekhnos, we post for clients weekly to ensure traffic on their Social Media sites. Here is an example of our latest custom piece about Holiday Parties that our content writer on staff recently wrote and published for our clients.

The Perks of Holiday Parties: How They’re Still an Asset to Your Company

The end of the year is upon us and a majority of companies celebrate with an end-of-year/holiday party. Although the trend of holiday parties has diminished in recent years, it’s still a good idea to commemorate the year with an office perk like a fun, festive party.

BENEFITS OF A YEAR-END CELEBRATION

Holiday staff parties are a perfect way to thank your employees for a great year. All employees want to feel appreciated and valued. What better way to serve this purpose, than with an end of the year office celebration. Hosting a night out to honor your employees during a festive time of year boosts morale. And if done right, your party can jump start the new year with refreshed, productive employees.
End-of-year celebrations allow employees to come together outside of their own team. The average American will spend 90,000 hours (45 years) of their life at work. Unless you have a very small office, most employees only engage in relationships within their department. When employees have a chance to mingle outside of their regular 9 to 5 day, they’ll build and cultivate relationships across different teams within the organization; creating a more loyal, cohesive and motivated culture.
Seasonal parties can provide employers insight on those who work for them. Spending the evening with your employees in a more casual and relaxed atmosphere may reveal talents and ideas you may not have otherwise seen during traditional work hours.

CREATING THE RIGHT FIT

Regardless of office size, if planned right, employers can make a holiday party pop, no matter your budget. Whether this is your first go at an end-of-year celebration for your employees, or you host one every year, keep a few things in mind:

Plan early. Establish a steering committee to generate ideas for your holiday party. Allow the committee to involve all employees early on in the process. Utilize voting tools like Survey Monkey or Outlook to compile employee votes. This engages not only your entire workforce, but serves you as well when tailoring your party to fit your culture.
Create set activities. Engaging employees in some type of organized activity not only eases any social anxiety for them and their guests, it cultivates memories and allows colleagues to get to know each other. Consider a “Casino Night”, a photo booth (or two if your company can justify to size), an escape room outing—anything that will kick the night off with ease.
Incorporate entertainment during the dinner. Have team leads or management members come up with fun awards that emphasize character traits, strengths, and talents others may not know of. This is a great way to create cohesiveness, build relationships, and have your employees enjoy a good laugh at dinner.
Offer fun door prizes every 15 minutes or so. Prizes don’t have to be expensive to have an impact on employees, just relevant to them. However, with the right planning you may be able to throw in a raffle of larger gift items as well. Just keep in the specific tax rules when it relates to gift-giving. Gift cards associated with a specific dollar amount available to use at any establishment, and larger ticket items, can be subject to your employees having to claim income on them and pay the tax.
Make the dress code inclusive of everyone. Employees should not feel a financial pinch to attend a holiday office party. Establish a dress code that fits your culture, not the other way around.

TAKE AWAY TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL HOLIDAY PARTY

According to the Society of Human Resource Management, statistics show in recent years only 65% of employers have offered holiday parties—down from 72% five years ago. Consider the following tips when hosting your next year-end celebration.

Keep it light. Eliminate itineraries and board-room like structure. Choose to separate productivity/award celebrations and upcoming year projections from your holiday party.
Invite spouses and significant others to attend the party. Employees spend a majority of their week with their colleagues. Giving employees this option is a great way to show you value who they spend their time with outside of work.
Allow employees to leave early on a work day to give them time to get ready and pick up who is attending the party with them.
Show how you value your employees by chatting with them and meeting their guests.
Provide comfortable seating areas where employees can rest, eat and talk. Position these in main action areas so no one feels anti-social for taking a seat somewhere.
Consider tying in employees that work in different locations. Have a slideshow running throughout the night on what events other office locations have done throughout the year.
Create low-key conversation starters and get people to chat it up. This is valuable especially for those that are new to the company and guests of your employees. Incorporate trivia questions into the décor and table settings. Get them to engage by tying in a prize.
Keep the tastes and comfort level of your employees in mind. Include a variety of menu items that fit dietary restrictions. Not all employees drink alcohol and not all employees eat meat.
Limit alcohol to a 2 ticket system per guest. Opt for a cash bar after that to reduce liability.
Provide access to accommodations or coordinate transportation like Uber or Lyft to get your employees somewhere safely after the party if they choose to drink.

Ultimately, holiday parties can still be a value-add for your employees if done the right way. Feel free to change it up from year to year so these parties don’t get stale and continue to fit to your company’s culture. Contemplate new venues, ideas and activities and change up your steering committee to keep these parties fresh. Employees are more likely to enjoy themselves at an event that fits with their lifestyle, so don’t be afraid to get creative!

Tags: Benefit Content, Benefit Portals, Blog, Blogging, custom content for benefit agencies, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits, Social Media

Our Client from gbs, Chris Wolpert, was featured in U.S. News and World Report!

We are so happy to see our friend, Chris Wolpert from Group Benefit Solutions, featured in U.S. News and World Report late last month. He gives great advice about starting a business and what to do with the revenue once it starts coming in. His business operates under a one-third rule, check out how he does it here!

Read the whole article here.

Tags: Benefit Content, Blog, Blogging, Employee Benefits, Employee Benefits, Featured, Social Media

New Website Launched for Kaminsky & Associates

We are excited to show off our new website creation for Kaminsky & Associates, based in Maumee, Ohio!

The site is easy to navigate, clean and concise, and has everything potential or current clients need to know.

Visit the Kaminsky & Associates website at www.teamkaminsky.com!

Tags: Benefit Portals, Blog, Blogging, Employee Benefits, Social Media, Website Design, Website design

New Website Launched for Assured Partners Consulting

We’re excited to show off our latest website redesign for Assured Partners Consulting, based in Reno, Nevada!

The site is mobile-responsive, clean and concise, and provides a one-stop resource for potential and current clients.

Visit the new APC website at assuredpc.com!

Tags: Blog, Facebook, SEO, Social Media, Website Design, Website design

Updated Teladoc Explainer Video – Branded to your Agency

We recently updated the video template introducing Teladoc to employees. Benefit agencies who provide and market this service can have a branded version of this video delivered in a few days and for only $150.