For many HR teams, a change in employee benefits can seem like a coming tidal wave looming on the horizon. The top of that wave peaks white with inevitable questions from staff about the new package. Perhaps the rising roar of it warns of the potential discontent of those thinking they're losing value in their benefits. The coming crash? A potential onslaught of complaints or even threats to leave once the changes have had time to wash over people. When it comes to employee benefits planning, a solid communication strategy can be key for staying above the tide when your company needs to make changes.
Talking to your staff: the benefits of a communication strategy
In our experience, communication is key to the success of your employee benefits plan. When your staff are empowered and educated about the benefits of your compensation packages, you'll find much better engagement with the employee health solutions you have offered. Plan administration also becomes easier, and employee dissatisfaction will be lowered too. A communication strategy will help your employee benefits planning immensely; but how do you do it?
Key tips for a successful employee benefits communication plan
A good communication strategy, we think, means you'll have thought about the following:
1. Start your plan as soon as you can
As soon as you know that your company might be considering changes to its employee benefits solutions, start thinking about how you might communicate that early. You'll be more prepared and confident when delivering the news to staff, and it'll also help head off any rumor mills that might arise. According to Koenig's Rumor in the marketplace , workplace gossip can chip away at morale and fuel anxiety, conflicts, and misunderstanding. Getting the right information out early will help stem employee dissatisfaction based on the wrong office talk.
2. Think about who's in your audience
Today's workplaces can feature three different generations amongst them; Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y or Millennials . You'll also have a mix of genders, religions, and cultures, especially those with multiple global offices. It's important to remember that these people have different perspectives, values, and views on what they need. Employee benefits are about meeting their needs, and so you should expect to tailor at least some communications similarly .
Also, don't forget that employees really do want to understand your solutions, but some may be more interested than others. A Bank of America report on workplace benefits found that men participate in employer-provided financial education plans more than women, and Millennials showed higher interest in engaging with education about their benefits, yet all three generations had different life motivations for wanting to better understand their employee benefits.
3. Plan your education strategy
For some workplaces, one seminar on employee benefits planning changes might suffice. Others might require constant engagement and frequent messages, so those of you who know this is what your business will need should plan accordingly. This can take the form of periodic change updates, featured spotlights on specific benefits, and employee success stories, distributed via emails or through your work intranet page. Plan to take advantage of your existing communication tools for the best education and engagement result.
4. Stocktake your communication tools and how to use them
You know who you're targeting, and what messages to target them with; but how do you get your communication to them? Take stock of all the channels you have available to you and work them into your communication strategy, such as:
- HR portal
- Mobile device applications
- Email notifications, intranet videos and articles, online satisfaction surveys
- Social media
- Print media
Use the tools available to you to better educate staff on the employee benefits changes you're making, and maintain engagement as the changes are embedded.
5. Be clear, honest, and transparent about the changes
Trust in your employees to understand your decision and gain their trust in your employee benefit changes.
Dealing with potential fallout from your employees
Obviously, you can't please everyone. There's always going to be someone that's negatively affected by a change, so how do you minimize the impact of your decision? Here are a few tips that can save you, your senior leaders, and HR teams from unnecessary conflict arising from changes to your company benefits:
- Understand exactly what your employee benefit changes will do, and how they will affect your staff
- Prepare your leaders (management, team leaders, HR staff) with the information you suspect that employees will want from them
- Provide staff with as much fact and information as is appropriate, in as many ways as possible
- Allow for feedback or input from staff about the changes, and create systems/ strategies for addressing these concerns
- Be prepared to discuss and negotiate important concerns with your employee benefits provider, as it's possible they may be able to work out a solution for you
Some businesses will be more flexible with their employee benefits planning than others. Giving information to employees, however, is easy, and empowers them to take a little bit of ownership for not only their own benefits and perks but also in the future of your company. Being open and providing information can also give you and your HR teams a little breathing space to deal with complaints from staff who claim "I didn't know this would happen!" If staff choose not to engage with your honest and comprehensive communication strategy, then they only have themselves to blame.
Is there an easier way of planning employee benefits and communicating change?
Of course there is! You could always choose to turn your back on the coming tide and hope you don't drown should it strike. Or you could reach out to someone well experienced in dealing with a flood of employee health benefit enquiries.
We offer benefits orientations for new clients or existing partners looking to change employee health solutions, can take over the function of plan administration, analysis and claims processing, and will help develop a communication strategy for any employee benefits changes you might decide upon at any time during our relationship. This includes having our advisors present to your staff, answer any questions they might have about how they're affected, and discuss how to best take advantage of their new benefits plan.
We're more than just an insurance broker, we're an employee benefits specialist. Find out more about our whole approach to delivering exceptional corporate solutions, or contact us now to set up a meeting where we can explain why we're the broker of choice for both businesses and employee benefits providers around the world.
