The 21st Century Benefits Bullhorn: Amping up the Benefits Story
Benefits seem to get more complex and more specific year over year.
We can now offer diabetes and joint support, in addition to pet insurance and legal insurance, also on the rise. But some days you’re doing well just to get your employees to choose among their three health plans.
How in the world can you get them to engage with and understand all of the offerings they have access to?
Many large organizations offer a lot of benefits which should translate to a lot of support; however, there can be a disconnect when it falls to the benefits team alone to perform their day-to-day work, evaluate new partners and help employees navigate everything from maternity leave to COBRA to onboarding. While many great vendors and products already exist to assist employees, there needs to be a more coordinated effort to connect employees with their benefits.
Whole-Person Wellness
Studies show that organizations are looked at more and more to provide financial wellness and mental health support in addition to the mainstay of physical health. According to Businessolver’s 2020 State of Workplace Empathy Study, 92% of employees reported that benefits are a good way for an organization to express empathy.
A 2020 Bank of America study provided some insight into perceptions around financial wellness. Sixty-two percent of employers feel extreme responsibility for their employees’ financial wellness, up from 13% in 2013. The study included these financial wellness categories: retirement savings, healthcare costs, budgeting, college savings and debt management.
Connection to benefits also seems to make employees more productive. A recent study by MetLife found strong correlation between employee productivity, engagement and benefits.
Over 80% of employees who reported feeling productive and engaged at the beginning of the COVID crisis also indicated that their employer was offering resources and programs to support their well-being.
Finally, we’ve never seen more emphasis on mental health as in the past few years. The incidence of mental health challenges was significant before the coronavirus pandemic, but now nearly half of Americans are reporting that the crisis is harming their mental health, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
It’s more important than ever to communicate and amplify benefits programs and let your employees know about all the great benefits they have access to—all year long.
Sometimes it’s hard to step back and take stock of who’s accessing what and get a strategy around which benefits info to push forward.
Moving towards Benefits Activation: technology can help.
Working with a benefits administrator with multiple channels of communication can boost engagement with benefits like telemedicine, care navigation and claims support. These are vital assistance programs that provide invaluable support to employees.
- Telemedicine providers offer mental health assistance and consultations in addition to acute care.
- Employee assistance programs are often underutilized valuable tool to help employees who are overwhelmed by work or personal issues.
- Care navigation and claims support ensure that employees are maximizing their benefits money and saving them hassle in their healthcare journey.
- Cost transparency tools help your employees become more informed healthcare consumer and save money.
- Tobacco cessation programs can provide better health outcomes and lower claims costs.
- Nurselines give peace of mind and next steps to employees with illnesses and questions.
- Wellness initiatives are great for keeping your population healthy and engaged in staying that way.
But all of these programs only work when employees know about them, understand why they’re important and ultimately access them.
As we rethink how to engage employees in these money and time-saving programs, we are working toward multi-channel strategies to move employees into benefits activation. Learn more about our Personalized Navigation: Activation Paths today.
