It’s not enough to simply offer great benefits. Your employees have to actually use them for the benefits to have impact. Your employees must know what’s available to them and how the benefits support the challenges they face and the needs they have in order to be motivated to sign up for them. Additionally, if employees sign up for plans that they don’t understand or under-utilize, those benefits won’t have a positive impact. 

In fact, 89% of employees report choosing the same benefits year after year. This means even if their employer has added new plans and fringe benefits that could provide much needed support, employees are not taking full advantage of what’s being offered and employers are wasting money on under-utilized benefits. 

Benefit impact hinges on effective communication to help employees tailor the benefits they choose to their specific needs. By understanding what different generations of employees want and why they want it, companies can speak to their needs and point them to the benefits that will most help them. This post will help you craft a curated communication strategy, targeted to the unique needs and communication styles of your diverse workforce. 

The four generations in the workforce have unique worldviews

The current workforce is made up of four generations: Boomers (aged 59-78), Gen X (aged 44-58), Millennials (aged 28-43), and Gen Z (aged 12-27). Each generation has a unique worldview and makes different demands of their employers and their benefits. Understanding this worldview can help you target your communications so that your message lands.

The Boomer worldview in the workforce

Boomers are motivated by a sense of duty, teamwork, and loyalty to the company. They believe they have achieved their status at work by paying their dues. They have sacrificed for success and believe that sacrifice will be rewarded by security.

The Gen X worldview in the workforce

Gen X’ers are less likely to rally around the flag, so-to-speak than Boomers and are instead more motivated by their personal and professional interests than those of the company. They seek work-life balance and a diverse work environment. They believe their needs should be met and are quick to leave a company if that doesn’t happen.

The Millennial worldview in the workforce

Millennials also want work-life balance and crave more freedom and flexibility than their older counterparts. This generation is very focused on their growth and development, they are impacted by their perception of the quality of company leadership. They have strong opinions about changes that need to be made and are quick to leave if they perceive their workplace as being unwilling to change.

The Gen Z worldview in the workplace

From climate chaos and major social movements to a global pandemic, Gen Z has lived through tumultuous times in their young lives. These external forces have this generation craving stability and placing a high importance on mental health. They also value independence, innovation, individuality, diversity in the workplace, and they want to be challenged. 

How the four generations prefer to communicate

Each generation has different channels through which they naturally communicate and a tone that resonates with them. In order to craft an effective benefits communication campaign, companies have to cast a wide net. They need to emphasize the personalization of benefits and use targeted messaging across different channels to reach each generation where they are.

How each generation communicates:

• Boomers. Boomers prefer a more formal communication from their employers, both in terms of tone and method. Companies can communicate benefit options and features through email, brochures, town halls, and dedicated internal web pages. 

• Gen X’ers. Gen X prefers communicating in a more informal, but direct tone. Effective communication channels for Gen X’ers are text and email. 

• Millennials. Millennials also prefer an informal tone when communicating, and like frequent communication and fast responses to questions or issues. Text and chat are effective communication channels for Millennials.

• Gen Z’ers. This generation is the most informal of the workforce, and yet they prefer in-person and video calls to digital communication.  

The support they want

Non-traditional benefits are more important to younger workers, as are mental health benefits. Boomers want to feel financially secure heading into retirement, while the younger generations want to feel “net-better off” because they are working at the company. They want to feel as if the company cares about the diverse challenges they face and is willing to help them carry the load.

How to talk about the benefits you’re offering

First and foremost, companies should communicate about their benefits as a way to show they care about their workers. Employees who believe their employer cares for their overall well-being are 69% less likely to look for a new job, but only 66% of employees believe their company genuinely cares about them (vs. 88% of employers that have the perception). 

Through an interactive communications campaign, that can include email, in-person and online meetings, postcards and brochure mailers, posters, and messages on online chat, you can position benefits as a way to support employees by:

• Acknowledging and understanding the challenges that your employees may be facing.

• Outlining the benefits available, how much they cost, and how to sign up. 

• Highlighting how the benefits you offer address employees’ challenges.

When you frame benefits around meeting employees' needs, you can connect the dots for your team between what you are offering, what they need, and how benefits are an important part of the support they receive. Your goal is to make your people aware not only of what is available to them and why they might want to participate in those benefits, but also that you as their employer cares about their wellbeing. This can increase employee engagement not only with your benefits offerings, but also in the company and their work.

