We help top companies educate their people about important (and complicated) topics like health care and retirement. This blog is all about employee communication, benefits, health care and wellness, and our work. Please leave comments or contact us with any feedback or questions!
Open Enrollment
What do Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For do for their Benefits Communication?
Fortune’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For came out last week, and we are thrilled and honored to have three clients in the top 20!
Many people have asked us, what do our clients do with their benefits communication that helps reinforce being a top 100 company? They follow the best practices that we talk about all the time! More
12 blog posts to help you keep your 2012 HR and benefits communications resolutions
Each New Year, we all create a laundry list of new goals to tackle. Everyone desires positive change, but without a game plan, many abandon resolutions short of realizing their goals.
Well—here’s help with your game plan. These are 12 of our favorite blog posts of 2011 to help you reach your 2012 HR and benefits communications resolutions. More
Three tips to communicate after enrollment
Open enrollment was a challenge. You used every tool you have to get the word out about your benefits programs and meet your goals.
Here’s a thought: Keep doing that.
Before you call us crazy, consider this: The next best communication time period after open enrollment is the start of the plan year. For most companies, that’s January 1.
See our three tips for communicating after enrollment. More
Open enrollment and Twitter: Real people, real voices.
One of our favorite things about social media is hearing real people share real feelings in real time. And what better time to hear what people are thinking than right in the middle of open enrollment. Here are just some of the comments we found on Twitter in the last week. More
Six tips to effectively communicate wellness programs during open enrollment
You can’t just casually slip in a mention about biometric screenings during open enrollment. Those are sensitive topics. Oh, and they also just might change your entire approach to benefits. More
Know your audience: Stats on finances, health, benefits and more
As you put together your open enrollment content, you need to think about your audience—your employees. How much exercise are they doing? Where do they get information? What’s important to them? To help you frame these conversations, here are some important statistics covering health, financial security, benefits and more. More
Getting the most from open enrollment: A roundup of our favorite tips and resources
We’re right in the middle of open enrollment, and it’s not too late—even if you’ve already started enrollment—to have a positive and powerful impact on your employees through effective benefits communication. Grab our favorite open enrollment tips and resources—all in one place. More
Three steps to success
We had a super exciting week. Sunday and Monday I was in Dallas at EBN’s 24th Annual Benefits Forum & Expo, the largest benefits conference in the country. I was honored Monday morning to do the keynote presentation and share our three best practices for benefits communication. Read them on our blog! More
Five tips for a not-business-as-usual enrollment
While health care reform has been relatively quiet this year, the media and political scene have not, leaving your employees with more questions than answers. Employers have a responsibility to educate employees about making good short-term decisions and helping them see the longer-term picture of how health and financial security stack up. So, how can HR and benefits managers communicate to employees this year? Here are five tips for the 2011 open enrollment campaign. More
Top tweets of August
You’re probably already gearing up for the busiest time of the year—open enrollment. We know you’re busy introducing new initiatives or just promoting existing ones and probably don’t have time to stay on top of all the news and latest happenings. Check out our top tweets of the month. You might just see something to help you during your busy season. More
Benefits videos cover mobile apps, social media and year-round communication
When I was in DC this spring, I had a chance to chat with SHRM and EBN’s Benefits TV about some of our favorite topics: social media, mobile apps and year-round communication. More
New 401(k) disclosures coming … are your employees ready?
According to a recent AARP study, not likely.
Seventy-one percent of Americans who have a 401(k) don’t think they pay any fees. Is that true at your organization? What will your employees feel—about the value of their 401(k) plan, about your efforts to advocate for them, about transparency—if they find out, in fact, there are embedded fees? Come January 1, 2012, when your employees start to receive information about these fees—will you be shaping the employee response or reacting to it? See our communication to-do list. More
Getting results-based wellness right: The five rules of employee engagement
Employee engagement is the holy grail of well-being, health, and productivity programs. Employers that have achieved real returns from wellness programs recognize the role of engagement—not just in health programs, but in the interconnected health, work, and personal factors we call life. Fortunately, employee engagement is easier than many employers think. Simply following these five rules of engagement will help maximize company performance. More
Thinking about making the shift to full-replacement CDHP? See our checklist first
As companies continue to seek ways to manage health care costs, many are encouraging employees to enroll in consumer-driven health plans. And many are considering full-replacement CDHP. There are some important considerations before deciding to go toward full-replacement CDHP and best practices for successful implementations. More
Top tweets of May: Start thinking about open enrollment--and how social media fits
My top tweets of May cover a lot of ground—from some great open enrollment communication tips to generational differences in the office. More
How to make your benefits print materials effective with good design
Sometimes, all it takes is one look to know the difference between benefits communication that is effective and changes behavior, and communication that falls flat.
As websites become the primary source for benefits and enrollment information, and fewer companies send home lengthy booklets, the print material you do create and distribute needs to be high-impact and focused on achieving results. The message needs to be bold and easy to read, which is accomplished by creating a clear visual hierarchy along with engaging and concise copy.
So what is visual hierarchy and how is it achieved? More
Trolls in Payroll: Adult Children + Imputed Income
Among all of the health care reform changes, an important—but critical—fact may have slipped by. The value of coverage for adult children is taxable income in the majority of states. While not an issue at the federal level—most states, will tax the value of this coverage. That is called imputed income. And, that is something you need to explain clearly to your employees and their families.
In a down economy, employees are watching every penny. And, while they might be happy to share the umbrella of your medical plan with their older child thanks to health care reform, they are still watching the bigger bite that coverage is taking out of their paycheck.
Find out about our Adult Children Imputed Income Toolkit. More
Announcing Limeade GreenLine--A simple approach to results-based wellness
Everyone wants to exercise more, eat better and feel healthy. But almost everyone needs a nudge to get them there.
