Benefits Manager Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a benefits manager job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a benefits manager. Feel free to use our benefits manager job description template to produce your own benefits manager job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a benefits manager.
Who is a Benefits Manager?
A Benefits Manager selects, develops, and manages an organization’s benefits program. These programs include retirement plans, wellness initiatives, leave regulations, and insurance for situations like health, life, disability, etc. Benefits managers may also be in charge of paying employees. Their job is to be informed about the most recent and pertinent advantages to maintaining the best benefits packages. They are the main point of contact for third parties like benefit brokers and plan providers.
They handle benefit records and convey benefit policies and procedures to workers. Benefits managers ensure that the information needed for third-party administrators to successfully administer benefits, including data from system audits, system testing, new hires, terminations, status changes, and yearly enrollment, is accurate. The benefits manager is frequently in charge of handling the registration process and choosing the benefits providers. They also routinely analyze governmental restrictions and market developments to ensure that the employee benefits plans are legitimate and competitive. The benefits manager must be an authority in employee benefits to be well-equipped to respond to inquiries from employees and vendors. When issues emerge, they will also support vendor and employee escalations.
Benefits managers manage all benefit enrollments and modifications brought on by events such as new hires, beneficiary changes, terminations, and claims. They are in charge of obtaining the finest advantages for the best price because they are the key contact.
Data and employee benefit files are kept up to date by benefit managers. The files include databases for group benefits and employee payroll information. Benefits managers play a significant part in creating and supplying instructional materials for orientations, onboarding, and open enrollment as the benefits industry’s educators. They evaluate data to develop strategies and budgetary suggestions.
Benefits managers often work in offices and may be found in every sector because they ensure that compensation is competitive, fair, lawful, and rewarding. They are essential to a company’s ability to retain its employees. As a result, the work might occasionally be stressful.
Benefits Manager Job Description
What is a benefits manager job description? A benefits manager job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a benefits manager in an organization. Below are the benefits manager job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a benefits manager job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
Being a benefits manager surrounds creating plans and delivering them to favor the employee and the company. Here are the duties they regularly perform at their workplace;
- Collect, evaluate, and summarize information and trends to create customized reports.
- Contribute to the team’s effort by doing tasks as instructed.
- Create a budget for the program and stick to it.
- Analyze benefit possibilities and forecasts future expenses to assist management in making decisions.
- Identify potential benefits by researching programs and consulting professionals.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws by researching current rules and regulations and changes to legal requirements.
- Prepare and distribute benefit reports to inform workers of benefit utilization.
- Counsel, coach, and mentor employers to manage the benefits personnel.
- Keep track of competitive wage rates to create or alter compensation plans.
- Oversee the organization’s employees receiving information on pay and benefits.
- Select and control external partners, including benefit suppliers, insurance agents, and investment managers
- Recommend benefit plans to management by researching employee needs, market trends, and advancements in benefits provided by other firms.
- Resolve issues and queries from employees by analyzing benefit policies and procedures.
Qualifications
- A bachelor’s or associate’s degree in business administration or a similar discipline
- Years of experience in human resources
- Having a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) credential or its equivalent is an advantage in getting this position
- Experience with HR systems
- Extensive familiarity with benefit plans, regulations, and laws
- Skilled with Microsoft Office
Essential Skills
Every career has skills required of those who want to give their best and excel while practicing it. To succeed and provide value as a benefits manager, below are the skills to learn and imbibe in the role;
- Computer Expertise
The benefits manager has to have a foundational understanding of computers to stay organized and effectively interact with other team members and employers. To share their results and thoughts with their staff and management, they must be able to write documents, send emails, and make presentations. The benefits manager has to be computer literate to communicate the organizational chart. There are several online tutorials available to aid with computer skill development.
The best benefits managers use technology together with creativity to accomplish their objectives. Cloud-based technology solutions make it feasible to use computerized wage surveys, sign up for industry notifications, and access pay tools.
- Communication Skills
The benefits manager’s job requires them to communicate with workers and vendors to aid them with problems and inquiries. Additionally, they must ensure they can give recommendations to the management of the business and workers while delivering their ideas correctly. Making messages and conversations as simple as possible and following up with inquiries to ensure employees and vendors understand are effective ways to enhance communication skills.
- Delegation
A team of benefits specialists frequently works under a benefits manager. As a result, a large part of the job is being able to assign some duties to people who are great at them.
- Business-wise
A benefits manager must have a broad perspective on the sorts of perks and pay that should be provided to employees. Understanding what motivates performance requires frequent communication between the hiring, human resources, and the supervisory team. The compensation plan may not be able to satisfy overall demands without this goal.
- Expertise
The years of practice and experience in a sector may determine a benefits manager’s performance. A skilled benefits manager will check for methods to outperform the competition with innovative pay and benefit plans that attract a more robust staff.
- Organization
It takes a lot of labor and effort to be a benefits manager, but if one is not also well organized, then none of this will be adequate. Benefits managers may use technology solutions to construct a system for recording salary and benefits data and sending out reminders for meetings with important decision-makers.
