Missteps in Benefits Communications

Communications that are infrequent and indecipherable are common mistakes HR leaders make when transmitting information about benefits packages to employees. Using more of a selling approach while adopting multiple channels and targeted messages will help, experts say. By Katie Kuehner-Hebert While effectively communicating benefits packages is critical for employee retention, many employers continue to make common mistakes that frustrate their workers, experts say. Indeed, two-thirds of employees say their human resource department is not or only somewhat effective at benefits communications, according to the 2011 Aflac WorkForces Report released this month by Columbus, Ga.-based Aflac Inc. At the same time, about four in

10 (42 percent) employees strongly agree that a well-communicated benefits program would make them less likely to leave their jobs, according to the survey, which polled 2,117 U.S. benefits decision-makers and 4,213 employed adults. Audrey Tillman, Aflac's executive vice president of corporate services, says one of the most common mistakes employers make in communicating their benefits strategies is assuming employees already understand how each of the benefits work. They need to say it in non-HR speak, Tillman says. Assume you are explaining benefits to someone who doesn't know anything about them at all. Companies should also include information on the impact on family members. If the company communicates how these benefits would bring a peace of mind, better their financial well-being and health, their employers would know that they 'get it,' and that would make it very tough for employees to leave that company, she says. It's also a mistake when companies don't give their employees opportunities to ask questions, particularly about voluntary benefits, Tillman says. People won't explore these benefits further if they don't understand them and can't ask questions. Anita Doncaster, a principal in Aon Hewitt's communication practice, says the biggest challenge that benefits communicators face is actually getting their audience's attention. People are inundated with communication everyday, and so employers need to reach the right people, with the right channels and give the right messages, Doncaster says. Employees need to recognize that the person making the decisions about benefits may not actually be their employee, but a spouse, so the materials need to be available to them, she says. Moreover, communications should be presented through a variety of channels -- email, text, online, social media, video, paper, in person -- because no one channel is preferred by everyone. The right message boils down to communicating the importance of employee participation in open enrollment and then for them to take personal responsibility for helping to manage benefit costs, Doncaster says. You've got to grab their attention because you have to first get over the hurdle of getting them to read it, she says. Then, you've got to communicate it in a way that motivates them to do the right thing. Merrie Spaeth, founder and president of Dallas-based Spaeth Communications, Inc., a strategic communication consulting and training firm, agrees that employers have got to sell their workers on the importance of open enrollment and personal-benefits management. Just pushing out information creates the illusion of communication, Spaeth says. But benefits materials are generally too dense, not interactive, not personal and the information is not repeated. They should think in terms of selling something instead. Companies should also enlist champions or ambassadors at their workplace -- people who can speak the same language -- and ask them to explain the features of benefit packages to co-workers, Spaeth says. Benefit materials, she says, are often too technical, boring and complicated, written by people who already know the stuff. Jennifer Benz, founder and chief strategist at Benz Communications in San Francisco, says another common mistake is communicating benefit strategies only during open enrollment. Modern benefits plans really require people to be engaged year-round, as consumer-driven plans ask them to take ownership of their healthcare costs, by being more active in wellness plans, Benz says. Also, if employers try to communicate only during the two-week enrollment period, people just get overwhelmed. Many companies are also too scared of using social media to communicate benefits strategies, she says, because executives are operating under the misconception that it would require too many resources to manage and that the company would have little control over the information. That's not true, Benz says: Employing tools such as a benefits blog would actually minimize effort in a very controlled way. Instead of answering the same question

24 times, companies can post the question on the blog and answer it once, she says. It's really a much more efficient way than they are managing their resources now. 管理新知 您可能感兴趣的文章 “六项全能”型领导，你是吗？

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