3 ways to revamp benefits communications

Brian Lacher has seen plenty of well-intentioned benefit plans go underutilized — and underappreciated — by employees. And it often comes down to one thing: communication.

"When employees get upset, it's often because they have a perception in their head that their employer doesn't care about them, and that's a toxic way to feel," says Lacher, who's VP of employee benefits at consultancy Nielsen Benefits. "That can bring down employee productivity, and the employer also doesn't get the value of the benefits they're investing in."

Lacher looks back on two new employer clients he started working with in 2022 — only to realize that the organizations' past advisers and communications plans had failed them. At one organization, an employee had participated in a high-deductible health plan for the last three years, but had no idea what an HSA was or how to use it. This employee was so upset to learn how he misutilized available benefits, he ended up choosing an independent plant. Another employee had contributed $5,000 to a dependent-care FSA — and forfeited that money at the end of the year, not realizing it was a use-it-or-lose-it program.

"This was an executive, someone who works in the healthcare industry," Lacher says. "It just goes to show that there are a lot of misconceptions among employees, and it doesn't matter if they're minimum-wage workers or if they're in the C-suite."

To avoid employee frustration and get the most value out of benefits investments, Lacher shared a few tips for boosting communication — and utilization — through the embrace of easy-to-implement tech tools, incentives, and ideas.

Get proactive about communications

Lacher and his team at Nielsen Benefits have seen significant results when employers embrace digital tools. He recently introduced a decision-support software to help employees understand and choose their health insurance plans, and better understand how to supplement those programs with tax-advantaged savings accounts, like HSAs. Through consistent digital promotions to encourage participation, Lacher saw the employer achieve results worth bragging about.

"They were able to achieve 35% employee migration to the HSA program," he says. "That's the best HSA migration I've had."

To nudge employees toward engaging with these kinds of apps in the first place, a small incentive can go a long way: Lacher and his team offered workers a $50 gift card to simply visit the app and create a profile.

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"The challenge is guiding employees to this technology," he says. "But once they get in there, the results can be outstanding."

After enrollment, support utilization

Beyond open enrollment, it's vital to make sure employees have sustained access to resources that help them actually utilize healthcare. The same program that helped Lacher's client's employees select their care plans, he explains, can also help them find the best, most affordable care.

"The benefits of these tech programs don't stop," Lacher says. "I can't tell you how many phone calls I get from folks who are, for example, trying to get an MRI in their area, worrying over how much it costs at one facility versus another. But when employees are on the plan and seeking care, these apps and programs will help with price shopping, which is beneficial for the employer and the employee. It's a massive win-win."

Make it easy for employees to ask questions

One of Lacher's employer clients recently made a simple but brilliant request: Could the advisory create an email address where employees could send questions exclusively about their benefits?

"Setting up an email address that goes directly to me and my colleagues, but also includes the company's name, sounds pretty basic, but it made it feel personalized and branded to the company's employees," Lacher says. "And the response we've gotten has been remarkable, hearing from employees who maybe made mistakes at their open enrollment, or accidentally waived coverage."

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In theory, it may not sound much different from the traditional way of connecting employers to a benefit adviser, Lacher says, but the difference he's seen in engagement is undeniable.

"Compared to previous years when we would provide a phone number and an adviser's picture and direct email address on a PowerPoint presentation, to see this response has been pretty cool, and it comes with added ease for employees," he says. "Steps don't have to be extravagant, but it's important to let employees know they have resources, that they're heard, and that there's somewhere for them to go if they want to vent."