Event Details

Training description:

Providing a competitive benefits strategy in recruiting and retaining employees is essential in todays competitive war for talent.  This presentation will cover an overview of the current challenges in the labor market and share benefits trends along with tools and strategies that employers can consider.

Learning Objectives:

• Overview of the challenges of the current labor market
• Discuss employee wants and needs
• Share employee benefits trends
• Outline some of the tools and strategies employers can use to make their benefit plan a key part of employee recruiting and retention

SHRM BASK: Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement & Retention, Total Rewards

HRCI functional area: Business Management & Strategy, Workforce Planning and Employment, Employee Relations & Engagement, Talent Planning & Acquisition, Total Rewards

Presenter Bio:

Greg Louden is a Vice President and Benefits Account Executive at Parker, Smith & Feek.

His 27 years of industry experience includes insured and self-insured health plans, collectively bargained groups, multi-employer groups, complex insurance issues and health provider contracting. He joined Parker, Smith & Feek in 2009.

Greg received his Bachelor of Arts from Whitworth University and attended graduate school at the University of Hawaii Manoa and University of Washington.

Greg is an active member of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) and the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP). He is also actively involved in legislative issues, and is frequently an invited speaker on employee benefit issues. A lifelong Alaskan and Alaska Native, Greg has seen the changes in the delivery and financing of healthcare in our State firsthand.

Keva Peairs is an account executive at Parker, Smith & Feek, focusing on health and welfare benefit plans. Keva helps clients strategize, build, and execute their employee benefits programs. Keva prides herself in assessing the needs of her clients and ensuring they have every resource necessary to design creative solutions around cost, compliance, communication, and a strategic, long-term plan. 

Keva has over 20 years in the industry on the carrier side and began her career working on the PEBB and FEHBP plans for Washington state. Prior to joining Parker, Smith & Feek she was responsible for the leadership and direction of strategic accounts including Taft-Hartley, municipalities, and self-funded businesses with Kaiser Permanente of Washington. This role included the strategic oversight of the Public and School Employees Benefits Boards which included contract negotiations, benefit designs for Active and Medicare, and value-based purchasing alignment. In her extensive experience working with public entities, Keva believes that it is critical to build trust with stakeholders at all levels so that bargaining parties can work together to contain costs and develop solutions to benefit employees.

Keva is a Seattle native and graduate of Seattle University with a BA in Humanities.