Message received? Delivering effective benefits education (even on a tight budget)

Plan sponsors are facing more challenges today to engage employees as other issues like the impact of inflation and navigating hybrid working arrangements take up more of employees’ attention. But in this highly competitive labor market, keeping the spotlight on your great benefits is a way to help retain and attract talent. And that means working to highlight the key features of your organization’s benefits offerings in ways that will engage today’s workforce.

Change requires new approaches

The pandemic has brought about many changes to the workplace, especially in the use of technology. For instance, it has pushed more people to embrace virtual communication – beyond email and chat functions they might have leveraged before the pandemic. Gaining information and education digitally is now a way of life.

Add to this the multigenerational composition of today’s workforce. Younger employees, in general, are more comfortable receiving information digitally, not just in person. Employers should make sure they are meeting the needs of all their employees in communicating offerings. Plan sponsors should be flexible in how they educate employees using every possible tool from virtual to written to on-site meetings.

Increased use of webinars

Over the past two years, plan sponsors have upped their use of webcasts and webinars to educate participants in a cost-effective and efficient way. Online education meetings help eliminate costs associated with having a presenter live onsite. With the use of email and other electronic messaging, webinars – which can be accessed live and on demand by employees – can also cut down the cost of promotion and follow-up.

Webcasts are convenient for participants as well. They can watch from their office desk, at home, and even with their partner who may be an important decisionmaker to engage. Recording these webinars enables participants who were unable to attend live to view the content and allows employees to rewatch the webcast to capture specific information. Even as more employees return to the workplace, this kind of flexibility will remain a best practice for meeting employees’ needs in an increasingly hybrid world.

Targeting the right audience

Directing messaging to certain groups of participants – segmenting – is a powerful way to engage participants on a more personal level. Segmenting your participant base makes it easier to deliver what participants need. By leveraging employee data, plan sponsors can create personalized email campaigns that educate employees on relevant topics such as medical care enrollment to retirement services, tailoring the message to their current needs and considerations. For instance, employees of a certain age may be more interested in retirement plans whereas some participants who haven’t updated their health insurance in several years may want to reevaluate their needs. You can also segment messaging based on level of participation – for example, participants who haven’t yet met the organization’s 401(k) match.

Related: Benefits advisors are burned out: How AI-based tools can help

Segmentation can increase engagement and the effectiveness of educational programs, resulting in an improved enrollment experience. Sponsors can choose to be selective in their messaging, using the preferred delivery method for a particular audience, be it text messages, emails, webcasts and/or mail. Segmentation also allows for specific calls to action, which could increase the effectiveness of a sponsor’s overall campaign.

For example, plan sponsors could provide an ongoing monthly enrollment webcast for employees who are eligible but not participating and a quarterly webcast to active participants relating to topics associated with benefits offerings.

In the world of human capital management, data is everything. Valuable insights based on people analytics can help a plan sponsor make smart decisions that help participants fully use their benefits. Working with their HCM provider, sponsors can improve the effectiveness of their outreach and education.

Chris Luongo is division vice president of strategy, marketing and business services for ADP Retirement Services.