13 Weeks, 13 Topics.
During the summer of 2020, Steele collaborated with finance, human resources, benefits and payroll professionals to bring 13 virtual classrooms in 13 weeks. Here, we tackled everything on employee communications, enrollment and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alongside two special guest presentations, Steele showcased 11 topics that were categorized into three sections:
- The Educational Series — what to know about benefits administration during COVID-19
- The Training Series — a step-by-step walkthrough on using the BenSelect platform by Selerix Systems, Inc.
- The Solutions Series — targeted solutions for employers in need of actionable plans
Below, you can catch the 2020 Summer Learning Series in full through the recorded webinars, along with their descriptions!
Educational Series
Impact of COVID-19 on Open Enrollment
The Steele 2020 Summer Learning Series kicks off with a timely discussion about how COVID-19 will change employee benefits enrollment in 2020 and beyond. We’ll tackle topics about employee on-boarding, communicating benefit changes to employees, and virtually engaging the workforce through text messaging and other tools, and enrolling from a distance using tools like call centers and Zoom meetings.
Panelists:
- Deb Wolfe, Benefits Specialist, MSD of Washington Township Schools
- Jennifer Gaddis, HR Manager, MS Companies
Employee Benefits That Could Trend in 2020
There’s a pandemic in 2020. The benefits that employees need in 2020 isn’t necessarily the same benefits they needed in 2019. Our all-star panel will outline some benefits employees may be more interested in for 2020, and the importance of communication and engagement in creating financially well employees.
Panelists:
- Dane Esterline, Director of Sales, Infoarmor
- Christin Kuretich, Senior Director of Product & Innovation, Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions
- Megan Weddle, Director of Sales, FirstStopHealth
Using a Call Center for Benefits Open Enrollment
What do you do when it’s not practical to have on-premises meetings with employees to educate them about their benefits? Why, enroll by call center, of course! Our speakers have extensive experience enrolling decentralized, difficult to reach employees by phone, and you’re not going to want to miss out on their suggestions and lessons learned.
Panelists:
- Amanda Rhoads, Manager – Employee Benefits & Communications, Stratosphere Quality
- Maureen Cook, Human Resources Manager, Futaba Industrial Texas Corp
Trends in Employee Healthcare Benefits
What’s trending in population health, healthcare delivery, and healthcare cost? How is the experience of using the healthcare system different than it was six months ago? What do we expect to see in healthcare delivery over the next year? What is the employers’ role in providing tools for their workforce to make personal choices around their healthcare decisions? This is a can’t miss discussion about trends in care with Kristin Vargo and Brian Norris from Marathon Health, formerly known as OurHealth.
Panelists:
- Kristin Vargo, Marathon Health, Vice President – Business Development
- Brian Norris, Marathon Health, Executive Vice President – Population Health
Training Series
Everyday Life Event Processing
By popular demand, life events training returned as a training session for the third consecutive year. This session tackled topics such as “How do I process an employee retirement?” and “How do I add a spouse to coverage mid-year?”. In addition, we discuss common hang ups, exceptions, and how to troubleshoot life event issues.
Panelists:
- Lindsey Martin, Systems Architect, Steele Benefit Services
- Christine Tollison, Vice President – Director of Technology, Steele Benefit Services
Advanced Selerix Administration
Are you ready for a PhD in Selerix life events? Here it is! Here we dive in to topics like “What if I want disability benefit amounts to recalculate every pay period?” and “What if I want salary based Basic Life insurance benefits that automatically update when an employee’s salary changes?” Bring your weed-eater to the session, because we’re getting deep into the weeds.
Panelists:
- Lindsey Martin, Systems Architect, Steele Benefit Services
- Christine Tollison, Vice President – Director of Technology, Steele Benefit Services
User Q&A with Selerix Leader Ruthie Gray
Ruthie Gray gets it done. As the person responsible for product development, systems integration, training/curriculum, new software releases, and issue hotfixes – if you have a question or request, there may be nobody better to ask than Ruthie. Be sure to bring Selerix questions to the session for Ruthie. All Selerix users are guaranteed to learn something in this action-packed session.
Panelists:
- Ruthie Gray, Vice President – Product Management, Selerix Systems
- Wes Steele, CEO, Steele Benefit Services
Common Selerix Reports & How to Run Them
Whether you’re a current user looking to learn, or a prospective user checking under the hood – you’re sure to appreciate the robust reporting capabilities of Selerix. This session will tackle 5 different types of reports to know – 1) the census, 2) the self-bill, 3) the activity report, 4) the payer report, and 5) the enrollment summary report.
Panelists:
- Lindsey Martin, Systems Architect, Steele Benefit Services
- Christine Tollison, Vice President – Director of Technology, Steele Benefit Services
Solutions Series
Soup-to-Nuts: Full Solution Demonstration
This session demonstrates a complete solution for employee communication, enrollment, and administration. Topics covered include Selerix benefits administration system, on-line employee benefit enrollment site, text messaging employees, call center enrollment, and data feeds and reporting.
Panelists:
- Wes Steele, CEO, Steele Benefit Services
Texting Employees with Engage
Never before have employers had real time access to employee populations, and the ability to create their own text messages, surveys, and quizzes to targeted employee groups. The future of employee engagement is here. Here Steele speaks with Selerix regarding the 2020 launch of the greatest employee engagement tool – Engage!
Panelists:
- Steve Olivas, Vice President – Marketing, Selerix Systems
- Wes Steele, CEO, Steele Benefit Services
Automating Events Based Communication
This is part two of our Red Carpet event: rolling out Steele Engage. This presentation is about event-based communication. What if you could welcome every new hire with a 3-drip text campaign in their first month of work? Congratulate all employees on their work anniversaries? Wish every employee a happy birthday? Now you can! Build employee loyalty with this new way to engage your employees.
Panelists:
- Steve Olivas, Vice President – Marketing, Selerix Systems
- Wes Steele, CEO, Steele Benefit Services
Special Presentations
Windows Pioneer to Selerix Co-Founder: Coffee with Lyle Griffin
Spend your morning with the developer Bill Gates once called a Microsoft Windows Pioneer. In addition to co-founding Selerix in 2002, Mr. Griffin has spent his career in leadership positions at Micrografx, Lifeweb, and SelectQuote. Learn about benefit administration systems, the wider benefits technology environment, the future of integration, and the history of Selerix Systems.
Panelists:
- Lyle Griffin, President, Selerix Systems
- Wes Steele, CEO, Steele Benefit Services
3 Brothers, 3 Business Owners – The Rags-to-Riches Story of Steele
The Steele brothers grew up sleeping sideways on one bed, with no plumbing, with no heating, and virtually no money. Moderated by Indiana Basketball Hall-of-Famer and family friend Al Tucker, this session will discuss the stories and values that led to the Steele’s owning interests in over a half dozen small businesses in three different industries.
Panelists:
- Mike Steele, Founder, Steele Benefit Services
- Bob Steele, CEO, Robert Steele Agency
- Al Tucker, Indiana Basketball Hall-of-Famer, Retired Teacher & Coach
- Wes Steele, CEO, Steele Benefit Services
- In memory of Jim Steele, Owner, Steele Auto & Wrecker