- Equalizer
Great benefits managers prioritize maintaining fairness for the corporation and its employees. While concentrating on the company’s long-term growth and performance, they collaborate with executives to ensure they are serving the demands of the workforce.
- Strong Analytical Skills
A benefits manager must have a strong eye for information analysis and the ability to make strategic adjustments to analyze data from workers and benefit schemes. It is always crucial to assess the demands of the workforce and the latest financial update. Additionally, they must stay informed about market developments, analyze various factors and adjust when necessary.
- Flexibility
A benefits manager can actively investigate benefits alternatives, pricing, and employee needs. The benefits manager must be flexible to maintain the best benefits package at the lowest cost because they change often. Additionally, the benefits manager must always comply with government requirements on enrollments, terminations, changes, beneficiaries, disability, accidents, death claims, rollovers, distributions, loans, difficulties, and compliance testing.
- Leadership
Leadership involves establishing a company’s strategy and coordinating staff tasks to achieve its goals.
To meet the goals of the policies developed when making decisions to manage the business, a Compensation and Benefits Manager must master the skill of formulating corporate policy, organizing, planning, managing, and directing organization resources.
- Legal Principles Knowledge
Some salaries and benefits must comply with federal and state rules. The benefits manager is responsible for ensuring that the company’s pay and benefits are legal and must be aware of these regulations. They must ensure they do not pay less than the nation’s minimum wage and that it is decent enough for the industry and location.
- Negotiation
A benefits manager should possess excellent negotiating skills as they serve as the organization’s point of contact with all parties involved in benefits. It is critical to strike a balance between the needs of the workforce and the compensation the employee (or firm) receives. How the plans, prices, and alternatives negotiation goes will determine if that balance is possible.
- Project Management
Project management is organizing a list of tasks and responsibilities for your project or business and developing a plan for carrying those obligations out as soon as possible.
A benefits manager must emphasize how staff members apply project management approaches and concepts in their everyday tasks and duties to develop efficiency and build a competitive edge in the fiercely competitive business environment.
- Resourcefulness
Managing compensation frequently involves utilizing a variety of resources. You may need to perform wage surveys, look into different job categories, assign duties to specific positions, and collaborate with the management team to create improved compensation plans. Being resourceful is essential for success as a benefits manager, which is understandable given how daunting this may be in the absence of reliable and continuous information.
How to Become a Benefits Manager
Employers frequently look for benefits managers with a combination of education and relevant experience. Typically, certification is not required. Here is a rundown of things to do to guide you in becoming a benefits manager;
Get The Required Undergraduate Degree
The minimum educational requirement for almost all benefits management employment is a bachelor’s degree. Consider earning a degree in human resources management, human relations, business administration, management, or finance to work as a benefits manager. You might wish to concentrate on developing your leadership and analytical abilities in college.
Practice as a Benefits Specialist and Gain Experience
A managerial position is not something one without experience can hop into, so you need to get experience as a benefits specialist after getting your bachelor’s degree. Look for a job with a firm that values employee development. When accepting offers, be mindful of the corporate culture and ideals because it is likely that you will advance to management within the organization you work for or in a different one. Your experience is a big push to becoming a benefits manager.
Apply For a Graduate Degree
Although a master’s degree is not a requirement for a managerial position, having one may be advantageous. The hiring committee may search for a benefits manager with an advanced degree depending on the business size and the nature of the employment. Consider obtaining your graduate degree while working toward a profession that does not require a graduate degree in a similar field or as a benefits specialist.
Obtain Relevant Certification
Although not all jobs require certificates, some organizations do. Choose the relevant certificates that are appropriate for you and finish them. If your organization does not support certification, obtaining the credentials might still help you in the long run if you switch companies.
The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) and WorldatWork are two professional organizations that offer certificates exclusively for benefits experts.
Apply For a Benefits Manager’s Role
Look for employment in benefits management. If there is no vacancy for promotion in your present firm, you may search for a position in another company. Consider company size, duties, and other factors before applying for jobs.
Keep Learning and Developing Yourself
Understanding the continuously changing employment market is crucial if you want to succeed as a benefits manager. You might need to know when a profession is in great demand or what new advantages businesses are providing to recruit new employees. You can provide your employer and coworkers with your best job by investing in continuous learning and development.
Where to Work as a Benefits Manager
Benefits managers can find employment in places such as startups, technology businesses, insurance companies, the government, the healthcare industry, and NGOs. Most work in organizations’ human resources departments.
Benefits Manager Salary
A Benefits Manager with less than one year of experience may earn an average annual salary of $59,202, which includes gratuities, bonuses, and overtime pay in the United States. Entry-level to experienced benefits managers’ salary range may fall between $49,015 – $89,650.
The annual average benefits manager makes around £47,100. More experienced ones earn up to £68,000 yearly, while entry-level roles start at £39,500 in the United Kingdom.
Different factors affect salary decisions in careers; starting from location, years of experience, industry a person works in, the company itself, etc. A small company is likely to pay lesser for a role, while a large one pays a higher salary for the same position.