How often should you communicate about benefits?

Open Enrollment is the most critical time that companies need to communicate with employees about their benefits. But if that’s the only time employees hear from you, you’re missing big engagement opportunities with your workforce. If employees only hear about their benefits when they sign up for them, it’s also highly likely they will under-utilize these plans and won’t be as satisfied with their benefits because they’re not getting as much out of them as they could.

You can think about your benefits communication strategy like a marketing campaign. You could even tap your marketing department to help you develop year-round collateral that focuses on timely themes. You can also talk to your benefits providers about what they offer account holders in terms of ongoing education and engagement. They may provide you with ready made information to share with your team or take care of education campaigns for you. 

Here are some examples of timely benefits communication campaigns:

January: Employees may have signed up for new plans so information about setting up and getting started with their accounts can help to ensure they know how to access their benefits. Educational material that introduces or refreshes them on how to use their benefits could also be helpful. Examples include: 

• How to reimburse for expenses through their Flexible Spending Account (FSA), their commuter benefits, their Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), etc.

• Reminder to set up an in-network primary care provider relationship (especially for younger workers who often do not have primary care doctors).  

• Reminders to set up regular contributions to their HSA accounts and to adjust those contributions to accommodate new annual contribution limits.

February: In the middle of winter, employees’ mental health can take a hit, especially if they live in places with harsh winter weather. So sending out communication about mental health benefits, and Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSAs) like Lively’s Best Self LSA, that they can use to pay for fitness and wellness expenses, could be effective. 

February and March: In many places this is the time when parents start signing their kids up for summer camps. Releasing a campaign about the many ways employees can use their Dependent Care FSA or LSA that covers childcare will help to remind them of this important support. 

March: Many employees will be preparing their taxes at this time, so reminding them of the tax benefits of contributing to their pre-tax benefit accounts can feel effective and timely. Also, if you offer an LSA that covers financial planning expenses, you can remind them that they can use this account to cover tax preparation and financial consulting services. 

April: Employees have until the annual tax deadline to make a prior year contribution to their HSA if they did not max it out.

May: It’s been a few months since employees onboarded with their new benefits. Check in to find out how they are using them, if they have any questions, and invite them to engage further. For example, share information on investing their HSA contributions or reviewing their retirement account investments. As wedding season kicks off in many parts of the country, it could be beneficial to remind employees that they can make changes to their benefits if they experience a life event like marriage or the birth of a child. 

June and July: While summer is in full swing, employees that are also parents could benefit from a reminder to reimburse for their summer camps and child care expenses through their Dependent Care FSA or LSA. Also, if employers offer an LSA like Lively’s Experiences LSA, reminding employees that they can reimburse for their travel related expenses can help them realize the full benefit of this plan.

August: As kids head back to school, content around physicals, vaccinations, and the eligible everyday expenses that their FSAs, HSAs and HRAs cover could be useful.

September: Begin to remind employees about any upcoming changes to benefits and about using any accounts that don’t roll over, such as FSA and LSAs, before the end of the year. 

October and November: If you follow a “traditional” plan year which starts in January, these months will be focused on open enrollment. Be sure to let employees know what’s changing, how and when to sign up, and opportunities to learn more and seek additional guidance. Ensure you have a variety of ways for your team to see support, including in person and online information. For specific open enrollment communication guidance, including downloadable checklists for pre-, during, and post-open enrollment communications tasks, check out Lively’s Open Enrollment Survival guide. Now is the time to unleash your best open enrollment content.

December: As the end of the year approaches, you can encourage your employees to max out their HSA and 401(k) contributions so they get the most out of their tax-advantaged savings benefits. Also remind them to spend down any funds that don’t roll over, such as FSAs and LSAs, and let them know about any rollovers or grace periods that may be offered for these accounts. If they have a monthly commuter benefit for parking or transit, this is also a great time to encourage them to review their contributions and adjust them accordingly.

Work with a trusted partner in benefits engagement and education

Looking for a benefits partner who understands how to meet your team where they are? Lively offers best-in-class flexible benefits that can be bundled for pricing and administration efficiency. Lively does the heavy lifting for employee communications during onboarding and all year long to help drive benefits adoption and engagement. We also have a dedicated resource center that you can utilize to develop your internal communication campaigns and help inform your team about the benefits that you offer. If you’re ready to uplevel your benefits partner, reach out to Lively today!