September 29, 2009

Engage Your Employees Using Your Annual Benefits Enrollment Communications

One of the most visible employee communications within a company tends to be its annual benefits enrollment. This program takes many hours of your time mired in endless detail. Once you get the contracts are in place, more work hits: developing and delivering the communications, sending out the information, answering questions, employee follow-up, answering even more questions, and so on. Because this is such a large project focused on the end results of finding the right benefits and getting employees enrolled, companies sometimes miss the opportunity to use this as an effective employee engagement tool.

Here are a few tips to help you use your annual benefits communications to better engage your employees:

  • Tell Your Corporate Message. This is a great opportunity to reinforce your corporate message - briefly highlighting the company beliefs and the employees' roles in it. Include this message in your various benefits communications: the information packets you send, the reminder communications, as well as any other tools you use as a part of your campaign.
  • Appreciate Your Employees. Let the employees know how much you appreciate them and the work they do. Studies consistently show that employees want to feel appreciated in their jobs. Your benefits package is one way the company shows its appreciation. Remind employees of this "thank you present" with heartfelt message of appreciation.
  • Add the WIIFM. To boost your enrollment response, remind employees of the WIIFM: "What's In It For Me." Although benefits are something that your company offers the employees, letting them know the reasons they should enroll may help boost your response.

As with all effective HR communications, be sure to incorporate the fundamentals:

  • Know Your Audience. If there are different benefits for full- and part-time employees, can you send them only the information that is appropriate to them?
  • Select the Right Tools. Use the tools that your audience prefers. Are they more adept at online communications or print? Providing the tools in a format they are comfortable using will be more effective in getting across your message.
  • Tell Them, Then Tell Them Again. Use more than one communication channel to help ensure that your employees received the message. Even if you send them a printed packet, is the information also available online? Briefly discussed in a staff meeting?
  • Be Clear. Make sure that your message is crystal clear. The benefits selection affects employees as well as their families. They really need to understand the details.
  • Call to Action. Let employees know the actions they need to take and by what date. Highlight it, repeat it, whatever it takes. But make sure it's clear when they must respond.

This huge annual communication is a great tool to engage your employees and reinforce your company message. Use it wisely.  

Have you had success in using your annual benefits communications to better engage your employees? We'd love to hear your story. Click on "comments" below and share your successes.

Next week, we'll feature an article on Tips to Help Your Employees Make Smart Medical Plan Decisions by guest blogger Elizabeth Borton of Write On Target. 

Sep 29, 2009 3:56:35 PM | Communication Tools, Employee Engagement, HR Marketing, Internal Communications

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With the Economy Rebounding, Are You Engaging Your Employees So They’ll Stay? Many articles over the past few weeks are citing indicators that the economy is on the upswing. Positive news at last! When the economy begins to recover and the job market shows signs of improvement, what will your employees do? Many employees have been hunkering down for many months trying to avoid being downsized. But with a renewed economy and job prospects appearing, employees may begin to feel comfortable looking for a new job. Have you engaged your employees enough to make them want to stay? You’ve spent your time the past few months cutting costs, focusing on doing more with less money and resources. And that can lead HR departments to spend less time building employee engagement. In a down economy, these “left behind” employees weren’t going to leave. But if they’re not engaged once the market starts to open new jobs, will they continue to stay at your company? Here are some tools you could consider to engage your employees now before they start to look for new opportunities: Appreciate your employees. Studies through the years have shown that the top “perk” employees want most is to be appreciated for what they do. Let them know their worth. Make sure your employees know what they are making – not just in salary but in perks and benefits as well. Make sure they feel like part of the team. Communicate company progress – and the employees’ role in helping with the progress. These are just a short list of communications that may help engage your employees in a changing economy. What tools have you used to effectively communicate and engage your employees through the down economy? Have you taken a renewed approach to engaging your employees now that the economy is returning? Click on the comment box below and add your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.
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Communicate to Help Employees Make Smart Medical Plan Decisions Last week, we blogged about the importance of using your benefits communications to more effectively engage employees. Today, guest blogger Elizabeth Borton, president of Write On Target, a benefits communications firm, provides practical tips you can use in communicating your healthcare options to employees. TIPS TO HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES MAKE SMART MEDICAL PLAN DECISIONS Guest Blogger: Elizabeth Borton, President, Write On Target As benefits specialists, you understand the differences between the various medical options offered through your organization. However, those differences are not so obvious to your employees. In fact, MetLife 2008 Employee Benefits Survey found that 55% of employees felt that they didn't get the resources they needed to make informed decisions and felt either confused (25%) or frustrated (24%) while selecting their benefits. So how can you design annual enrollment materials that truly assist employees in the decision-making process? The following are tips which have worked well in past enrollments: In addition to providing side-by-side comparisons of plan designs, use real-life scenarios to illustrate the different types of medical users and the plans that best fit their situation (e.g. - a single person versus a family versus an empty nester). In this way, your employees can easily identify which plan might best fit their needs, based on their medical usage. Mail targeted post cards to homes that compare plan costs, side-by-side (segment your mailing data based on the plans and cost paid by various groups within your organization.) Illustrate possible cost savings through easy-to-understand examples. (For example, a section entitled "Are you paying too much for coverage?" could show the difference between the cost to buy versus the cost to use.) Many health care providers provide a similar tool on their websites, which you should promote in your enrollment materials. Employees enter certain information (such as an estimate for the number of times they went to the doctor the year before, types of services they needed, etc.) and the tool compares the cost of being in "Plan A" versus "Plan B." A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) can help offset costs if moving to a higher deductible plan, but you have to provide quality education about what an FSA is and how it works before employees will take advantage of the plan. Employee meetings work well. If you have a small population and are making big changes, you may require attendance. Or you could pass out the enrollment packages ONLY at the meeting to encourage attendance. Don't forget to send materials home, and if necessary, hold webinars! In general, research shows that families make up 60 to 70 percent of healthcare costs and are often making the benefits decisions. Do not overlook these important decision makers. They can heavily influence the decisions make at annual enrollment. What communications have you used to more effectively get benefits information out to your employees and help them make more informed choices? Share your insight with us by clicking on the comments section below and adding your ideas.

Jane Vanderhorst

Vanderhorst Consulting works with organizations to develop and deliver on-target, results driven communications that engage employees, build sales and retain customers.

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