Leading companies understand the importance of employee benefits, the least not because studies have shown the connection between employee benefits, employee engagement and job satisfaction.
While there is little argument from employers whether to offer employee benefits, the problem many employers face is low participation rates. Understandably, this can be a source of frustration for companies who have worked hard to develop a benefits strategy that reflects the company values and attempts to meet the varying needs of all its employees. Low participation rates inevitably fail to deliver value to the employer and its employees not to mention the money wasted on unused benefits.
Often, it’s not the benefits themselves that are the issue but rather the lack of awareness surrounding them as well as the cumbersome benefits enrollment process.
Below, we offer four tips on how you can increase benefits participation in your organization.
1. Increase Accessibility
Why restrict access to benefits to office hours? This is especially valid for blue-collar workers working in retail shops, factories or out in a field. The idea of employees having to complete physical paperwork and then submit their completed forms to HR to enroll in benefits is completely antiquated.
Online benefits are the way forward. Through an employee portal, employees can manage their benefits online without the need for HR assistance.
A company’s benefits platform or employee portal should be the starting point for employees, providing them with a personalized, self-service environment.
2. Simplify Enrollment
For employees, a simple benefits enrollment process encourages higher participation and sustained enthusiasm.
Today, as consumers, we’re used to the freedom and convenience of purchasing commodities and services online. According to Eurostat research, in 2018, 69% of internet users in the EU shopped online. Why not make benefits enrollment as simple and convenient as shopping online?
Enablement of online benefits enrollment leads to greater employee self-service, which, in turn, significantly decreases administration for HR. Whether you offer employees a gym pass, subsidized mobility or the ability to choose their preferred healthcare provider or childcare service, employees can make their selections and enroll online with ease.
3. Create Awareness
As wonderful as your benefits may be, unfortunately, they aren’t worth much if your employees are unaware of them.
Create greater awareness through more effective communication. This means using all available channels to communicate with your employees; think push notifications, e-mails, employee platform messages, social media, as well as in-office TV screens, intranet, printed flyers and posters.
Whether employees are in the same office, working in a factory or shop, working remotely or spread all across the globe, use targeted communication through multiple channels to ensure you reach every employee.
The greater the awareness, the higher the participation.
4. Enable Mobile Access
With 80% of the global workforce not stationed behind desks every day, restricting the enrollment into benefits to a company intranet reduces participation.
Allow employees to access their benefits anytime, anywhere on their smartphone or tablet. For example, Benify’s app enables employers to engage their employees “on-the-go” or “on-the-sofa” by offering all the functionality of the award-winning desktop version.
When it comes to engaging employees, what better way to encourage participation and simplify the enrollment of online benefits than on the device that’s always with them?
To learn more about online benefits management, download our whitepaper, Global Online Benefits – How to Effectively Manage Employee Benefits to discover how you can save both time and money today.