Those nudges from employers are starting to get bigger and bigger—and many companies are now linking up to 20 percent of health insurance premiums to the results of biometric screenings—not just participation.
That’s why we’re excited to launch Limeade Greenline™, a turnkey product that brings the expertise of three industry leaders with a proven track record in delivering results. More
Boost 401(k) participation with a little help from the government
It’s not often the federal government does something that makes your job just a little easier.
But here’s a rare example. President Barack Obama in December 2010 extended the Bush-era tax cuts including a one-year reduction in workers’ Social Security taxes by nearly a third, from 6.2 percent in 2010 to 4.2 percent for 2011. That means your employees are going to keep more of what they earned.
What it means for you is an opportunity to boost your 401(k) participation and to remind employees of the value of their benefits. More
On the road: My speaking schedule through June
Today is my first live presentation of the year in Cleveland at the Health Action Council of Ohio’s Kick-Off Conference. We’re honored that the Health Action Council of Ohio has purchased our “Social Media Starter Kit” and “Content Subscription” for their members. My presentation today will cover the best practices in benefits communication and how social media can be part of creating success.
We’re always thrilled to share our ideas and I’m delighted to share with you my schedule of events for the first part of the year. Hope to see you there! More
The four attributes of great online benefits communication
Think of a time you visited a website you really liked. Chances are, it had all of these attributes:
Beauty
Entertainment
Engagement
Functionality
Collectively, these instill trust and confidence. And in benefits communication, that goes a very long way.
Let’s dissect each one to find out how exactly the latest web developers are exploring each theme and how they’re changing the user experience into something with very real results. More
November tweets -- what your employees said about open enrollment
November was all about open enrollment. We hope you were keeping an eye on what employees were saying. Here’s some of the dialog on Twitter. More
My top tweets for October
These 10 tweets were my favorite for October. What were yours? Comment below or email us! What good leaders do
RT @towerswatson: How do managers get employees engaged? Three practical actions managers can take http://bit.ly/cZDCVz
RT @MDHirschfeld: “There is zero correlation between technical expertise and the ability to lead people.” #HRReinvention
Don’t Facebook Me: Why You Shouldn’t Google During the Recruiting Process tlnt.com/2010/10/04/don… via @TLNT_com (read the comments too) More
Enrolling in a high deductible plan isn't the only way to be a good consumer
For years employers have been pushing the word “consumerism” into benefits strategy and trying to educate people about what it is. Unfortunately, too much of the emphasis has been to get employees to enroll in Consume-driven, high deductible plans.
In reality, anyone can be a smart consumer of their health, with or without a high-deductible plan. Employers should be promoting Flexible Spending Accounts as another good way to save families hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a year. More
Navigating the changes: strategically communicating about health care reform
I was absolutely thrilled with the turnout at a webinar I recently presented for HR Executive: Navigating the changes: strategically communicating about health care reform. Over 2,300 people registered and over 1,500 listened in. We asked three questions about health care reform communication during the presentation and the answers are pretty interesting. Also, see the full presentation. More
Top 10 Tweets for September--all about health care reform and open enrollment
These 10 tweets were my favorite this past month – given the time of year, they are all about health care reform and open enrollment. More
Reaching your Hispanic workforce
Your workforce is becoming more and more diverse. The 2010 U.S. Census is expected to count a record 50 million Hispanics, or one in every six U.S. residents. With open enrollment just about to start for many of you, it’s a good time to start thinking about the needs of your workforce. Are your assumptions about changing demographics keeping up with reality? More
How to get the most from open enrollment
Here we go again. That time of year when you have to grab your employees’ attention long enough to explain why benefits matter and then help them make key choices about their health care – and their future. Here are some tips to help make open enrollment communication simple. More
Instant gratification for benefits communications?
Yes, it really does exist. And you’re invited to help yourself right now.
We believe everyone, everywhere deserves amazing benefits communications. Once we figure out what works, we can’t keep it a secret. If it makes your life—and benefits communications—easier, don’t you deserve to know? More
Announcing our benefits communication and social media toolkits
I’m absolutely delighted to announce our Benefits Communication and Social Media Toolkits—and our new content subscription. These Toolkits wrap up everything we know into easy do-it-yourself packages—perfect for the small and mid-size companies who want to ramp up communications efforts or for a company of any size who is adding social media to benefits communication. More
Benz Communications partners with MetLife to help employers and brokers during annual enrollment
We’re delighted to announce the launch of MetLife’s 2010 Open Enrollment Toolbox, a free online resource for employers and brokers, which includes four of our PDF Tip Sheets along with videos and a podcast—-all about effective benefits communication. More
Any feedback about enrollment?
Is enrollment over at your organization? Have you heard what people think about your plan design? How confident were they in their decision-making? If you don’t have a direct dial to your employee population, Twitter has been buzzing with commentary. More
Open enrollment tips -- Video and podcast!
Watch, listen or read our open enrollment tips to make this year a success. More
Three things we wish everyone knew about benefits communication
Why would a company invest much in something as seemingly dry as benefits communication? It’s highly regulated. Often quite complex. And it’s not typically the first thing most people think of when they want to brand their organization and build employee relationships that stand the test of time. And yet, benefits communication also has the most potential reward of any HR communication. That’s why we at Benz Communications focus our energy—and our client work—on creating the kind of benefits communication employees find irresistible. More
Enrollment tips featured in Daily Diversion
Daily Diversion, the Employee Benefit News blog, featured our 5 last-minute tips for enrollment communication yesterday as their “Tip of the Day.” More
Increase enrollment in FSAs
Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are too often overlooked in the whole discussion around health care consumerism. These accounts are great ways for employees to monitor their spending and save money on health care expenses—and they can coordinate with almost any plan. Here are three ways to boost participation. More
