Target new hires to make sure they’re maximizing their employee benefits
Enrolling in benefits and pension plans isn’t top of mind for new employees. During the first few weeks on the job, they are often overwhelmed with learning about the company’s culture, meeting new people and determining measures for success. Having to make important health and financial decisions that affect not only their present situation but also their retirement may cause them even more stress.
Employers typically spend a large amount of time trying to ensure that a new hire’s experience—including enrollment in group life and health benefits plans and pension plans—is positive. However, the reality is that many plan members and plan sponsors find the benefit enrollment process difficult. For example, 2009 research conducted by Sun Life Financial revealed that 64% of plan members and 44% of plan sponsors in Canada thought the enrollment process was not warm and welcoming. That was certainly IBM’s experience.
An Onboarding Challenge
IBM invests significant resources in designing and managing health and wealth benefits plans to attract and retain top talent, but getting new hires to take advantage of these benefits was a challenge. The solution was a personalized welcome program that began in 2011 to better engage new employees and educate them about the options available. This welcome program helped employees to become more aware of the value of their benefits and empowered them to make choices based on their own needs.
In 2011, only 33% of IBM’s new employees voluntarily contributed to the company’s DC pension plan. But the welcome program reversed this trend. IBM figures based on the first six months of 2013 show that new employee participation in the DC plan jumped to 64%. Of the new workers reached through the welcome program, 80% joined the DC plan, and an impressive 92% of those optimized their contributions to take full advantage of the maximum employer match.
The Whole Package
So what are the key parts of a successful welcome program? It can include a variety of personalized contacts with new plan members through proactive phone calls, in-person education sessions, email communication, online education and web enrollment capabilities. Delivered by the plan provider, a phone conversation may cover the following topics:
- pension plan enrollment and maximization through employee contributions and sponsor matching;
- life and health benefits, including optional enrollment in voluntary health and wealth products (i.e., tax-free savings accounts or RRSPs); and
- online services and tools. Welcome programs can also be customized to meet a plan sponsor’s unique needs.
For example, for a retailer, a personalized email inviting an inbound call by the plan member works better than an outbound contact initiated by the benefits provider, because it’s difficult to reach a retailer’s plan members by phone. In addition to phone contacts, customized welcome program activation options include personalized printed materials, webinars and on-site education sessions.
The first month on a new job is hectic and often stressful. With a welcome program, a company can focus on integrating employees into the organization while the provider takes care of enrolling them in the benefits. Such a program helps employees to fully understand the value their firm provides through employee benefits—and, most important, reduces the risk of employees being unprepared for retirement or for unexpected life and health events.
Chris Denys is senior vice-president, client solutions, with Sun Life Financial.
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