Healthcare
Navigating a large dental organization through pandemic-related human resources challenges.
Situation
A large dental services organization was ordered to close all of its clinics for any non-emergency services during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing them to furlough approximately 700 employees. The timing of the mandated closures and resulting furlough coincided with the conclusion of the company’s benefits open enrollment period disrupting final enrollment counts with benefit providers.
The employee relations matters brought on by the clinic closures and resulting furloughs stretched the company’s human resources team to their capacity. This was their number one responsibility to their people, but they knew they still needed to complete open enrollment and update their policies and procedures to reflect the scaling back of their clinics to “emergency services only” status. They reached out to Growth Operators for help.
Execution
Growth Operators Human Resources group stepped in alongside the company’s HR team and:
- Conducted a comprehensive headcount audit of approximately 1,000 employees, determined their employment status and updated approximately over 400 employee records in the company’s HRIS system
- Conducted a comprehensive audit of the company’s 14 different benefit plans, validated employee elections and revised enrollment records with all of the different benefits providers to accurately reflect the updated enrollment data
- Identified 675 audit-related changes including terminations, new enrollments, and coverage changes
- Removed approximately 165 employees from payroll and benefits who chose not to return from furlough
- Identified nearly $500,000 in benefit premiums savings for the company
- Identified nearly $15,000 in savings for employees of the company due to previously overpaid premiums
- Documented new HR policies and procedures and identified ten process improvement opportunities to leverage technology and empower employees.
Result
The company’s, HR team was able to focus their time and effort where it was needed most – with the furloughed employees whose careers had been disrupted by the pandemic-related furloughs, and on recalling and rebuilding the team when the clinics were eventually allowed to reopen.
They left the other details up to Growth Operators knowing we had their back.
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