Benefits communication is one of the most important elements of your flexible benefits project and it’s often one of the most overlooked elements of introducing or reviewing a scheme.
Benefits communications can breath new life into an existing scheme, just by giving employees a variety of ways in which to get information about an existing benefit to increase their understanding can improve take-up rates.
Some of the reasons outlining the importance of a strong and clear Communications Strategy are shown on the left.
Developing a strong brand is an important stage in ensuring that your employees engage with the flexible benefits scheme.
A strong brand for the project will significantly improve your employees’ recognition, understanding and participation in your benefits scheme.
Successful use of branding can also reinforce your organisational values which in turn can have a positive impact on employee engagement.
If required our branding team can help you create and develop a brand for your scheme, this can be in line with your corporate branding guidelines or can be something completely fresh to the business. Our consultants will worth with you to establish what fits best with your organisation.
For employees to engage with your benefits scheme and actively make a selection, they need to be aware of what benefit options are available and have a full understanding of their value.
It's important to promote what the employee will personally receive from a benefit as well as informing staff of the benefit rules, terms and conditions and the different levels/options available.
If your employees are not aware of the benefits available or do not understand the scheme then they are extremely unlikely to engage and submit a benefit selection.
In addition, our experience has proved that a more informed workforce are less likely to contact HR with queries, which helps to reduce your administration and free up valuable resources.
A well thought out communications plan enables you to target different segments of your workforce at different times and with a variety of tactics that suit their role.
Tailoring your message to different groups of employees provides a much clearer message and is more likely to result in engagement with the benefits scheme.
For example, an email about childcare vouchers could be sent only to those employees who are parents. Therefore the message is relevant to the people who receive it, but more importantly people who won’t be interested in that benefit do not receive irrelevant communications that may make them less likely to read future communications about the scheme.
The key to a successful benefits programme is ensuring that all communication about the scheme is engaging and interesting.
Our range of communication solutions includes both on and offline tactics that we tailor to best suit your business and your employees.
Our online communications come with the added benefits of full tracking and reporting capability. This gives the employer the ability to be able to see which benefits have received the most interest, which emails have been read and can help you ascertain levels of interest throughout enrolment.
Select the options on the left to see some examples of the tactics that we could use for your organisation.
A Microsite is a mini-website that contains detailed information about your organisation's benefits.
On the Microsite you can store all the relevant details about each benefit that you offer, for example the claim forms, Terms and Conditions for a benefit or the FAQ's.
Employees can visit the site as often as they want to gather information to help them make an informed decision on enrolment day.
Microsites are useful as they can be accessed anywhere so an employee could access benefit information at home with their family.
Emails can be used in a variety of ways in your communications plan. An email can have minimal details and be used solely to direct employees to your benefits information Microsite or you can use an email like a newsletter promoting the scheme and staging polls to gauge opinion.
An e-newsletter is an ideal way to find out what employees are interested in. Our tracking functionality means that you can track which articles and benefits were most read and if required, tailor future mailings to specific employees.
We can deliver an online, page-flipping, version of a magazine or Benefits Book so that your employees can browse through as if they were reading a magazine. This saves money on the creation of a hard copy magazine because you create one version and can send to an unlimited number of employees.
There are two levels of service available:
Level One - a standard page-flipping technology applied to a PDF magazine
Level Two - an interactive magazine which incorporates moving images and/or videos using Flash technology.
All of our magazines can link through to your microsite.
The Benefits Book is an employee's guide to your flexible benefits scheme and the benefits that you offer. It is ideal for organisations who have a large proportion of staff who do not have access to a PC.
Included in the book is key information about each benefit and details of the options available for each of them. The Benefits Book is usually a printed brochure but can be used in conjunction with online technology like the online magazine, dependent on your requirements.
Posters are an ideal way to reach employees who are not contactable by email or online methods. The posters can be displayed in kitchens, canteens, offices or anywhere where employees are most likely to see them.
The posters can inform employees about awareness/launch days or let them know where they can go to find out further information about their benefits options and how to make a selection.
For employees who don't have access to a PC, sending mail to their home or work address may be the best option.
We offer a full range of direct mail solutions, from the Benefits Book to a reminder flyer with a promotional item such as a pen.
We would sit down with you to understand your requirements and what would be the best fit for your company culture.
Another way to engage with your employees and promote your branding is to give them something tangible.
We can help you select from a range of promotional items to enhance your benefit communications. From stationery such as pens and mouse mads, to more unusual items such as a pedometer to encourage healthy living, the range on offer is extensive and competitively priced.
Face-to-face communication can be one of the most powerful ways to get your message across.
Our Awareness Days are held in your offices and we can arrange branded posters, exhibition equipment, promotional material, presentations and an experienced member of our benefits team to attend the day.
We are happy to work with your internal HR departments and benefit providers to enhance the success of the Awareness Days.
SMS is an extremely powerful tool when used in conjunction with other communication methods.
You may have staff that are always on the move and SMS may be the most effective form of communication for these employees.
An SMS can direct employees to further information and is a novel way for employees to receive information.
When it comes to establishing a communications plan, our benefit consultants will work with you to develop a strategy that is aligned to your company culture and the right fit for your employees.
It is crucial that we understand your culture and build a communications plan that works in harmony with the values of your business. If required we will work closely with your internal marketing department to ensure that we are working within your company's brand guidelines.
We will approach your project in seven stages:
- Consultation
- Branding & design
- Selection of communication techniques
- Content
- Scheme launch
- Support and future enrolments
- Provision of customised reports
To find out more on our approach to communications and how we can help your organisation, please contact us
All of our online communication tools use our market-leading, comprehensive reporting system.
This reporting system tracks everything that your employees click on, when they click on the links and how often.
Using this information from the reporting system, we can carry out detailed analysis on the figures and propose recommendations for future launches. An example report is shown above.
