Benefits awareness and appreciation are rising in this troubled economy. This supports long-held beliefs that strong communications and education canincrease employee satisfaction and strengthen the bottom line.
In “Benefiting the Bottom Line:How a Strong Benefits Communication and Education Strategy Helps DriveBusiness,” the provider of disability, life and supplemental accident and healthinsurance policies found that 85% of employees are happy about benefitsenrollment when they’re armed with all the resources needed to make informeddecisions. Internal research was cited alongside other leading sources ofvoluntary benefits information for a comprehensive view of these issues.
But in an acknowledgement that much morecan be done to achieve critical objectives, just 21% of employers surveyedthink employees have a good understanding of their benefits, even though 90%agree of the respondents believe it’s important to help realize key businessand competitive advantages, such as recruiting and retaining top talent andbuilds morale and loyalty.
Perhaps with this in mind, 94% ofemployers would like access to resources that help educate employees aboutbenefits – an area where benefit service providers can increase the value ofbenefits plans by offering comprehensive communication and education services.
Changes of any type to an employee'sbenefits plan – whether it’s increased premiums, higher deductibles, a shift toemployee-paid voluntary benefits, or even just more options – can causeconfusion and concern for employees. That’s exactly why benefitscommunication is so important. We’ve found employees can accept changes, evenones that may cost them more, if they understand the reasons behind them.
There’s a dire need for employees to talk with someone about what can be doneto improve the financial protection for themselves and their families.
Today more than ever when moneyis so tight, a dollar invested in benefits communication is going to get anemployer a much greater return than a dollar invested in paying for a newbenefit or part of an existing benefit.