Employee Benefits 101: What Every Small Business Needs to Know – Episode #9 – The Vita Talks HR and Benefits Podcast

In this special episode of the Vita Talks podcast, the tables are turned as Dominic Iafigliola interviews our host, Gianna Ricciardi, about the ins and outs of employee benefits. Gianna is the Co-Founder and Practice Leader at Vita Assure, a Canadian brokerage specializing in employee benefits for small and medium-sized businesses in Quebec and Ontario. With 20 years of experience working with payroll, HR, and finance teams, she helps companies design benefits plans that meet the evolving needs of today’s workforce.

"There’s an important distinction between the words advisors and brokers. For example, on my license, it says I am an advisor. In the word advisor, it says advice, so our role is to give advice. We do commonly use the expression broker due to it’s popularity. Broker conveys the idea that someone is shopping for you."

Gianna shares a case study of a small software team looking to implement their first group insurance plan. How do companies do this? What are pitfalls to avoid? What is the difference between an insurance company and a broker? Gianna answers these questions and tackles what it means to be an advisor.

"For me, communication is important because employers invest quite an important sum to these benefit programs, and ultimately the goal is to motivate employees, reward employees, and attract them. If they don’t understand the value that it’s bringing to them, if they don’t understand how to utilize it, how to access it, then it’s not providing that value."

She also breaks down the steps HR teams should take when implementing a plan, communicating with employees, and aligning benefits with company values. Gianna also reveals how she simplifies complex proposals, making them easy to understand—even for those who aren’t numbers people! Tune in now to learn how to build a strong benefits strategy for your team!

Listen to the Podcast!

More About Our Guest

Gianna Ricciardi

Gianna has 20 years of experience working with the payroll, HR, and finance departments to create employee benefit plans that take into account the changing demands of the workforce.

In the past, she developed an accelerated curriculum for insurance professionals seeking certification in group insurance and published 360 Degrees of Group Insurance, a training guide on industry best practices.

Contact Gianna here at Vita Assure

Connect to Gianna on LinkedIn

Dominic Iafigliola

Dominic Iafigliola is the co-founder of Vita Assure, a full service brokerage firm specializing in insurance and employee benefits. The insurance world has changed over the years and Dominic is helping innovate the group insurance, group retirement and wellness landscapes to better reach the needs of small and medium sized businesses.