Most HR leaders know their benefit plans and employee populations inside and out. But they may find it challenging to talk to their senior executives about benefit costs, especially in the current climate of relentless premium increases.

According to HR experts, the key is to speak the language of business, identify the financial implications and show the hard data.

Talk like a business person

Deborah Keary, the HR director at the Society for Human Resource Management, suggests, "Be concise. Talk about the bottom line. Both of these will be appreciated by the senior executives whose time is limited and precious."

Mark Gow, HR director of IAP Worldwide Services in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and EBN's 2007 Benefits Professional of the Year, explains, "For a long time, it was intimidating because we spoke different languages. The secret is simple. People in HR need to talk to CFOs and other people in leadership positions outside of HR in a language that they understand, not in the language that is comfortable to HR."

"For example," he continues, "we can talk about the value of adding a particular benefit plan in terms of employee relations. It makes people feel better, and they're happier about being an employee here. From a CFO's viewpoint, they want to know, if there's additional cost to the company, what's the return on the investment? How does improved employee relations help the bottom line? What's the dollar, quantifiable value of that, if there is one?"

Likewise, Lenny Sanicola, practice leader for benefits in the professional development department of WorldatWork, a trade association for HR professionals, points out, "CEOs and CFOs understand investments. Talk about it in terms of talent management. How do we retain the talent we need? How do we recruit the talent we need?"

Fortunately, Gow says, "HR people are becoming much more effective in understanding how the business runs, so that when they communicate to a CEO or a CFO, they can communicate it in terms and use language that makes more sense to them."

He suggests identifying specific risks and cost drivers in the benefit plan and showing how you are addressing those directly. "It can't be intuition. It can't be anecdotal," he asserts. "Anecdotal doesn't mean a whole lot. They're looking for proof."

"If you're having a bad year, and you're seeing a significant trend increase, you have the data that will explain why," he explains. "If you follow the data, it will tell you where to put your focus." After explaining the reasons for the cost increase, you should talk specifically about how you plan to offset or mitigate it, he says.

Sanicola also recommends focusing the conversation on problem-solving.

Know the business case

CEOs and CFOs may be more open to considering your ideas if you make a solid business case, keeping all the financial ramifications in mind.

"You have to have credibility in the organization," Sanicola says.

"If you can show the senior folks that you understand the numbers and how that impacts the bottom line, then you can build credibility. You have to understand the income statement and the balance sheet."

Gow comments, "If they're going to make investments in benefit plans, they're going to be asking, When am I going to get a return on this, and how much is it going to be?' That's not normally how we're used to communicating."

"They're interested in reduced cost," as well as when and how an ROI can be expected, he adds.

"That's a huge departure [for HR]. Ten years ago, I would have never had this conversation. I would have gone in there and tried to sell an idea that this was a great thing, and everybody's going to love it. They would have said, How much does it cost?' I would have said, $100,000,' and they would have said, We can't afford it,' and that would have been the end of it."

Gow compares this to the mentality that operations and procurement professionals have always used to evaluate whether to buy a new piece of expensive equipment.

Know the data

Presenting the right data can be very persuasive.

Sanicola recommends presenting hard data about groups within your employee population, rather than being too vague and general when speaking about the workforce. CFOs and CEOs want to know the benefit cost per person and who's going to absorb the upcoming medical premium increases, he adds.

Additionally, Gow notes, "There's a huge difference between avoiding cost and reducing cost, and don't confuse the two. Often, we're trying to sell the idea that we're reducing cost, but the reality is that we're simply avoiding future cost. We're avoiding cost increases."

Keary advises, "Have complete knowledge of the subject in your brain, or in supplemental materials that you can offer them for reference. Do not use these in a presentation, it will be too long. Have a two- to five-page PowerPoint-type presentation with just the most important points you need to make."

She adds, "If you have a strict time limit, keep to it. Try to anticipate their questions and have the answers ready. If you can, run the presentation past a senior-level person first and see what questions they have. It might help you to prepare."

"Do your homework. You're dealing with people who are business people. They understand this process. They understand the numbers. If you're not ready, they'll see it," Gow concludes.

"If can speak to them in a language that they understand, you've done your homework, and you can show the results in a way that are meaningful to them, then you've got a shot at it."