Breathe fire into your clients’ benefits with better education

I’m a huge fan of Game of Thrones — and I’m far from alone. Millions of us spend an hour watching the HBO hit every week (or more, if we’re binge-watching to catch up on back episodes).

There’s nothing wrong with a 60-minute escape into the world of noble dynasties and fire-breathing dragons. What is a problem, though — especially for those in our industry — is that hour is more time than most workers spend all year thinking about their employee benefits choices and options.

That’s one of the unfortunate findings in new research from Colonial Life. A survey of 1,500 full-time U.S. employees showed 70 percent of them spend less than one hour each year considering their benefits choices and options. In fact, a third say they spend less than 30 minutes learning what their employers provide to help them protect their families, their finances and their futures.

I get it. Talking about legendary creatures and battles for independence is more exciting than benefits. But this skewed priority has far-reaching implications — not only for workers, but for your clients and your business. Why?

Lower morale and higher turnover are two big reasons. The research showed employees who spend less than an hour considering their benefits at enrollment time are significantly less likely to report they understand their benefits moderately well or very well. That might not be surprising, but they’re also more likely to:

• Feel dissatisfied in their jobs
• Think their employer doesn’t care about them
• Leave their current jobs within the next six months

That last point — employee turnover — comes with a hefty price tag. Consider it takes 51 days on average to fill an open position. During that time, employers have both direct costs, such as payouts for accrued vacation time and unused sick time, unemployment taxes, advertising job openings, paying overtime for employees to take on more work until the position is filled, perhaps paying referral bonuses, and also indirect costs such as decreased productivity, knowledge loss and lowered morale.

Your clients are likely investing considerable resources in a comprehensive, competitive benefits package to attract and keep top talent. But just offering benefits isn’t enough to ensure employees understand, value and participate in them. To make that investment pay off, the benefits program must be complemented by an equally strong education and communication program.

Get personal for greater effectiveness

An effective benefits communication plan will include a variety of tactics and tools to reach different employees and allow them to access information when and where they want. The plan can include group and individual meetings, call centers and online chats, websites or portals, and print and digital materials over a period of several weeks.

But research shows the single most effective benefits education technique is a one-to-one benefits counseling session.

The Colonial Life survey showed more than half of employees make some kind of change to their benefits every year. And the vast majority of them (76 percent) want to talk to someone about it. Many turn to HR professionals, family members, friends or co-workers for advice. Yet these sources — including overburdened HR folks wearing numerous hats — aren’t likely to have the knowledge and expertise to help employees determine their needs and understand the sometimes-complicated types of coverage available.

Professional benefits counselors are trained and often certified to provide this service. And the survey showed it works. Nearly all (92 percent) of employees who’ve attended an individual benefits counseling session reported the meeting was valuable. Employees who enrolled in their benefits by sitting down with someone said they understand their benefits better.

Benefits education is a no-cost investment

Why then, did only about a quarter of employees in the survey say they enroll in their benefits with help from an expert? The number one reason is they didn’t get a choice. In other words, their employer simply didn’t offer individual benefits counseling sessions.

Some employers think they don’t have the manpower or money to organize benefits education sessions or hire enrollers to meet with all their workers. But they don’t have to, if you partner with the right benefits provider: one that offers this kind of benefits education support as a standard service at no direct cost. A top-tier benefits partner will communicate with every employee individually to ensure they understand all their employer’s benefits, not just those the provider offers.

Some employers may also think they’re too small to qualify for, or benefit from, individual, personalized counseling sessions. Wrong again. This level of support isn’t available or valuable to only your large clients. In fact, the survey showed the smaller the company, the more interested employees are in one-to-one meetings.

Be sure your clients are taking advantage of benefits education and individual counseling services that will help them get the most out of their benefits program. You’ll look like a hero when participation, satisfaction and productivity go up. And you can leave the heavy sword at home.

Steven Johnson is vice president of Enrollment Solutions at Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. He can be reached at 803-678-6599 or sdjohnson@coloniallife.com.