Open enrollment is something you think about only a few times a year. It might be even less often for employees. The reason this is unfortunate is that it means employees may not be maximizing their benefits. To ensure maximization it is important to touch on benefits through the year.  

This article will provide employees helpful, year-round benefits engagement with 5 simple steps. 

Begin with the End in Mind 

Random communication with employees provides no real advantage. Your communication with employees about benefits should be informed by a clear goal. For example, you may have a goal to reduce questions employees have during open enrollment. Therefore, your solution could be to survey employees to be able to decipher their top questions to ensure that you cover what is most important. 

Relevant Topics 

As your communication continues throughout the year it is important not to lose sight of your original goal. Keep the message relevant to your main goal as well as to your employees’ benefits or interest options. Most people’s favorite topic is about themselves, therefore when you communicate with employees, they will immediately want to know what is in it for them, so make sure you stay on topic.  

Aim to be Concise  

All messaging should brief and straightforward. Employees often find the repetition of the same information over and over to be mundane. If your communication gets repetitive, you will find employees become disinterested more quickly. Your basic messaging formula should include: 

All your messaging should get straight to the point. Employees can get tired of seeing the same information over and over. If your communications go on and on, employees will be disinterested even faster. The basic message formula should be: 

• The pitch: “Here is something about your benefits that you may not know about.” 
• The why: “This is important to you because.” 
• Call to action: “To learn more about this information here is what you should do.” 

Your communication may be too long if you find that it uses multiple versions of these elements. 

Medium Change up 

People all retain information differently. Therefore, be sure to vary your communication methods instead of just sticking to one medium. This can mean many different things such as sending mass emails, printing, and mailing flyers, tacking up posters, and posing videos on the internet. The main point is to get your message out through as many channels as you can.  

Benefits of a Communication Calendar 

Knowing when to communicate is so important. Setting up a communication calendar can be a huge help. It helps you think about important dates and then scheduling messaging for those instances. Having a calendar will help your communication be spaced out which reduces messaging fatigue. Using these five simple steps enhance your benefits engagement and improve your quality of life, as well as the lives of your employees.