Is Your Benefits Content Snooze-Worthy?

Let’s set the scene, shall we? You’re a new employee, overwhelmed with the information being shared, when it’s time to learn about the company's benefits.

​"Bueller, Bueller...." Sorry, you lost me at "annual coinsurance out-of-pocket maximums." These five strategies can help your benefits content make an impact.

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​1. Integrate (and customize) content into the employee experience. There are many phases that comprise the employee experience. It’s important to promote and communicate employee benefits through these key touch points, and also use them to create two-way dialogue and solicit feedback, where it makes sense. But, you’ll need to do more than that to make an impact.

How benefits are positioned to a prospective employee vs. during annual open enrollment is more than likely not one in the same. You don’t want to manage too many versions of content, but a little customization can go a long way.

2. Brand benefits as a comprehensive package. Today, benefits mean more than traditional medical, dental, vision, 401(k) and paid holidays/vacation. Employees want a holistic approach to benefits, inclusive of the traditional, wellness, learning & development and more. Branding them as a comprehensive package can underscore a company’s commitment to employees’ personal and professional wellbeing.  

3. Use aggregated data to target your content. Partner with HR and other teams to access and understand data that’s available — and then do something with it. Maybe your HR team has seen a 1,000% spike in employee calls on a recently introduced wellness program. Or, a benefit that was rolled out 12 months ago has gone unused at a remote office location.

If the communications — whether it missed the mark, it never reached the intended audience, or it was lost in the sea of information employees have to wade through and prioritize — are a contributing factor, this information can help you formulate a more personalized and targeted communication plan to address it.

4. Get creative with your content. For some, benefits content can be boring and hard to understand. But, it doesn’t have to be. Really.

Engaging creative, relevant and palatable information, varied communication channels and feedback from employees are just some of the ways you can help set your benefits content apart. If your total benefits package is a competitive advantage for your company, make sure you position it that way.

5. Don’t wait until open enrollment to communicate. Of course employees will feel overwhelmed with the amount of open enrollment information they receive if that’s the only time benefits content is accessible. On the flip side, this doesn’t mean incessant emails with a PDF attachment of ALL benefits offerings is the right approach. Doing this will get your communications on the fast track to your employees’ Junk folder.

A previous blog post, Employee Benefits: Going Beyond Open Enrollment, provides tips on how to implement an effective year-long communications strategy. 

We’ve been on both side of this coin – the employee and the communicator trying to break through the clutter. Bronn Communications, LLC can be a resource for your benefits communication needs. 

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