Archive for the 'How To' Category

Consistent Benefits Communication Saves Money

Delivering consistent messaging is not just good communication, it saves time and money. This is surely an obvious statement, but how well do you implement it in your organization?

  • Are your informational events well attended?
  • Is everyone who wants to attend able to do so?
  • Do your support call numbers rise after a series of seminars?
  • Are many of the questions about confirming facts or clearing up discrepancies between presenters?
  • Do you feel that live seminars are an efficient use of resources?

With employee benefits videos, you can ensure that the same clear message is delivered to all of your employees–regardless of what location they work out of, what shift they’re on or whether or not they (or their family decision maker) can attend your seminar.

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Published by Barbara Navarro on March 16, 2012

Top 5 List: How Video Can Improve Benefits Communication

Top 5 List: How Video Can Improve Benefits CommunicationEveryone watches online videos. They’re easy, entertaining and informative. But they aren’t just for fun. Video is more than just a fad. It’s an improvement in how we communicate.

 Traditional methods of HR communication—including long and confusing plan documents, time-intensive on-site seminars, and jargon-filled emails that are usually ignored—simply aren’t engaging today’s workforce. Yet, the more we require employees to be benefits consumers, the stronger our need for effective, engaging communications. HR Departments that incorporate video into their benefits communication can enhance overall employee engagement, use HR resources more effectively and achieve ROI on key benefits programs.

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Published by Barbara Navarro on March 7, 2012

Wellness Programs Call for Better Communications

Wellness Programs Communications

Wellness Programs Call for Better Benefits Communications

Wellness programs are all the rage this year. But what’s the point of a program that employees don’t understand and, therefore, don’t use? Midwest Business Group on Health has done some research evaluating employee engagement in health benefits and wellness programs.

What they found: Employees still do not understand their benefits. Part of the reason why employees are having trouble meeting their wellness goals is a lack of good communication and resources. MBGH found, “Most employees and dependents don’t fully understand what health care benefits are available to them nor do they fully comprehend the summary plan description (SPD) or what requirements they need follow to achieve incentives (i.e. premium differentials) that may be part of the benefit plan design. As a result, communications efforts frequently go unnoticed, are ignored or misunderstood by the employee.”

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Published by Sophie Asmar on February 3, 2012

Learn How Two Fortune 100 Best Places to Work Communicate Benefits

How do Fortune 100 Best Places to Work communicate open enrollment changes and engage employees on benefit-related topics?

Adobe Systems and Meridian Health have both ranked on the FORTUNE 100 Best Places to Work in recent and multiple years. Both are leading organizations in their respective industries. And both have embraced the trend of using video as an integral part of their benefits communications strategies.

Though coming from very different backgrounds, technology and healthcare, Adobe Systems and Meridian Health share some of the same HR needs that large organizations experience. Each of their workforces are distributed over multiple domestic and, in Adobe’s case, international offices. The need to ensure consistent HR messaging across these locations is important.

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Published by Barbara Navarro on December 16, 2011

7 Steps for Deciding What to Include in Your Employee Benefits Video

Here’s another tidbit from our new video course: Transform Benefits Education with On-demand Video.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that we’ve touched on which benefits videos to start with to get the most interest and involvement from your viewers. Will it be your Consumer Directed Health Plan or your 401(k)? You will also have learned what to include in an Open Enrollment video, which is a powerful place to start engaging employees.

Once you’ve decided on which topic to cover, here’s a plan for pulling together everything you COULD talk about and, from that, how to work out what to actually include in your video and what to provide through supporting documents.

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Published by Barbara Navarro on October 28, 2011