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Getting your employee benefits platform implementation right is a bit like planning the perfect party. You need the right ingredients, perfect timing, and someone who knows how to keep everything running smoothly. At Ben, that person is Thorsten Aguilera, our VP of Implementation. Thorsten and his team are there to support Ben’s clients all the way through their implementation process to ensure success from day one.
Whether you're a Rewards Manager looking to level up your employee benefits strategy or an HR leader trying to navigate the world of digital benefits, understanding how employee benefits platform implementation works is the key to launching successfully. So we sat down with Thorsten to understand what an industry-leading product implementation process looks like, and the questions you should be asking any provider you’re considering working with.
When does the implementation process begin?
Customers meet the implementation team at various stages of the project depending on the type of implementation. We typically meet with clients pre-contract signature to ensure they fully understand what the implementation process looks like, how long it's going to take, and what kind of resources are expected from their side. This allows them to plan capacity accordingly well in advance and gives them a sense of how we work as a company. Our goal is to give them confidence that we can deliver their implementation successfully.
What are the key steps of benefits platform implementation?
Everything starts with pre-sales discussions to ensure alignment on scope and ways of working. After contract signing, we begin with a kickoff to align on success criteria and define what success looks like overall.
We then proceed with different work streams. First, we gather requirements for all your benefits and allowances to understand how they work - who gets what, who pays for what, and what eligibility rules you have. This information allows us to start building the benefits.
In parallel, we gather technical details about your platform setup. This includes determining which HRIS system you use and the type of integration needed - API or SFTP. This is the foundation of a successful implementation, so we tackle it early on.
Next, we set up additional features like single sign-on (SSO) and determine how employees will access the platform - whether via SSO or email and password. Once we have this information, we set up the skeleton of the platform and give you access. We begin building benefits one by one, providing early access within the first couple of weeks so you can familiarise yourself with the user experience and test the benefits as we build them.
After this, we develop payroll and analytics reporting based on your requirements. We conduct comprehensive testing of all benefits and reports to ensure everything aligns with the acceptance criteria defined at the start.
We then upload enrolment data, importing your membership lists so that when employees first access the platform, their pre-existing enrolments are already there. For example, if someone is already opted in for PMI, they won't have to do it again. After a thorough data audit to ensure everything looks correct, we proceed with the launch.
Post-launch, we provide a two-week hyper care period to ensure everything runs smoothly and address any questions from admins or employees. This initial period is crucial because the first couple of weeks are critical for ensuring high adoption rates and employee satisfaction.
How much training should HR and Benefits Managers - and employees - receive?
Beyond implementation, we ensure proper training for both admins and employees. While our platform is very intuitive, we want to ensure admins can extract maximum value from the solution.
Our training approach has several stages. First, when we give initial platform access, we demonstrate both the employee experience and admin portal functionality. Next, during UAT testing, we show admins how to manage benefits, access reporting, and handle employee administration.
Before launch, we ensure all admin team members are trained on the platform, even those not involved from the beginning. By this point, through the UAT process, most admins become platform experts, able to make changes to employee settings and benefits independently.
For employees, we offer initial platform demos to maximize day-one value. While these aren't always necessary due to the platform's intuitive design, we provide them to ensure confident platform adoption. Some clients prefer to conduct these demos themselves, with our team available for technical support.
Our approach to training is flexible and adaptable to each client's needs.
What kind of implementation timeline is typical?
Implementation timelines vary depending on the complexity of benefits, organisational structure, number of countries, and employee count. Typically, a standard implementation takes 3-4 months, though we have methods to accelerate this when needed.
During implementation, we work with several key stakeholders: a benefits expert, a payroll specialist, IT representatives for technical setup (HRIS integration, SSO), and often someone from marketing or communications to plan the platform launch.
We need a dedicated project manager or benefits expert who can oversee the project from start to finish. While they don't need to be involved full-time, having someone coordinating everything from your side is crucial for success.
What ongoing support is available if benefits expand or change?
After the initial implementation, we continue to support our clients throughout their journey. We work with our clients continuously to ensure their success. Once a client is live, we provide support for expansions into new countries, implementation of new benefit programs, and addition of allowances for clients who initially launched with just benefits.
We follow a similar structure to the initial implementation process, though this is typically streamlined for expansions. We also support clients through other changes, such as migrations between HRIS systems. Our team guides you through these processes to ensure continuity of service and maintain all your existing functionality.
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