The well-being of employees is a critical component to the success of many employers' health plans today, and effective communication is the cornerstone of promoting a healthy workplace culture. A year-round communications calendar is not just a tool - it's an asset that employers can leverage to ensure employees are fully engaged with their health plan and benefits. By providing consistent, clear, and timely information, employers can demystify the complexities of health plans and benefits, creating a more informed and health-conscious workforce. This proactive approach not only empowers employees to be active participants in their healthcare spending, but also cultivates a supportive environment where the importance of health and well-being is recognized and encouraged throughout the year.
Many employees today only think about their healthcare benefits during annual open enrollment or when they go to use their benefits. For some, this could occur only a couple of times throughout the year, making regularly scheduled benefits communications even more important for HR teams looking to educate employees about their employer-sponsored benefits. According to a recent survey, one-third of U.S. adults report not fully understanding their health benefits. Additionally, 66% of employees wish they were more informed about their benefits throughout the year so that they may get better value from them.
Here are some of the advantages of educating employees about their benefits year-round:
Ensuring that your organization's communications about employee benefits are clear, concise and easily digestible will help boost their effectiveness. Employees must be able to clearly understand what each communication is targeting in order to take any kind of action after consuming the information.
Some common challenges that employers face when crafting communications about employee benefits are:
The method or channel that an employee receives the information can also result in a vast difference in information consumption by the employee. For an employer, this could mean sending the communications via various channels throughout the organization. As some employees may prefer receiving company messaging via email, others may prefer getting their information via text or a home mailer.
Let's take a look at some additional communications channels that employers can explore.
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your communication channels, there are several key factors that employers can look at. When it comes to email communications, employers should be reviewing employee engagement via open and click rates. These metrics can tell an organization how many people are opening the email communications and which content most employees are engaging with. This insight can help guide future communications crafting and planning, whether it be varying send times or subject lines. When communicating via an employer intranet metrics on page views, time of page and downloads can provide data on what content may be the most valuable to the viewer. For in person events, measuring attendance and gauging audience engagement and attentiveness throughout the presentation can also tell and employer what information may be the most appealing to the audience.
Keeping employees educated and aware of the benefits available to them is a large part of the success of any good health plan, and clear communication is key to making that happen. By sharing clear and timely information regularly, employers can make health plans easier to understand, ultimately helping employees make more informed choices about their healthcare spending. This approach not only helps employees take charge of their health but also creates a supportive environment where health and well-being are always top of mind. Reach out to your AssuredPartners team for more ways on how to engage your employee population throughout the plan year.
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