“The No. 1 challenge facing employers today.”
That’s what National Business Group on Health (NBGH) CEO and President Brian Marcotte called employee engagement. It was the subject of every session at the NBGH Engagement Conference this past fall.
Large employers have been laser-focused on getting their employees engaged with their benefits in recent years. They’ve articulated the direct relationship between engagement and the bottom line—and it’s significant! Across the industry, there’s broad consensus that educating employees about benefits must be a priority.
All good news, right?
Well, yes, except that there’s still a big divide between employers who invest in the strategies and tactics that create engagement—and those who don’t.
Leading companies are creating standout results with year-round communication strategies, and smart and sophisticated ways to reach the right employee at the right time. But others are still stuck in the old ways of communicating about benefits.
Despite all the progress, we still hear, “We just don’t know how to get employees to pay attention,” or “No one has cracked the code on employee engagement.” Or even worse, “Nothing we do will get employees engaged with their benefits.”
As our clients and other leading employers can attest, none of these claims are true.
We do know how to get employees to pay attention.
We have cracked the code on employee engagement.
And you can take a wide array of actions to get employees engaged with their benefits.
In this new year, I’d like to see every employer focus on putting in place plans that drive engagement. And we’ll help you direct your efforts to the areas where they’ll have the biggest impact.
Starting this month, we’re releasing a series of resources that will help your team prioritize time and efforts to get the results you want. These resources will help you commit to engagement in 2018.
First up is our 3-ebook series, Unlocking successful benefits communication, which will present our 10 keys to successful employee benefits communication. This is a proven approach for creating effective and sustainable benefits communication that drives results. It’s the culmination of the many insights we’ve developed over the past 11-plus years—working closely with more than 50 companies (many Fortune 500 and 100 Best Companies to Work For) and researching hundreds more. The series will show you how to prioritize your time and resources to get the results you want.
Following the ebooks, we’ll delve into how to elevate your role in both communicating and designing programs to include the principles of product design and behavioral economics. Combining these two powerful disciplines can help drive extraordinary results. We want every company to be able to incorporate these principles and insights into their strategy.
Then, later in the year, we’ll shift our focus to technology and ways to make year-round education sustainable and relevant.
It’s hard to imagine that just 10 years ago benefits communication wasn’t on the radar of a lot of companies or a hot topic at conferences. We’ve made significant progress since then, but we still have a lot of work to do!
Let’s all make 2018 a banner year for increasing the value of benefits by making sure employees use them. It’s the only way we’ll make a meaningful impact on critical health and financial outcomes.
We know how to get employees engaged. Let’s do it!
