Tag Archive for 'Benefits Education'

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GuideSpark offers innovative video white paper to enhance the benefits education experience for employees

New instructional video gives HR organizations a timely resource to develop customizable benefits communication videos for open enrollment

GuideSpark, delivering the latest web solutions for HR communications and training, introduces a video white paper to aid HR organizations in the development and launch of their own, customized benefits communication videos.

GuideSpark’s instructional video white paper provides HR organizations with a simple step-by-step process to create and launch customized employee benefits videos. By incorporating video into benefits education, HR organizations can engage employees and increase benefits adoption during open enrollment while saving time and resources. According to GuideSpark’s customer surveys, using rich video content typically garners an overall 98 percent satisfaction rate among employees who praise the “easy to follow,” “convenient” and cost-effective benefits communication videos.

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Published by Barbara Navarro on September 15, 2011

Retirement Benefits Education a Sizable Motivator

Employees seek retirement advice from their employers

A majority of people have agreed they would like more guidance from their employer about how to achieve retirement goals according to the 11th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey.

Perhaps not surprisingly, employees with a higher overall education level are more likely to be financially well in retirement. Only 63% of employees with only a high school diploma participated in a retirement plan, as opposed to 84% of those with a college degree.

But all education levels showed a desire for direction from their employers.

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Published by Sophie Asmar on February 8, 2011

Benefits Education for Optimal Benefits ROI

A new study by UNUM demonstrates the power of effective benefits education.  Employers with highly rated benefits education had job satisfaction rates of 88% vs. 45% for those employers with fair or poor benefits education – a difference of 43 points!  Employers with effective benefits education programs enjoyed increased employee engagement, loyalty, morale and productivity – ultimately driving up the ROI of significant investments in the benefits themselves.

Here are some highlights from the study:

  • “What you say” is as important as “what you do.”When it comes to workplace satisfaction, the way that you communicate benefits may be just as important as the benefits themselves. In fact, those employers with poor quality benefits packages were able to improve workplace satisfaction ratings by 32 points with highly rated benefits education.

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Published by Sophie Asmar on June 23, 2010

GuideSpark announces monthly newsletter dedicated to financial wellness and benefits communications topics

Financial Wellness Update, GuideSpark’s new monthly email publication will be dedicated to providing Human Resources professionals with information, tips and best practices for implementing workplace Financial Wellness programs and establishing best-in-class Benefits Communications.

“Over the last two years, HR interest in effective approaches for helping employees understand their workplace benefits and solve their personal financial issues has grown considerably,” said John Wolff, Vice President, Business Development.  “This newsletter will serve as a platform for sharing what we’ve learned in a decade of experience helping employees in these areas.”

Sign-up for GuideSpark’s monthly newsletter here:
Financial Wellness and Benefits Communications newsletter

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Published by Barbara Navarro on April 14, 2010

A $16 Million Benefits Communications Problem: CDHPs

One of the largest issue that our clients face is providing comprehensive and affordable health care for employees and

Benefits Communications

Focused Benefits Education Can Help You Drive CDHP Enrollment

their families.  In light of recent studies, employer interest in Consumer Driven Health Plans or CDHPs has grown tremendously.  In fact, a recent study by NBGH/Towers Watson finds that 54% of companies offer a CDHP and that number is expected to grow to 61% in 2011.

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Published by Joe Larocque on April 5, 2010

Benefits Communications for Today’s Employee

Benefits Communications

Traditional Benefits Communications Not Reaching Today's Employee

We used to make this distinction about certain people being “web savvy” but these days it seems we’re all pretty web savvy – perhaps there is just different degrees.  One of my colleagues always uses the example of his 85 year old grandfather forwarding him YouTube clips to illustrate this point.

At GuideSpark we spend much of our time talking to employers about taking a modern approach to benefits communications.  When we meet with an HR professional for the first time to discuss their specific issues, many of them seem to have this sense that the world of communications has somehow passed them by.

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Published by Joe Larocque on March 15, 2010

Contrasting your FSA Employee Benefit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

A mainstay of employer Benefits Communications is to preach the virtues of Flexible Spending Accounts.  But is there perhaps a better tax opportunity out there for your dependent care related expenses?

Tax is an important area of focus when it comes to attaining a productive benefits education.  Before digging into the details of this particular tax opportunity, it’s important that you understand the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit.  Tax deductions are taken “off the top” and ultimately reduce your taxable income, and, of course your taxable income is what ultimately drives the amount of taxes owed.  A tax credit on the other hand, is a dollar-for-dollar reduction subtracted from your tax liability.  If you had a $50 tax credit, it’s sort of like the government saying that they are giving you credit for having already paid them $50 in tax.

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Published by Joe Larocque on January 12, 2010

GuideSpark announces Open Enrollment and New Hire Training modules

GuideSpark, Inc. announced two new modules for its online Benefits Learning Center solution, streamlining Open Enrollment communications and New Hire Training.
GuideSpark automates these key yet resource-intensive business processes to free up HR staff, reduce costs and allow employers to realize the full value of their benefits investments.
Each module provides a central online destination to access multimedia benefits education. The Open Enrollment module details benefits changes for the upcoming plan year, offers customized checklists of items to be completed and links to enrollment resources. The New Hire Training module educates new employees about their total compensation package, benefits enrollment procedures and orientation-related topics. Both provide a cost-effective option for using rich, engaging multimedia to educate and communicate with employees on HR topics.
Watch our new demo videos: New Hire Training and Open Enrollment

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Published by Barbara Navarro on August 31, 2009

GuideSpark Announces New Hire Training and Open Enrollment Modules

Today, GuideSpark announced two new modules for its Benefits Learning Center solution.  These modules automate and streamline New Hire Training and benefits communications for Open Enrollment.  As companies continue to prioritize doing more with less, many employers are looking for more efficient and effective ways to deal with these resource-intensive processes.

Consider for a moment the staff time and dollars go into facilitating New Hire Training and Open Enrollment each year.  Many companies we’ve met with offer half-day New Hire orientations on a near weekly basis.  Not to mention the time and effort that goes into the creation of the stacks of paper that employees receive on their first day.  Open enrollment presents a similar situation.  Each year, HR staff offer a collection of live seminars to explain benefits changes, often preceded by brochures, mailers and the like.  Despite all of this effort, nearly 80% of employers believe that their employees do not have a good understanding of their benefits.

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Published by Joe Larocque on August 31, 2009

BEWARE: Usual, Customary and Reasonable Charges

I visited my childhood pediatrician until age 28.  Why?  Well, I trusted his judgment and there was just a huge amount of peace of mind that came with dealing with a physician who had first-hand experience with just about every entry in my medical history.  Dr. Blair was never once in the network of doctors offered by my medical plans and therefore I had to pay 20% more for care.  Fortunately for me, it was only 20%.

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Published by Joe Larocque on August 19, 2009