By Len Strazewski

Recruitment and retention are important human resource targets for nearly all employers, but high-tech start-up companies-just beginning to build their roster of committed and energetic employees for the future-have an especially pressing need to hire and keep the best workers they can find.

A carefully designed employee benefits program is critical to hitting those targets, says Chris Gory, principal of Insurance Portfolio Financial Services, Inc. (IPFS), a Toronto, Ontario-based employee benefits brokerage that specializes in the needs of new entrepreneurial companies and other small to medium-sized businesses.

"Start-up companies are always searching for employees who not only meet their immediate needs but share their vision and provide skills for the future," he says. "Employee benefits are important resources in attracting those employees, and as the business grows and competes with others, benefits are an important way of retaining those employees."

Gory founded IPFS with his father-in-law in 2000 as a life and health generalist and began specializing in start-up companies in 2010 after realizing that these entrepreneurial firms presented unique employee benefit needs and required the touch of someone who understood the distinct challenges and opportunities created by the latest technology.

A former executive with Applied Systems, a provider of technology to insurance agents and brokers, Gory was in the right position to make the switch to the insurance broker side of the business. "Technology has always been in my life," he says. "So why not marry my love for technology with employee benefits?"

Above, Chris Gory (right), President and Employee Benefits Consultant, Insurance Portfolio Financial Services, Inc. (IPFS), meets with Meghan Scott, CHRL, Human Resources Generalist, at Wattpad headquarters in Toronto, Canada. IPFS specializes in employee benefits program design for start-up organizations as well as other small to medium-sized businesses.

The firm now provides traditional employee benefits, including supplemental health, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, dental and vision care as well as other voluntary benefits. IPFS also can arrange Healthcare Spending Accounts and Administrative Services Only (ASOs) agreements for employers who want to self-fund a portion of their employee benefits package. Gory is also a prominent participant in the burgeoning Toronto start-up scene and a consultant to incubator groups including The Digital Media Zone (DMZ), which is sponsored by Ryerson University.

Gory says most start-up companies start out conservatively, offering a narrow range of employee benefits that can be expanded as the company grows. "It often depends on the funding of the start-up company," he explains. Most begin with some supplemental health benefits to add onto the Canadian national health insurance and some basic life and AD&D coverage with a range of employee-paid voluntary options.

As the company develops and needs to compete more aggressively for top employees, the benefits program expands and the employer pays more of the costs. Health benefits can include coverage for semi-private or private hospital rooms, private duty nursing, unlimited prescription drug coverage, and limited dental insurance and alternative treatments such as acupuncture and chiropractic services. Vision care is often excluded at first but can be added later.

As the company grows, it may sweeten the benefits to include a broader range of services such as orthodonture and richer benefit values. "As the funding improves and the human resource needs increase, it pays to offer employees a little more in benefits to make the company distinctive in the marketplace," Gory says. "As you achieve your goals, you can ramp up the value of the employee benefits in recognition of those achievements."
 Healthcare spending accounts also are increasing in popularity, Gory says, and provide a way to fill in coverage gaps and provide employees greater choice in spending benefit dollars-at a reasonable cost to the employer. "Healthcare spending accounts are often used as a way to top up the benefits package and give employees a way to fund out-of-pocket health needs and additional coverage," he says.

Wellness benefits are also becoming popular with young, health-conscious employees. Massage is very popular, and as employers look for visible ways to encourage employees, they may bring massage therapists to the workplace.

Gym memberships and participatory wellness programs also are increasing in popularity, Gory says, and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) that can provide short-term counseling on personal and behavioral health issues are gaining attention as employers seek new benefits to talk about.

"EAPs are very affordable, as little as $4 per employee, per month," Gory says. IPFS represents five EAP providers including two owned by insurers.

IPFS often works in tandem with a related property/casualty brokerage, Insurance Portfolio, Inc., a third-generation independent broker in Toronto. Chris Gory's wife, Jennifer Tyrwhitt-Gory, is president and her brother Andrew is vice president of the firm.

