Our guest blogger is friend and former colleague Paul Barton, Director of Internal Communication at Hawaiian Airlines. Here’s what he has to share about employee benefits communications:
There are some unique aspects to communicating employee benefits information to employees and understanding these aspects can help you formulate a more effective communication strategy. Here are five unique aspects of employee benefits communications and ways you might be able to leverage them.
• 401(k), health, dental and vision plans are very personal. The more personally relevant your communications are, the greater impact they will have.
• The families of your employees might be a key audience for your communications. A spouse of an employee might be the decision-maker for what plans to enroll in. Consider sending communications home and inviting families to employee benefits fairs.
• Benefit plan vendors typically send lots of communications to your employees. Coordinate with them. Know when their materials are going out and what messages they’re sending. They might be able to incorporate some of your messaging in their communications. They also might be willing to use your corporate look and feel (typeface and colors) as well as your logo on their printed materials. Ask them. Some use templates and are unwilling to change. You never know until you ask.
• Review vendor contractual commitments. Vendors often commit a specified dollar amount to communication efforts when their contract is first agreed upon. Sometimes, if they’ve been a long-time provider, those commitments fall by the wayside and are forgotten.
• Benefit plan vendors typically have websites specifically for your employees. Review the content and check for consistency with your corporate messages. Find out if they are willing to use your corporate branding on their website. Again, you never know until you ask.
Other posts:
The Power of Internal Communications