When Benefits Get Personal, Everyone Benefits

Benefits teams often find themselves trying to strike a balance between the best possible coverage and perks for their population and justifying the costs and utilization with their C-suite.

If that weren’t enough of a challenge, these same HR professionals are also facing somewhat new challenges with hybrid or remote workforces and fewer resources. We’ve said this before (and we’ll say it again): for HR to connect employees with their benefits, they need better tools to personalize the experience.

The pace of innovation in the technology space can be dizzying, with each software promising efficiencies and higher engagement. In a third-party survey of HR technology buyers, we found that 40% say a “frictionless, personal experience” is the top priority for improving the employee experience.

In our algorithm-infused world, we’ve all come to expect a personalized experience—whether we’re picking out our favorite groceries online or making a larger purchase—it has become the norm for our technology interactions to greet us with a level of “I know exactly what you need.”

These same expectations translate into the employee benefits experience, too.

Personalization, meet benefits

With these rising expectations, particularly in younger generations with less benefits literacy, it’s time to review how to get more personal with benefits. 69% of consumers say they appreciate personalization, so long as it’s based on data they’ve shared with a business directly, and 52% say personalization improves their satisfaction with a brand, according to a Segment.io study. Our own Benefits Insights Report shows that 70% of employees on average want to see messaging personalized from their unique health and claims data.

Benefits engagement often begins with enrollment, but it shouldn’t end there. Annual enrollment can become a flood of information, but continued, personalized messaging through multiple channels throughout the year can help employees feel more connected to their options and maybe even become benefits enthusiasts.

Even a small increase in engagement can have a significant impact on utilization and the return on investment for your coverage and solutions. Here’s how those moments translate into engagement for many of our clients:

60% of employees elected a cost-effective health plan with a savings option (like an HSA) when decision support was available to them at enrollment (three times higher than when that support wasn’t available)
18% of employees engaged (clicked or called) with a benefit when S ofia mentioned it in context to a question or issue employees were chatting with her about.
15% of employees engaged with an EAP program when they saw personalized messaging about it; when that messaging or visibility isn’t in play, only 10% are even aware the EAP exists.

Making benefits engagement a reality

Benefits technology is a key part of connecting members to the info they need. Consider these steps toward creating a connection with employees:

Create a benefits hub where members can access everything in one place. Benefits aren’t something that most employees have top of mind every day. This makes it easier for them to find essential information and reduces the need to remember multiple websites and apps.
Implement user-friendly self-service technology that simplifies benefits information and provides a human-centric approach. Deploy communications through email, text messaging, mobile access, and video to ensure maximum success.
Use data to inform personalization. Leverage demographic information and reporting from the benefits administration system or broker/consultant to help understand the organization’s population and their needs. Engagement reports regarding open rates for emails, click-through rates for texts, or actual frequently asked questions will help you form a better picture of the information your employees are looking for and what channels they’re responding to. Benefits technology that can’t provide this level of feedback may not be moving the needle on your benefits engagement, thus your benefits ROI.
Use AI to help. Artificial intelligence (AI) doesn’t have to be scary. Even if benefits technology isn’t leveraging AI to personalize interactions, HR professionals can still use it to target messaging. Try it! There are several free AI-powered writing assistants. Give it parameters, such as “write a new hire email that explains how to enroll in health coverage and voluntary benefits. Enrollment ends Oct. 30. 300 words or less.” Use tools like this to target specific demographics, such as new parents, employees under 30, or retirees. AI can help check off the task of creating engaging, segmented messaging; so, the HR team can get to the other tasks that require human expertise and empathy.

Being a benefits professional doesn’t require a minor in marketing, especially with the technology that can help power messages and empower employees to take action. Get more details about tools and methods that can help move employees through awareness to selection to activation of all their benefits programs in the Benefits Insights Special Report.