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5 Goals of an Employee Benefits Communication Plan
1. Help employees retain information
The first goal of an employee benefits communication plan is to help employees retain information so they can best use their benefits. Employees won’t remember everything you share in an hour-long presentation. Without ongoing communication, employees forget what was presented, lose their handouts….you get the picture. Making videos, podcasts, and taped employee meetings available yearlong will help.
2. Don't rely on the benefits booklet
Communication made available throughout the year enables you to go beyond the benefits booklet. There are things employees can do outside of open enrollment to educate themselves on how their benefits work and how to best use them. But they’re probably not Most won’t go to a summary plan description or some other lengthy, jargon-filled document to find answers.
3. Eliminate benefits confusion
Building a benefits communication plan that’s available all year helps to eliminate common mistakes and misconceptions. We know that employees aren’t making the best possible use of their benefits. A readily available employee benefits education library or monthly communications help employees avoid these mistakes.
4. Remind them of their benefits
These reminders also ensure benefits get used. Free annual exams, no-cost preventative medications, and even things like gym reimbursements may have been forgotten. Knowing when to use Urgent Care instead of the Emergency Room or the availability of telemedicine can help save them money and possibly get them to care when they wouldn’t have gone.
5. Get employee feedback
Ongoing engagement gives you more opportunities to get feedback from employees, which in turn lets you know what’s working and where employees need more information.
Tim Pachowitz helps businesses build, communicate and implement employee benefit plans. As an Account Executive at Benefits, Inc. engineering a planned strategy from start to finish is the most rewarding part of the role. Outside the office, Tim enjoys the outdoors fishing, hiking, and making maple syrup. Most of all, he enjoys time outdoors with his 6 grandsons.
Tim can be reached at tpachowitz@benefitsinc.com.