Benefit communication

A new ADP survey shows a wide gap between the goals and reality of how employees understand their benefit plans. Eighty percent of human resources decision-makers believe it's important for employees to fully understand their benefit options, yet they estimate only about 60% of their own employees do – a finding with serious implications for how companies communicate one of the most important parts of their employees' total compensation.

A majority of companies worldwide say they are becoming more knowledgeable about the use of social media tools to connect with and keep their workforces informed. In fact, more than two-thirds of companies surveyed by global professional services company Towers Watson plan to increase their use of social media tools over the next 12 months, though many question their cost effectiveness. The biannual study also found that companies with the best communication programs enhance the communication skills of their leaders and managers, and continuously evaluate performance.

As employer-provided benefits continue to become a bigger portion of labor costs, organizations are increasing employee cost sharing as well as providing employee health education, wellness initiatives and financial education/advice. According to the Employee Benefits Accountability and Consumerism 2011 survey by WorldatWork, 45% of surveyed organizations report that turning employees into educated consumers of benefits is a very high priority for their organization's top management with more senior leaders now acting as advocates.

Gen Y wants to get personal — at least when it comes to their benefits. Although employees rely on the workplace as their number one source of benefits information, new research shows Gen Y is much more likely than other workers to rely on family members and friends for this information.

By 2014, the under-30 population will become the majority of the workforce, a title once held by baby boomers. During this transition, employers must revisit their strategies for engaging younger populations in health care decision-making and lifestyle improvement.

In the digital age of talking via tweet, the term social networks now makes people think of Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. However, according to Dr. Larry Miller, president and CEO of Activate Networks, flesh-and-blood social networks are just as critical, if not more important, than those relationships forged in cyberspace.

Benefits professionals annually shake their heads in frustration as they spend countless hours preparing open enrollment materials and conducting benefits meetings, only to see employees spend just minutes considering and making their benefits choices. As this year’s enrollment season approaches, new survey results from Aflac give pros hard proof to show employees that not selecting carefully carries meaningful financial consequences.

With the hefty price tag organizations pay for employee benefits, effectively communicating those offerings to get the highest return on investment is critical - particularly in the current economic environment. To this end, having a vision to engage and motivate workers is one thing. Turning that vision into a successful campaign is quite another.

HR/benefits managers looking for new and more effective ways to interact with baby boomer employees should be inspired by a new Pew Research Center report that found social networking participation among this highly coveted group surged more than 60% in the past year.

New proposed rules for the "uniform summary of coverage" may change the way health insurers and group health plans provide consumers with clear, consistent and comparable information about their health plan benefits and coverage starting in 2012.

1. The poor fit. Bibby Gignilliat, 51, chief executive of Parties that Cook in San Francisco, thought she had hired a winner but found her new employee’s customer-service skills far from polished. “She kept saying things were ‘awesome’ and ‘totally cool’ and she would use ‘like’ every other word, even after repeated coaching, making a bad impression on customers," Gignilliat says

If you offer your employees vacation time, you may be wondering whether and when you can deny a vacation request.

Running a small business well requires the ability to gather and manage a vast array of data, from sales leads to customer complaints and employee vacation time. Because this information is so critical, business automation companies, such as Basecamp, LiquidPlanner and Salesforce.com, charge good money to organize it.

Faced with the current challenges brought on by the financial crisis, company priorities have been forced to shift, and employees are often left with a lack of understanding and insufficient guidance on their benefits choices at work.

According to a new survey from Symantc Corp., the negative consequences from a social media misstep cost a typical employer $4 million per year. For a 140-character message on Twitter, that’s more than $28,000 per character — an eye-popping sum that will make HR/benefits professionals want to literally watch employees’ Ps and Qs on social media sites.

President Ronald Reagan was famously known as the “Great Communicator.” In a commentary for the New York Daily News to mark what would have been Reagan’s 100th birthday, Fred Thompson said Reagan’s reputation as The Great Communicator “boils down to three basic traits: he was simple; he was clear; he was sincere.” …

Employers address challenges of retaining employees across generations and gender.

This article is the third and final in EBN's annual Preparing for Open Enrollment series, and presents benefits professionals' advice on when and how to rollout a wellness program. The first two articles are available at ebn.benefitnews.com/openenrollment.

In high school, I remember sitting for hours typing documents on printing shells for my school's Ditto machine. While my peers rushed to class in the afternoons, I sat silently typing quizzes, handouts and tests. Other students called me "little miss goody two-shoes," but I didn't mind. I knew working in the school office would teach me the necessary skills to succeed.

When government officials in Orange County, Fla. decided to move to a consumer-driven health plan last fall, they knew they would have to approach communications in a new way. While the county has 6,500 employees, its health plan covers approximately 19,000 lives, including dependents and employees at a few other government agencies.