Having a comprehensive benefits package is an important component of any business looking to attract more qualified talent to their organization. Benefit offerings play an important role in supporting an employee and their family’s well-being while helping to increase team morale and reduce staff turnover.
But for employees to place real value on the benefits they’re offered, it’s important that your business puts enough resources into educating employees on how their benefits work When you make an effort to promote benefits to newer employers, it helps create a deeper sense of appreciation for how the business cares for its staff while creating a better working culture for everyone.
1. Clearly Communicate the Value of Each Benefit
Employees can sometimes feel overwhelmed when looking at their benefits packages - especially if it's their first time entering the workforce.
To help ensure all employees understand and appreciate the value of the benefit options they have, it’s important to provide clear and accurate information regarding their choices and how they can make the best use of what’s offered to them.
Below are some helpful strategies for highlighting the value of your benefits packages and helping your employees make smarter decisions for themselves and their families when getting them set up:
Keep Your Messaging Clear
To help eliminate misunderstandings or confusion regarding how certain elements of an employee’s benefits package work, here are a few helpful tips you can follow:
Use Simplified Language - Insurance providers often use industry language when describing benefits coverage, which can be confusing for new or younger employees. Take the time to translate these into layman's terms so that all employees understand what they're actually signing up for and how their premiums work.
Create Use-Case Examples - A great way for employees to understand how their benefits work is by giving them some example scenarios they can relate to. For example, highlighting the costs of going to a doctor once every three months or getting monthly medication with or without benefits coverage is an easy way to highlight the long-term value of healthcare benefits that most people will relate to.
Provide Benefits Summaries - Going through large amounts of benefits paperwork can be intimidating for many employees, especially when they're just trying to find out what types of coverage are right for them. To make this process easier, provide a quick reference summary that highlights the main features of each benefit offering. This is a great asset to have when first setting up benefits coverage, but it can also be really helpful to review during open enrollment periods.
Provide Decision-Support Tools
To help make it easier to choose between different levels of benefits coverage, it’s a great idea to provide employees access to helpful decision-support tools. best-of-breed BenAdmin (Benefits Administration) platforms offer employees a wide range of features to help them evaluate their options and make smarter choices.
Some of the tools these platforms provide include premium calculators and coverage comparison charts. Employees can use these tools to estimate their potential out-of-pocket expenses for certain medical treatments, see side-by-side comparisons of different plan options, and receive recommendations on the most optimal choices based on their unique circumstances.
Offer More Personalized Support
While having various self-serve benefits education tools is valuable, some employees may require more personalized guidance when choosing their benefits. In these cases, providing employees access to a benefits call center can be a great solution.
Benefits call centers provide on-demand phone, email, or chat support to employees from licensed insurance professionals who can help answer various questions about coverage options or help guide them through enrollment processes.
2. Leverage Open Enrollment Webinars
Open Enrollment webinars are a great opportunity to give employees a bit more in-depth information about their benefits options. Working with your benefits broker to host these types of events can significantly streamline the enrollment experience and provide a format for employees to have many of their questions answered directly.
During these webinars, your broker can provide a more detailed overview of the available coverage options you’ve selected and help to better describe how they work. When you create a more interactive format for benefits education, like a webinar, it can be much more engaging and easier for employees to remember key points rather than reading through lengthy benefits documentation.
3. Encourage Employee Feedback
A good way to make sure your benefits education efforts are impactful is by asking your employees to provide their relevant feedback. Implementing a feedback loop allows you to gauge how satisfied your employees are with their options and if they fully understand the different levels of coverage that are being offered to them.
Post-open enrollment surveys are a particularly effective tool for collecting these insights. These surveys make it easy for employees to share their thoughts and provide feedback on how the company might improve its process.
For example, ask employees to rate their satisfaction with the enrollment process or ask about the clarity of information provided. You can also include questions about how easy your administration system is to use or the time it takes to complete their enrollment. All of the answers received can help you to continuously improve your strategies moving forward.
4. Continuously Audit and Improve Your Offerings
Employee needs and market trends are constantly shifting, which makes it important to regularly review and make necessary changes to your benefits coverage over time. A good practice to follow is conducting an audit of your offerings at least once a year to make sure it’s still providing the value you’re hoping for.
If and when you decide to make changes to your benefits program, it’s also important that employees are notified as soon as possible and get a clear understanding of how the changes might impact them.
Help Your Employees Recognize the Value Their Benefits Provide
A well-designed benefits package can be a powerful tool for attracting, retaining, and motivating great employees. By providing regular benefits training through clear communication and gathering valuable employee feedback, you can create a benefits offering and company culture where employees feel valued and supported.
Frank Mengert continues to find success by spotting opportunities where others see nothing. As the founder and CEO of ebm (https://getebm.com) a leading provider of employee benefits solutions, Frank has built the business by bridging the gap between insurance and technology-driven solutions for brokers, consultants, carriers, and employers nationwide.Image located below
