Why do you need a benefits strategy?
Developing a compelling employee benefits strategy is an important aspect of an HR team’s role, as it significantly influences workplace dynamics and satisfaction. Offering employees comprehensive benefits is a crucial place to start, but if you don’t have a plan for launching, educating, and communicating these benefits, employees are less likely to engage with them. Here are some tips for developing a compelling employee benefits strategy to help ensure your employees understand and appreciate the value of your offerings.
Launch Your Benefits in an Engaging Way
An organization needs to ensure its employee benefits offerings are appropriately handled during open enrollment. Taking the proper steps before, during, and after this critical period can be the difference between a successful initiative and one that falls flat. Your team should develop a comprehensive plan outlining how it plans to launch its employee benefits packages. This plan should include proactive measures to ensure all the offered benefits are communicated effectively and efficiently – including details on how staff will respond to employee questions, concerns, or complaints. A well-thought-out plan of action can set up your team for success and help take some of the stress away from this busy time of year.
Educate Employees on their Benefits
Benefits education is another vital aspect of a benefits strategy. Employees that are unsure, unaware, or confused about their benefits won’t be able to make good choices come open enrollment, and are less likely to utilize their benefits throughout the year. The more informed they are about the real-world cost savings associated with each benefit, such as health insurance or other perks like retirement savings plans or gym memberships, the more likely they will take full advantage of them. Additionally, ensure all employees know what is expected of them when using their benefit—such as submitting documentation or completing forms—so there is no confusion when claiming a particular benefit.
PDF benefit guides and long open enrollment meetings often leave employees overwhelmed and more confused than before- making the need for digital, interactive benefits education apparent in a benefits strategy. In addition, giving employees resources that they can refer back to regularly if questions arise is a great way to ensure they feel supported throughout the benefits process.
Communicate Benefits Regularly
It is not enough to just educate your employees on their benefits packages – constant and clear communication is integral to a successful benefits strategy. Communicating regularly with employees regarding their benefits is another significant factor in the success of a benefits strategy. These communications should occur before, during, and after open enrollment to ensure employees are appropriately informed about their benefits. Regular updates should be sent out to ensure that they are aware and up to date of all changes to their existing benefits or any new offerings, as well as details such as deadlines or instructions for enrolment. In addition, pre-enrolment communications can help employees better familiarize themselves with the options available and facilitate smoother enrolments. Post-enrolment communications are also important for reinforcing policies and answering questions in case of confusion or misunderstanding. Effective communication enables employees to maximize their benefits, leading to greater job satisfaction and productivity.
How Brite can Improve your Benefits Strategy
Leveraging platforms like Brite in your benefits strategy can significantly decrease the time and money spent implementing, educating, and communicating employee benefits. With Brite, your team can easily create custom benefits education guides and resources specific to your organization. With texting and Slack integrations, you can reach employees on the platforms they check regularly. In addition, you can send resources to employees throughout the year, reminding them of their benefits and increasing engagement. Brite’s in-platform analytics feature gives employers insight into any knowledge gaps and education opportunities, which employees are engaging with benefits communications, and ultimately, see their benefits strategy come to life.
An effective employee benefits strategy helps ensure that employees understand and take advantage of all the choices available—which ultimately leads to increased satisfaction levels within the workplace. By educating staff members on the options available and communicating regularly about any changes or additions, HR teams can create an effective employee benefits strategy that has lasting results for employers and employees alike!
