Heather Smith, Chief People Officer at Flimp Communications. Strategic leader with two decades of experience spanning HR and operations.
Keeping employees informed and engaged with their benefits throughout the year is a critical part of the HR job function. With the mid-year mark upon us, now's the perfect time to get a pulse on how your employees are feeling about their benefits. This proactive approach ensures your workforce is informed, but also helps increase appreciation and gets them engaged in advance of the upcoming open enrollment (OE) season.
The Benefits Of Mid-Year Benefits Check-Ins
Mid-year benefits check-ins can help you meet many objectives.
• Improving Employee Engagement: Regular touchpoints help keep employees engaged with their benefits, ensuring they understand and appreciate the full value of their total rewards package, year-round.
• Identifying Needs: Mid-year reviews are an opportunity to survey employees about their concerns, needs and preferences for benefits. This allows you to tailor your offerings for the upcoming open enrollment period.
• Addressing Issues: With a check-in, you can identify and address any issues employees might be facing with their current benefits. Then you can provide more education resources that lead to higher satisfaction and better utilization.
• Preparing For Open Enrollment: Knowing how employees feel will give your team time to make needed adjustments far ahead of open enrollment.
5 Best Practices For Mid-Year Benefits Check-Ins
Regular touch points throughout the year significantly boost engagement, ensuring that employees understand and value their total rewards package. Mid-year check-ins offer an opportunity to gather feedback about employees' concerns, needs and preferences, which is crucial for tailoring benefits offerings for the upcoming open enrollment period. These reviews are also key to identifying and addressing any issues employees may be experiencing with their current benefits.
By taking these five strategic steps, you can ensure your workforce remains informed, engaged and satisfied with their benefits, leading to a more positive and productive work environment.
1. Communicate the value of benefits.
Revisit the most impressive benefits and newest additions to your plans. Remind employees of discount programs they can take advantage of that will save them money, such as HSA, FSAs, eyewear discounts or gym memberships. Make it easy for them to learn (or relearn) about and take advantage of their benefits. An easy-access microsite or portal and options for self-paced education, like videos, are good resources.
2. Reach everyone in your workforce.
Use multiple channels like emails, newsletters and microsites to reach all employees—and don’t forget your remote and deskless workers! Reach them with QR codes in break rooms or text message updates with links to educational videos and other resources employees can use to access their benefits from anywhere. Be sure to have materials translated into multiple languages to accommodate the needs of your non-English-speaking workforce.
3. Survey your employees.
As part of your check-in, ask for feedback on what you could be doing better. Create a simple, anonymous survey to gather insights and data on how the current benefits are working. Ask specific questions about what employees value most and what improvements or additions they'd like to see for the next plan year. Here are some examples.
• What benefits do you love or deem essential to your happiness?
• Are there any current benefits that may not be meeting your needs? Why did they fall short?
• Are there new benefits you would like to see beyond what’s currently offered?
• How was your experience with the open enrollment process? What could have been done better?
• Is it easy to access the benefits information beyond what was provided during OE?
The answers to these kinds of questions will help you create better materials and a better benefits experience in the future.
4. Offer new resources.
Ensure all benefits information is continually updated. Look for new educational resources or content that address common concerns like financial planning, wellness and mental health benefits. Consider sharing or resharing educational content from your resource center or benefits video library to help explain complex topics or plan details.
5. Provide support and guidance.
Offer the opportunity to discuss feedback one-on-one or in a virtual Q&A session where employees can ask questions and get real-time answers. This shows you're available and interested in your employees' concerns and their overall happiness. Don’t cut corners on the importance of making human connections.
Get A Jump Start On Open Enrollment
As you move past mid-year and closer to open enrollment, it’s crucial to think strategically about the new plan year ahead. Here are some key considerations as you work to get your benefits communications ready.
• Create a detailed plan: Outline the key messages, resources, timelines and communication channels you’ll use.
• Leverage technology: Use interactive tools to streamline communication and provide easy access to information for employees and their partners or family members.
• Go beyond benefits guides: While benefits guides are a must-have for open enrollment, they shouldn't be your only benefits communication tool. Offer explainer videos, benefits-at-a-glance brochures, total rewards statements, decision-support tools and plan-specific presentations to ensure employees fully understand their options.
• Don’t forget the reminders: Planning your strategy and content creation is only half the battle. Getting employees to read your communications and engage with benefits information is just as important. Sending multiple reminders in the months and weeks leading up to OE is critical for success. Use a combination of in-person or virtual meetings, emails, text messages and QR codes to ensure your messages are getting through.
A mid-year check-in is an essential step in maintaining effective benefits communications and driving employee engagement. By taking a proactive approach and leveraging the right tools and strategies, you can set the stage for a smooth and successful open enrollment season.
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