COMMUNICATING YOUR BENEFIT PLAN Developing a Successful Communication Engagement Plan

A publication of

Good communication is critical to any successful operation. When you invest considerable time and money in employee benefit programs, you want to know that your employees understand how the plans work, appreciate how valuable they are as part of a total compensation package, and know how participants can affect the bottom line. Developing a comprehensive communications strategy (designed to engage and inform employees) that is inviting and reflective of your workforce and culture, is paramount to good communication. In fact, effective internal communications is one of the key drivers of employee engagement which has been widely researched and proven to add significant value to organizations on all metrics from productivity. A good communication plan must:

• Educate, engage and motivate employees • Guide employee behaviors • Foster understanding of your benefits to a variety of

employee audiences

So how do we get there? A useful first step in identifying the needs of employee communications is performing a communications audit to:

1. Assess communication needs/objectives – what messages need to be communicated effectively?

2. Reveal stakeholders and audience “profiles” 3. Identify the channels/vehicles available for communication

and assess how effective they are From there, you can:

1. Create messages not just to convey information, but to influence behavior, or persuade people to take action toward the identified goal

2. Select the appropriate channels to deliver the messages that are sure to reach the various stakeholders and audience profiles

3. Develop a way to evaluate and measure success of your communications

Use the right

tools. HCW has developed tools

to assist clients with developing a multi-year

communication strategy. Our client-specific communications strategy ties in with

our client’s overall benefits strategy.

These tools assist clients in assessing the audience of a specific group, identifying the available channels and vehicles for

communication, and developing a way to measure effectiveness. All of this information is pulled together in a rollout calendar. A

successful strategic organizational communications program can boost morale, change the culture and create shared knowledge

and values at work.

Obviously we don’t know all there is to know about these pieces of your organization. But we do hope this is a starting point for

you to build a strategic communications approach in your organization.

“ “

CHAPTER ONE: ASSESS THE AUDIENCE

To effectively communicate, we must realize

that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.

Tony Robbins, motivational speaker

Recognize diversity. The attributes that define each employee as a unique individual including age, education, race, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, and physical and mental challenges • Diversity describes the multifaceted ways in which human

beings can be both similar and different. • Workplace diversity is a people issue, focused on the

differences and similarities that people bring to an organization.

The center of the wheel represents internal dimensions that are usually most permanent or visible. The outside of the wheel represents dimensions that are acquired and change over the course of a lifetime. The combinations of all of these dimensions influence our values, beliefs, behaviors, experiences and expectations and make us all unique as individuals.

Understand the differences diversity requires. For example, take the following generational differences:

• Boomers are good team players, love the social interaction at work, will work all hours, and are willing to invest time in working their way up the corporate hierarchy. Boomers like handwritten notes and phone calls.

• Gen Xers are so much more skeptical, think the boomers are crazy to work so hard, and are determined to do a good job – but also go home at night and have a life. Gen Xers mostly respond to email.

• Millenials have no patience at all; if they’re not happy, they won’t work through it – they’ll leave. Millenials respond best to text or instant messaging.

(Millenials)

Use the right tools. HCW has developed tools to assist clients with developing a

multi-year communication strategy. Our client-specific communications strategy ties in with our client’s overall benefits

strategy.

These tools assist clients in assessing the audience of a specific group, identifying the available channels and vehicles for

communication, and developing a way to measure effectiveness. All of this information is pulled together in a rollout calendar. A

successful strategic organizational communications program can boost morale, change the culture and create shared knowledge

and values at work.

Obviously we don’t know all there is to know about these pieces of your organization. But we do hope this is a starting point for

you to build a strategic communications approach in your organization.

“ “

CHAPTER TWO: IDENTIFY COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

I speak onstage to try to establish some

method of communication. The songs are supposed to be a way of communicating. But speech and drinks and sometimes chocolates

are also a way of communicating.

Jarvis Cocker, singer-songwriter

Create your inventory of communication channels.

An inventory is an essential tool for building a successful framework for your communication strategy.

Multiple channels will be necessary!

Did You Know? 74% of companies acknowledge that social media provides an easy, convenient way for employees to obtain benefits information.

Recognize the channel limitations. For example, if most of your participants do not have regular internet access, it’s not a good idea to send important communications via email. Retirees may react differently to an email message than younger participants who use email as their primary communication method. So, you may want to use a traditional mail piece for retirees and an email communication for active participants. Match the channel to the desired level of interaction and feedback. If participants are going to have questions about a communication, you will need to have a mechanism to address those questions.

TIP! Use the Communications Inventory worksheet to document what your

available channels are and who they reach.

Communication Channels/Vehicles(I.e. Careers webpage, online articles, leadership communications, internal

newsletters, recruitment brochures, internal presentations, P&Ps, etc.)

Audience(s)(see "Defining Audiences Worksheet")

Owner(Who in the company is responsible for the

comm channel - marketing, HR, leadership, etc.)

Communication Inventory

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CHAPTER THREE: DEVELOP A ROLL OUT PLAN

Let our advance worrying become advance

thinking and planning.

Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister

Document and schedule.

Create the messages, noting the audience and designated channels and vehicles you will use. Use the Communications Engagement Plan worksheet to lay everything out. Use the Communications Calendar worksheet to address the “When?” question.

FYI 34% of employees said they’d

like to see more frequent benefits communications.

1

Objective (Taken from "Objectives of Communication Plan" above)

Audience (What specific groups of people

will you target in order to modify behavior or influence their

decisions?)

Solution(s) What are the few key things you can do to

to work towards reaching the objetive defined?

Message What is/are the specific message(s) that will hit home

with the audience(s)?

Channel What communication method will you use to communiate the message to the

audience?

Timeline When will you launch the message(s)?

Communications Engagement Plan

Operational Plan

Organizational Objective

ObjectivesWhat are the main things that need to be addressed in order to be sure the company is

moving in the direction identified (taken from Strategy Scorecard)? Be thinking of the actions or behaviors desired.

Measurement Result

Audience

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Audience

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Audience

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Communications Calendar

January February March April May June

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CHAPTER FOUR: DEVELOP WAYS TO MEASURE EFFECTIVENESS

The measure of success is not whether you

have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had

last year.

John Foster Dulles, former U.S. Secretary of State

Design and implement evaluation mechanisms.

You have a winning approach, you’ve begun to implement your plan…now what? Meaningful measurement enables… • Continuous evolution and improvement • Better accountability from all your resources –

internal and external • Ability to communicate success to leadership

and get the credit that HR deserves

TIP Use a measurement dashboard to see if you met your goals!

(see example)

COMMUNICATING YOUR BENEFIT PLAN Developing a Successful Communication Engagement Plan

A publication of

Visit us online at www.hcwbenefits.com or call us at 919.403.1986. We have office locations in the Triad, Triangle & Eastern North Carolina.