Founded more than 90 years ago in 1926, Insurance Portfolio now has 17 employees and has acquired nine other independent brokerages since 1980 as part of its steady growth pattern. The firm provides auto and homeowners and a full range of commercial insurance, including general liability, directors and officers, and errors and omissions for various professions. The firm specializes in start-up companies as well as franchise businesses, manufacturing and professional service firms.

Jennifer's father, Philip Tyrwhitt, co-founded the employee benefits practice with Chris Gory in the late 1990s at the recommendation of the Zurich Insurance Group, Jennifer says.

"Zurich Insurance approached my father in the mid-1990s about developing a life insurance and employee benefits practice to complement the property/casualty insurance business," she recalls. "The idea was that the property/casualty practice could cross-sell life and benefits to the existing customer base."

Chris was asked to join the new practice and lend his technology and financial management expertise to the operation, and the business quickly evolved into a commercial employee benefits specialist with a focus on the tech industries as Chris developed it as a separate company.

Now the employee benefits practice provides commercial referrals to the property/casualty practice, Jennifer says. Chris Gory attends bi-weekly marketing meetings with the property/casualty staff to share prospects and ideas and update producers on issues and projects.

"Health care spending accounts are often used as a way to top up the benefits package and give employees a way to fund out-of-pocket health needs and additional coverage." -Chris Gory President Insurance Portfolio Financial Services, Inc.

The couple also makes occasional team presentations to prospects and shared lunch and learn seminars for small businesses and, in May, both presented at the Startup School seminar at Ryerson University in Toronto.

The P-C business benefits from Chris's involvement with the start-up community. IPFS and Insurance Portfolio provide a special incubator insurance package to DMZ companies.

"Chris is often the first step in the relationship," Jennifer says, because of his involvement with early stage start-ups. "But even before these companies began to do business and hire employees, they needed commercial general liability insurance and other property/casualty coverages. That's where we begin, and as the start-up grows, Chris develops an employee benefits program."

Jennifer says clients recognize a kindred company. "We always put the client first," she says, and "we are all entrepreneurs. We understand their needs."

Toronto-based Wattpad is an Internet-based communications company that specializes in supporting writers and distributing stories across online media. Founded in 2006, the company has grown from a local start-up with 15 employees to an internationally known technology company with 115 employees and a broadening base of business that ranges from popular fiction online publishing to commercial brand communications.

Bonnie Busby is head of people and Meghan Scott is human resources generalist and employee benefits manager. Busby joined the company in 2012 when it had already been working with IPFS.

"I inherited the relationship and had no need to look elsewhere. Usually companies work with a series of different brokers, looking for the right fit," she says. "In this case there was no need for me to shop for someone else. Chris has been with the company since its beginning and has helped us develop a benefits program that meets our employees' needs."

Busby calls Chris Gory "a trusted listener." "Chris listened to our needs-what we wanted and what we could afford-and helped us build a benefits program that was custom designed for our young employees."

Recruitment and retention of top employees are critical to the future success of the company as it continues to grow, she says. About 75% are Millennials who have a special interest in health and welfare, she adds, and a desire for flexibility in their benefits. "Very generally, we have a demographic that is extremely health conscious and concerned with maintaining positive, healthy lifestyles."

The Wattpad benefits track closely with Gory's model for start-ups. The benefits package includes company-paid supplemental health coverage that includes benefits for alternative treatments such as acupuncture, chiropractic and massage, among others.

Employees also can choose a Health Savings Account, which can be used to fund additional coverage and services not covered by the Canadian single payer national health program.

The Health Savings Account is "very affordable," Busby says, funded by the employees and the employer, and is consistent with the desire for choice and flexibility.

Wattpad continues to be on the lookout for employee benefits innovations to keep the company competitive in the human resources marketplace. "Chris is always aware of the latest in benefit trends and options and is always open to discussing new techniques that will keep us in the lead in recruitment and retention," Busby says.

The author
Len Strazewski is a Chicago-based writer, editor and educator specializing in marketing, management and technology topics. In addition to contributing to Rough Notes, he has written on insurance for Business Insurance, Risk & Insurance, the Chicago Tribune and Human Resource Executive, among other publications.