Benefits Gain Value with Good Communication

Colonial Life, a UBA strategic partner, conducted a survey that found three out of four employees say they need more education to understand how changes in their benefits affect their financial safety net.

How best to reach them, what they need to know and how they prefer to receive the information are tackled in “A Business Case for Benefits Communications.” The paper addresses several key areas, including:

• Hidden Paychecks: Total compensation statements help to inform employees of what the company is providing for them. In addition to outlining wages, the statement displays the employer’s contributions to benefit plans such as medical and retirement plans.
• Making Employees “Stewards” of the Plan: Sharing the financials associated with benefits helps employees become better consumers and help control costs.
• Benchmarking Data: Showing benchmarked data comparing an employer’s plan to those of other companies helps drive home the value of a benefits package.

“Industry research has shown that employees have a positive perception of their benefits (even when the overall package is mediocre) if there is an excellent communications plan in place,” says Gary Jurney, president of Kainos Partners, Inc., a UBA Partner Firm in Houston.

The white paper is available for download here.