To drive engagement, advisors must first consider how employees consume information. Many employers have diverse workforces with varying levels of access to traditional communication channels. Office-based employees may check their email frequently, while frontline workers often rarely log into a company intranet. Others may rely more on mobile devices, particularly in industries with high turnover or remote workforces. Understanding these differences is the first step to ensuring benefits messages actually reach employees.

The key to success lies in the 3 Rs of employee engagement:

• Reach: Understanding how and where employees consume information so they receive benefit details in a way that fits their daily lives.
• Relevancy: Tailoring communications so that messages resonate with different workforce segments, from young professionals to near-retirees.
• Repetition: Applying The Rule of Seven, a proven marketing principle that ensures employees see and hear benefit information enough times for it to stick.

Employee benefits only work if employees know about them, understand them, and feel empowered to use them. Monthly newsletters, quarterly educational sessions, push notifications through benefits portals, and even periodic text reminders can keep benefits top-of-mind. The goal is to make benefits education a continuous conversation, rather than a once-a-year event. Creating an intentional engagement strategy helps organizations maximize the value of their health plans—improving both employee wellbeing and the employer’s bottom line.

On May 8th at the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo, I’ll be leading a session, "The 3 Rs of Driving Employee Engagement," where we’ll break down these concepts and provide actionable strategies for driving benefits utilization. If you’re ready to shift from benefits confusion to benefits activation, this is a session you won’t want to miss.

Let’s build benefits engagement strategies that work — because a great plan is only valuable if employees actually use it.