You’ve got employee benefits but how do you tell your staff?

If you’re introducing employee benefits into your organisation, congratulations – it’s a great decision. How will you make sure your investment doesn’t go to waste? By telling people all about it. Here are three possible ways to introduce employee communications into your employee benefits package.

An exciting employee benefits scheme shows that you care about your people. You’re giving them rewards, perks and support with things that make their lives easier, such as healthcare, travel and money. Employee benefits also help you to attract and retain good people – especially if they’re tailored to the needs and interests of your staff.

But once your employee benefits platform is up and running, what happens next? Just plugging in a solution and expecting people to use it is unlikely to reap rewards.

A critical part of implementation has to be communication. To get maximum employee engagement, you need to tell people what fantastic benefits are on offer, ideally just when they need them, in the most accessible way. After all, we have so many things competing for our attention – so for the best return on investment, you need real communications expertise.

Some businesses are lucky enough to have dedicated marketing support that can handle this. Others don’t have that luxury, but they still can’t afford to leave internal communications out of their employee benefits investment.

So what are the options?

Option 1 – choose an employee benefits package with communications included

Work with an employee benefits provider like PES who offer employee communications as a standard part of their solution. When you invest in happypeople, our employee benefits platform, you don’t need to be a communications specialist. We have an in-house team of communications experts who will get to know the DNA of your business, its culture and tone of voice. They will work directly with you or your marketing team to make maximum use of channels including:

• video
• tailored newsletters
• leaflets and brochures
• e-shots
• intranet
• lunchtime sessions
• departmental meetings.

The team will use all the tricks of the trade to reinforce important messages, with the net result of encouraging a much larger number of people to use and appreciate the employee benefits you’ve provided.

Option 2 – use existing communications channels

Look at the existing staff communication channels you have and make sure you’re using them to full effect. These could include team meetings, noticeboards, intranet and email. Include a mix of face-to-face and online channels. And don’t wait until the scheme goes live – prepare your employees for the launch by building up momentum during the approval, planning and implementation stages.

Once the scheme is launched, keep issuing regular updates on new benefits, new providers, enrolment windows and anything that will keep awareness high.

Option 3 – create new communications channels

If you’ve never focused on employee communications, then the third and probably toughest option is to start from scratch. You’ll need to create new channels for communicating regularly with your people, but remember they don’t always have to be high-tech. Lunchtime sessions, departmental meetings, free leaflets together with email and intranet can help everyone feel involved and informed.

A few other tips

Whichever option you choose, it’s good to think about a communications plan so you can highlight different elements of the scheme month by month, such as wellbeing, mental health or financial wellbeing.

You can also contact suppliers of rewards and perks, asking them for information you can pass on to staff about individual benefits. Why not invite them to your premises for a benefits fair? It’s their interests as well as yours to generate as much enthusiasm as possible.

Share successes too. How much engagement has there been? What have been the rewards for staff? How much money has it saved them? Enthusiasm is contagious, so gather information you can share to create a real buzz around your scheme.

Why communication matters

Communication needn’t be expensive, but it is essential. Get your employees on board from the moment a benefits scheme becomes a twinkle in your eye. The more understanding and enthusiasm you can generate, the greater your return on investment – and the more your employees will know you care.

About PES and happypeople

happypeople from PES is an employee benefits platform that lives up to its name. We provide employee benefits expertise, broking skills, technical know-how and outstanding customer service. Perfect for organisations with up to 1,500 employees.

Looking for complementary HR, wellbeing or financial services? We offer those too. Contact us to find out more.