Employee Engagement with Benefits: A Leadership Perspective

Q: How do we increase employee engagement with benefits?

A: More communication, more education, and less paperwork.

Ah, if only it was that simple.

“I see employees leave incredible benefits on the table,” says Meredith Elliott Powell. “They’ll ignore a 6% 401(k) match or not take their PTO.”

Meredith is a business strategist, motivational speaker, and author of the award-winning THRIVE: Strategies to Turn Uncertainty to Competitive Advantage. Through her work, she gets an up-close view of how employees engage with benefits. “It’s not enough to rewrite your OE emails or move your benefits to an online platform. Yes, those things help, but we need to completely reframe this issue.

“We need to ask how we, as leaders, can engage and entice our employees with our benefits.”

The relationship between benefits and company culture

Benefits don’t exist in a vacuum. As Meredith explains, “Benefits are icing on a delicious cake, and that cake is the company culture. Either one by itself is not enough!”

What are the ingredients of a fabulous company culture? In a nutshell:

• Clear articulation of the company’s values, vision, and mission
• Great hires who believe passionately in the above
• Meaningful and easily accessible employee support
• Investment in employee development and upskilling
• Attention to employee feedback and feelings

Terrific benefits may go unappreciated in an office where unhappy employees are looking to complain. In that case, leadership needs to work on culture before improving benefits.

On the flip side, no matter how wonderful the culture is, employees will look elsewhere if benefits are lacking. But a company with a great culture is in a good place. It has a strong foundation (i.e., cake) on which to “ice” its benefits.

Best practices for benefits engagement

Once the culture is in place, proven best practices improve benefit utilization. Each contributory and voluntary benefit requires time and attention to maximize engagement. Forbes Human Resources Council offers these suggestions:

1. Make benefits less confusing - Cut out the jargon and explain benefits simply and clearly. Streamline enrollment by moving it online and minimizing forms and steps.

2. Educate employees - Create a robust, multi-channel benefits communication strategy. It may include live Q&A sessions, webinars, email campaigns, company intranet messages, or videos. Use new technologies to deliver personalized content to employees. Reach out to new employees individually to see if they have questions.

3. Assess benefits usage annually - Analyze benefits data to find weak links, strong points, and trends. Survey employees before open enrollment and ask for suggestions. Few benefits serve every demographic, so it’s usually a good idea to provide a few benefits that are of value to each population segment.

In 2022, Wishbone’s quote:policy conversion rate was an outstanding 19%.
The national average is only 10%.

Leadership: the missing piece

While the above suggestions are important, Meredith adds three crucial caveats. First, “far too often, we wait for HR to explain benefits, but really it’s up to leaders! Managers and supervisors already have relationships with their employees. They can reach out in a way that’s so much more real and relevant.”

Gen Z employees, in particular, will sniff out phoniness a mile away. They’re far more likely to respond to a manager’s genuine overture than to HR’s faux-enthusiastic email.

Benefits education begins during onboarding, as leaders introduce expectations and culture. Then, be sure to review benefits with employees once or twice a year. “Leaders are conditioned to make people work hard and hit goals,” Meredith explains, “but they also should teach people to balance and nourish themselves.”

Leaders can use benefits to entice and motivate employees. Often, a company has tiered benefits that become available when employees hit certain milestones. Don’t wait for that milestone to notify employees! Introduce it much earlier as a tantalizing goal.

The benefits of the benefits

Second, as Meredith says, “We often only explain benefits’ features. But for employees to understand their true value, we need to explain the benefits of the benefits.”

Benefits materials often focus on features but fail to address both their tangible and intangible value. For example:

It’s important to explain clearly to employees that their compensation = salary + benefits. Don’t assume that they’ll understand on their own. “I’ve seen employees switch jobs because they were offered $1 more an hour,” says Meredith. “They didn’t realize they were leaving $8/hr in benefits behind.”

Choose benefit providers wisely

Finally, benefits providers are not created equal, and a benefit’s “packaging” can directly influence employee engagement.

The best benefits companies front-load their products with extensive educational materials. They explain not only the benefits’ features but also their true value. “HR buys benefits with C-suite approval,” explains Meredith. “But leaders may not fully understand the benefits. And if they don’t understand them, they can’t explain them to employees.”

Top benefits providers present current research on how they drive engagement and satisfaction. Data over five years old is nearly irrelevant to today’s post-pandemic world. They also offer “a la carte” benefits, so employees have choices to match their needs.

“Benefits show employees how we’re investing in them,” concludes Meredith, “but only if we take the time to help employees understand.

“Benefits are expensive, and it’s a waste for them to be underutilized and unappreciated. Get creative! Choose your plans wisely! Help your employees maximize their benefits.”