Annual enrollment periods are crucial for employees to adjust their benefits packages for the upcoming year. But let's face it, navigating through benefits can be confusing. In fact, 35% of employees report not fully understanding any of the employee benefits they enrolled in during their most recent open enrollment period. It's even more challenging for younger workers, with more than half (54%) of millennials reporting they don’t understand their benefit selections (Sutton, 2021).
The silver lining? Most employees are eager to learn! Two-thirds of employees (66%) want their employer to help them better understand their employee benefits throughout the year — not just at open enrollment (Sutton 2021). Here are five strategies to make your employee benefit presentations more engaging and effective:
1. Make Them Interactive
Interactive presentations will keep employees engaged. Use handouts, encourage questions, and ditch the script. Avoid reading from slides, speak naturally, and add emphasis and excitement to your voice. Throw in some giveaways or incentives to keep everyone on their toes. Gamification can also be effective, with 80% of U.S. workers finding gamified experiences more engaging compared to typical learning. (Boskamp, 2023). Use game-like elements like points, scoring, and competitions to boost employee engagement.
2. Make Them Visually Stimulating
Benefits presentations often contain a lot of data, which can be overwhelming. Limit the use of graphs and charts, and instead, incorporate high-quality images and video clips. Visual elements help break up the monotony and keep employees interested. Just make sure these visuals are concise and directly relevant to the information being presented.
3. Make Them Concise
Respect your employees' time by keeping presentations short and sweet. Consider "Lunch and Learn" sessions or short, on-demand videos accessible via your company’s intranet or YouTube channel. This approach allows employees to learn at their own pace and revisit the material as needed, helping to ensure better understanding and retention of the information.
4. Make Them a Team Effort
Adding a co-presenter can make presentations more dynamic and engaging. Add some relevant humor and personal stories to connect with the audience. If possible, invite a vendor or expert speaker to provide specialized insights. This not only diversifies the presentation but also reinforces the importance of the benefits being discussed.
5. Make Them Virtual
With more employees working remotely, virtual presentations are essential. Utilize social media and webinars to keep employees in the loop. Evening webinars that include spouses can ensure everyone involved in the decision-making process has the necessary information. Virtual benefits fairs, where employees can interact with vendors in real time, can also be highly effective.
Open enrollment presentations are an opportunity to ensure that employees fully understand and utilize their benefits. For the average company, 53 cents of every dollar spent on healthcare benefits goes to waste (Jellyvision, 2022). One of the biggest reasons for this? Employee confusion about how to choose, use, and interact with their benefits. Using these strategies will boost engagement, improve comprehension, and contribute to cost savings for you and your employees.
References
Boskamp, E. (2023, February 23). 25 Gamification Statistics [2023]: Facts + Trends You Need to Know. Zippia.
https://www.zippia.com/advice/gamification-statistics/
Jellyvision. (2022, March 1). The Most Creative Ways to Communicate Your Benefits.
https://www.jellyvision.com/resources/reports-research/benefits-communication/creative-ways-to-communicate-your-benefits-hr/
Sutton, B. (2021, January 29). Voya Survey Finds One-Third of American Workers Don’t Understand the Benefits They Selected During Open Enrollment. Voya Financial.
https://www.voya.com/news/2021/01/voya-survey-finds-one-third-american-workers-dont-understand-benefits-they-selected
