A word about benefits: Marketing your program to employees

In an age of information overload, today's HR professionals face what might be one of the business world's most underappreciated challenges: communicating about employee benefits in a way that drives participation, increases perceived value and fosters a company-wide sense of unity and -- perhaps more important -- trust. But there are proven ways to get the word out.

The true value of employee benefits in the workplace is astounding. Benefits not only can empower employees and their families to lead better lives at work and home, but they can also help employers cut costs, increase productivity, retain talent and influence company culture.

Recent feedback from U.S. workers, however, indicates current communication and education efforts about the value of benefits are falling short of meeting workplace needs. In fact, a Prudential study showed only 35 percent of plan participants rate their employer's benefits communications as "highly effective." (1)

Interestingly, despite large employers having access to far greater internal and external resources, there is no difference in how employees from the largest and the smallest companies perceive the effectiveness of benefits communication.

The need for greater employee education, on the other hand, is probably at an all-time high. Voluntary benefits such as Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts and Work-Life programs are touted as linchpins of consumer-driven health care essential to curb escalating costs -- but only if employees are aware of them and use them!

Successfully getting the word out about the value of benefits can also bring employers perhaps an even greater advantage -- trust.

Because when it comes to information on health and well-being, employees do not trust the information they get from their employers, ranking it last on a list of trusted resources that includes doctors, relatives, Web sites -- even the government. (2)

"The key element found at all great places to work -- from Google to Starbucks to GE -- is a foundation of trust," says Jim O'Connell, Ceridian's vice president, Government Relations & HR Policy. "Communication is a vital component of building trust, especially in today's workplace where there's constant change and uncertainty."

Getting back to basics
HR professionals can start building that trust by being open and honest about their company's intentions behind communicating the value of employee benefits.

Certainly most employees already appreciate the benefits they might receive from their companies -- paid time off, flexible work schedules, medical insurance and 401(k) plans. But due to cutbacks in health care coverage, the elimination of traditional pension plans and increased cost-shifting, only about half of all U.S. workers (53 percent) place "high value" on their current benefits package.

Some employers blame themselves. They believe they have created plan designs that have shielded workers from the true cost of health care. This has obscured the true value of employee benefits.

At its most basic, an employee benefits package represents a company's commitment to provide a level of income security to its active workers, disabled workers, retirees and their families. Also, by providing access to certain services, it shows a company cares about trying to increase its employees' standards of living.

Today's HR professionals are continually challenged to provide the reasons why employees should consider their benefits packages valuable, recognizing it as the first step in moving employees from awareness to action and increasing participation.

How is this done? By focusing efforts on helping employees understand how their benefits have real value beyond just health coverage, by showing them which benefits can significantly raise their living standards and by explaining why participating helps not only the employee, but also the company.

"Employers are always asking, 'How do you foster a sense of engagement from employees with no more guarantees in the workplace? How does one create a culture of trust amid uncertainty?'" O'Connell said. "The best companies demonstrate that it's done through basic communications with employees."

Basic, ongoing communications, to be more specific.

The secret to communicating?
If there is a secret to communicating the value of benefits, it lies in starting an education campaign long before enrollment begins -- and continuing it long after it ends. Don't get caught hunting for participants only during "enrollment season." It's a year-round process.

This strategy is based on one overriding fact in the world of communications: people pay most attention to what is right in front of them. But people also pay attention to what interests them.

It is not unusual for benefits packages to be tailored to achieve employer goals and often changed in response to workers' needs and preferences. But for some reason, efforts to communicate those benefits packages apply to a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Regardless of job function, age, income and marital status, all employees generally receive the same benefits information.

Highly effective benefits communications get the right message to the right employees.

Today's work force comprises three generations of employees: Baby Boomers, born from 1946-1964; Generation X, born from 1965-1980; and Generation Y, born after 1980.

Targeted messaging aims for a particular segment of a company's workforce. For example, many Generation Xers are at a time in their lives when they have significant competing financial responsibilities -- raising a family, acquiring a home, planning for retirement and children's college education and, perhaps, caring for elderly parents.

Communications that hone in on these life stages are likely to generate more interest among members of this employee group.

The poster you tack up in the break room highlighting the advantages of Dependent Care Health Savings Accounts -- in which pretax money is set aside to pay eligible child care and elderly care expenses -- is more likely to resonate with a Generation Xer than with a Baby Boomer empty-nester.

Of course, for a company to execute a highly effective targeted communications strategy, it must have access to certain personal information about its employees. Sometimes plan participants are uncomfortable giving their employers access to such data. And most plan sponsors have not yet warmed to the idea of targeted communications either, even though workers are in agreement that such tailored communications would improve the effectiveness of benefits communications efforts.

It is enough, though, to just be aware of your audience, know it is being bombarded with information, and then focus your message to appeal to their needs as best you can.

Campaigning for value
Some ways that employers are providing communication resources to employees include knowledge bases, direct mail benefits information, health and wellness fairs, and employee meetings.

It helps to create a theme around your "value of benefits" campaign. It could be a game show like "Jeopardy," or a sport such as golf, or anything you can sustain over the year. Make the material fun to read. Be consistent. Make sure it all looks like part of the campaign, so it is recognizable as benefits information.

It is also important to offer online decision-support tools -- benefits and medical cost calculators, savings worksheets, needs and plan comparisons. This helps employees make informed decisions about their benefits plans, including quality and cost comparisons through modeling.

After enrollment, you might want to give employees a summary of what was offered, what was selected and what can be changed in the future. And you can use total compensation statements to remind employees of the dollar value associated with their benefits.

Throughout the year, short e-mail reminders can also validate a benefit's value. Letting all employees know, for instance, that sunscreen is now an eligible expense when purchased through a Flexible Spending Account demonstrates that benefit's usefulness -- even to those who chose not to elect it last enrollment season.

Keep the communications flowing. Include messages to employees about trends in the industry that can reflect the value of their benefits. Employee benefit programs will always remain an important piece of total compensation. But just how valuable really depends on how well you communicate that value.

Ceridian knows many companies do not have the resources or the technology to manage an effective communications and education campaign. We offer a number of resources to help you do this. Contact your Ceridian representative for more information about Ceridian's Benefits Services.

Sources:

1. The Prudential Insurance Company of America. "Study of Employee Benefits: 2007 & Beyond." (2007) Available online from: Prudential's Group Insurance, http://www.prudential.com/media/managed/giproducer/
   StudyofEmployeeBenefits_2007andbeyond.pdf.
2. J.D. Power and Associates, 2007 National Health Insurance Plan Satisfaction Study, (March 15, 2007).