Priorities within the benefits management community may be shifting. A survey of a small group of HR and benefits professionals found that, within this group, benefits communications with employees outranked lowering overall health plan costs as the top priority.
The survey was conducted by the National Business Coalition on Health and Benz Communications. Asked about how they prioritized and spent their time in 2013, 56 percent responded with "improving employees' understanding and perceived value of benefits." Priorities No. 2 and 3, at 47 percent, were lowering health plan costs and maintaining overall compliance.
Whether this communications emphasis was a general theme in 2013, and whether it will continue, couldn't be predicted by the survey. But the response could be significant, given the many surveys that suggest that communicating with employees about their benefits packages has too often failed.
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These survey respondents were bullish about their record for meeting their benefits goals. Fully 80 percent said they'd reached some or all of their objectives in 2013. Three-quarters credited their communications strategies with supporting their efforts.
There were some within this group who adopted a year-round benefits communications strategy, although they admitted it was tough to get participants' attention outside the enrollment period. But the survey showed that old habits die hard.
Two-thirds said they stuck to the hide-bound tradition of communicating only during enrollment time, and 46 percent said they continue to measure success only by reduced calls to the HR/benefits department. About three-quarters said their enrollment communications budget would be flat from 2013 to 2014, and half said most or all of it would be used for printing and mailing costs.
Still, a decent number (41 percent) said they gather first-hand feedback on their benefits packages through employee surveys/focus groups to gauge success. Others judge success in the following ways:
- Reduced benefit costs (40 percent)
- Improved wellness biometrics (26 percent)
- Reduced employee health risks (25 percent)
- Increased retirement plan participation/account balances (24 percent).
This survey suggested that, slowly but surely, some HR departments are moving away from paper products to online communications. But they still aren't ready to embrace a web/cloud-based platform for benefits communications. Consider:
- 90 percent reported putting benefits information online;
- But only 50 percent place benefits information outside the firewall, accessible for spouses/partners and other family members;
- And just 40 percent have their Internet sites optimized for viewing on mobile devices.
Other survey findings:
- While just 15 percent of respondents are using social media in benefits communication, 50 of those respondents said they use Facebook to communicate;
- 37 percent use blogs;
- 31 percent use Twitter;
- 57 percent have been using social media for one to three years.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
