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Employee Benefits Communications Strategy Workshop

On a recent call with someone who inquired about our communications strategy workshop, the person on the call lamented her overwhelming situation. With her current broker, she had access to a universe of employee benefits communications materials. The problem was she was given no communications strategy.

I could give several metaphors at this point, but I’ll spare you the words. No, I can’t resist. It’s like giving someone a car with a destination and no Waze to get there. Pun intended.

The Benefit Company’s communications workshop is designed to empower you to increase the value you receive from the benefit programs you offer, protect, and enhance the employer brand, as well as help attract and retain high-quality employees.

Let’s look at the basic outline of our communications strategy workshop to give you the confidence to create your own plan or contact us for a consultation.

Step 1: Discovery Questions

We have a 14-point questionnaire to start the process, and this is the most critical phase to get right and be honest. If you do not approach step 1 with genuine intentions, your outcome will be skewed and ineffective in the end.

The most important assessment question you can ask and answer is:

Why does your company offer benefits?

If you take nothing more away from this article, take that question and let it be your north star.

Step 2: Let’s Dig In – Benefits

Benefits, enrollment, utilization issues, tools to market, and more. These are a sampling of the categories we dig into in step 2.

Let’s take for example telemedicine. Do you know your utilization numbers? Even if you do, those numbers always have room for improvement with a communications strategy.

Your population may simply be unaware of your telemedicine benefits or maybe if they are aware they do not know who the provider is. Do not take it for granted or believe the answer is seemingly obvious. For the most part, employees do not care until it is the exact moment to utilize a benefit.

Step 3: Your Why and What

There is a gap between the employee’s and the employer’s perception of the importance and the value of the benefits being provided. Communicating “WHY” benefits are offered creates a real connection between what is good for the employee and what is good for the employer.

I’ll give you another tip for planning your own strategy. Answer the “WHAT”. You can do this by answering the top 5 claims you want to educate employees and dependents about.

Step 4: Time to Deliver the Message

The most effective communication strategies rely on multiple media types and messaging to reach the audience. Not all people learn the same way and this is compounded in the degree of difficulty by today’s workforce being multigenerational.

Consider your current communication strategy and its effectiveness as well as all the tools you bring to the table.  Remember to discuss budgets.

A communications budget is often the Achille’s heel of getting started with your plan. If you find yourself in this “budgetless” situation, contact us. We have solved this problem many times for clients. There is always a way to begin.

Bonus: Sample Why

I want to close by giving you sample paragraphs and bullet points to illustrate how your “WHY” may read once you complete our communications strategy workshop. Having this statement and sharing it with your employees is a great first step in the right direction.

Our people are our priority and the key to our success.  We know you work hard each day to make a significant contribution to the company. In return, we aim to give you a safe place to work that fosters your talents, and a rewards package that provides more than a paycheck.

The benefits and programs you have access to make up a significant part of your experience here—and a significant component of your overall compensation. You may not think of your benefits every time you get a paycheck, but the programs available to you are one of the biggest expenses the company has.

Our collective buying power allows us to access benefits at group rates that are generally lower than individuals could find in the open market. It is administratively and financially challenging, but we make this investment because we want to reward you for the work you do. We want to motivate you to keep striving to advance as an individual and as part of our team and thank you for being a part of our shared success.

We also want to be sure you and your loved ones have the financial security you need and can access quality health-related care.

Every employee has unique needs, so we offer a wide range of benefit plans that offer comprehensive coverage. In any scenario, your benefits are designed to:

  • Help you get the care you need to improve (or maintain) your physical and mental health
  • Give you peace of mind that you can get help when you need it, without breaking the bank
  • Protect your income if you are injured, ill or pregnant and are not able to work
  • Protect you and your family from financial hardship in times of loss
  • Help you plan and save for your future

Let’s go!

I’ve given you several points to consider in developing your own employee benefits communications strategy. Our approach goes deep to find out how your plan could be more effective, efficient, and exciting to employees.

Give it a try and bookmark this article so you can refer to it and contact us if we can assist in any way.

Help Me!

If you would like to begin your complimentary employee benefits communications workshop, complete the form below and I’ll be in touch soon.

 

Johnny Dodson

Johnny Dodson

Director of Communications

  • Marketing Strategy
  • Brand Development
  • Employee Engagement
  • Project and Vendor Oversight
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