Most of us don’t think overly hard about how the timber we need for a backyard fence or wood cut for parquet flooring makes it to our homes. Yet there is a long journey from the forest floor to the final destination. MiCROTEC is a global vendor offering innovative scanning and optimization solutions for the sawmilling and wood processing industry. For example, its technology can scan a log from the outside in, allowing for easy grading and sorting by quality to help determine the best cutting method in near real-time.
As the lone HR Manager for MiCROTEC’s Oregon location, Jessa Colbert is similarly interested in finding solutions and partnerships that optimize her time and bring value to the overall business.
Broker relationships matter, and break-ups happen
When Colbert joined MiCROTEC, she inherited the company’s long-running benefits broker. Yet the relationship was lacking from the beginning. “They didn’t provide a lot of the services that I was used to from my previous employer’s broker. There was no support for basic things like putting together new hire packets, for example,” she said. When it came time for open enrollment, “they were really just there to give us the rates.” There was no discussion or answers to her questions.
Frustrated, she called her former broker, who was at Nava. “We’d already established a relationship,” she explained. “I knew right away that I wanted to switch back and once we did, it was exactly as I remembered — like a white-glove service. That’s really how I think about it.”
Change was easy for Colbert, who knew what she was missing out on, but the switch presented some change management challenges with employees. The company’s previous broker was located down the street and had been in place for 20 years. “If you don’t know that something’s broken, there’s no need to fix it,” she said. “But we have to question why we’re doing things and ask: Can this be done better? That’s what our company’s solutions do, right? Many small HR teams don’t know that they should expect more from their benefits broker.”
Benefits support, the Nava Way
Once MiCROTEC moved to Nava, the difference became clear to both leadership and employees. During the next renewal cycle, Colbert was equipped with multiple plan options and financial breakdowns that she could take to her CEO and easily explain.
“We offered generous benefits to employees and it still saved us money in the long run and helps employees save money too,” she said. “I appreciated the breakdown of all our choices and what they’d entail for us. It saved so much time to have it all fleshed out. It was easy to present to our CEO and made me look good,” she admitted.
Still, for Colbert, the change is mostly felt in the day-to-day benefits administration. She wears all the HR hats at MiCROTEC but leans on Nava almost exclusively to wear the benefits cap. In biweekly meetings, Colbert collaborates with her Nava account team on MiCROTEC's internal communications, wellness exam and activity challenges — which often are well beyond her capacity as a department of one. Nava provides Colbert with detailed communication plans, including email drafts with a rollout cadence.
Multifold time savings with Nava as a natural extension of human resources
These shifts are meaningful to Colbert. “It has helped me so much to have an entire team behind me at Nava,” she shared. “I don’t have the time or resources to coordinate benefits from a highly strategic level, in addition to the communications strategy and education behind benefits.”
Colbert also directs employees directly to the Nava team with questions. At open enrollment, her Nava partners presented plan options in person, giving employees a more personal connection to their benefits broker.
“Our account manager understands our employees,” she said. “She came out in person and knows people by name. She understands our plan and needs really well and is a natural extension of our HR department. She has so much knowledge in the benefits space and I never have to worry about her leaving anyone hanging with an unanswered question.”
Beyond that, Colbert recently rolled out the Nava Benefits App to employees, which comes with dedicated member support. She had rollout guidance and support from Nava and is seeing strong adoption.
Even though it can be a hard sell to ask employees to download yet another app, many are now reliant on it. “The prospect of losing the app would be devastating,” she said. “Our adoption rate has been a little higher than average, so I’m pleased. It’s great to have everything in one place.” She looks forward to seeing app enhancements and measuring usage over the longer term.
With Nava’s help, Colbert feels one step ahead with a full-service benefits solution. “Nava is a true extension of the department and is a strategic benefits partner, ensuring that we offer best-in-class service for our employees,” she said. “Nava is forward-thinking; I don’t see any other providers doing things in the same way within this space.”
