How actively do you promote your benefits plan? Do you fire off emails reminding employees to get their annual dental check-up? Post warnings when claim deadlines are approaching? Tweet about the benefits of your massage therapy coverage?
If your organization isn’t beating the drum for your benefits plan at every opportunity, you need to ask yourself why. Is it because you don’t think it’s necessary? Is it because you don’t know how? Or is it because you’re afraid heightened awareness will lead to increased use and higher plan costs?
If you’re holding back on promoting your plan because you’re afraid of driving up costs, you may have a serious plan design problem on your hands. Which serves your interest best: A Cadillac plan that you present with great fanfare in your recruiting material but otherwise sweep under the rug, or a carefully constructed plan that reflects your organization’s values and plays a key role in supporting your culture and brand?
Unless your benefits plan objectives begin and end with getting new recruits through the door, controlling costs by keeping employees in the dark is counterproductive. If you’re like most employers, the return on your benefits investment is measured largely in terms of your ability to do the following:
- retain the best and the brightest;
- foster a positive culture; and
- promote a healthy workforce.
But your benefits plan won’t achieve any of these goals if your employees don’t understand what coverage they have, how to make the most of it and how to value it as an important component of their overall compensation. And, if that’s the case, why bother having a benefits plan at all?
Employees are busy and distracted. They rely on you to explain the benefits plan and remind them of key deadlines and milestones. Mandatory annual re-enrollment can provide a regular refresher on plan provisions. But re-enrollment alone isn’t enough. There’s nothing like a missed claim deadline or forfeited healthcare spending account allocation to leave a sour taste in the mouth of even your most dedicated staff. You need an orchestrated campaign that pushes out strategic—and, when appropriate, personalized—messages around key benefits, deadlines and life events.
If you don’t want your employees to make full use of your benefits program, you need to revisit your plan design and bring your offering into alignment with your objectives and budget. Otherwise, it’s time to start actively promoting your benefits so your employees can wring every advantage from the plan and you can get full credit for your investment.