Six Ways to Improve Employee Benefits Communication

Ensuring your employees understand their benefits plan is very important, but it can be challenging.  Employees want their employers to understand and appreciate their needs, and when they don’t, workers can become disengaged. Fortunately, communication can improve employee engagement and positively impact your company’s bottom line. Employers need to take a personalized approach to their corporate communications. Here are a few ways to get creative with your internal messaging.

•  Know your audience.  Learn about the attitudes, needs, and life stages of your employees.  This information can be used to tailor your communications, and your plan design.

• Make it personal. While most corporate messages are written with a mass audience in mind; employees are more prone to act when their name is used in a document or email.  This is particularly important for major life events, such as marriage or the birth of a child.

• Get creative.  Instead of offering information in a bland, predictable format, why not experiment with new ways to connect employees with benefits representatives.  Virtual benefits fairs and webinars make learning convenient and interactive.

• Consider the channel.  Not everyone likes to get information in the same way, so be sure to use a variety of channels for delivery, such as direct mail, text messaging, and email.

• Educate.  Wellness programs are a great way to offer added value to employees while simultaneously reducing healthcare costs.  They also reduce absenteeism while increasing productivity.  Make sure your employees are aware of them. This also contributes to the message that the company does care about employees and has proven it.

• Keep it relevant and simple.  When you are constantly bombarding your employees with new information, they can start to tune it out.  Only provide relevant and individualized information about benefit options.