Faced with the current challenges brought on by the financial crisis, company priorities have been forced to shift, and employees are left often with a lack of understanding and insufficient guidance on their benefits choices at work.
In research conducted for Prudential by the Center for Strategy Research, Inc., helping employees make better benefits decisions and addressing the diverse benefits needs of a company’s employee population have been at the bottom of the list of employer objectives.
According to
This shifting of priorities can dramatically impact both the health and financial security of employees. In order for employees to make the best choices regarding their benefits, the programs and the consequences of their decisions need to be well understood.
“Inadequate communication during the benefits enrollment process doesn't encourage employees to really think through their selections,” says Jean Wiskowski, vice president of marketing for Prudential’s group Insurance business.
"But given the challenges companies’ HR professionals have faced, ranging from downsizing to understanding the impact of the new health care legislation, it’s not surprising that companies have focused less on benefits education and communications," adds Wiskowski.
Other significant findings include:
- About 24% of employees surveyed indicate that they tend to choose the same benefits; 44% read some information and possibly discuss options with a relative or friend, but in general don’t make many modifications from year to year.
- 70% of Whites and 75% of African Americans rate employee benefits higher in importance when deciding whether to take a job, compared with 41% of Asian Americans.
- African Americans are more likely to be “highly interested” in having tailored communications than any other ethnic group.
- Women show a clear preference for receiving benefits communications via workplace e-mail rather than home e-mail.
Despite the differences expressed by different gender and ethnic groups, only 21% of plan sponsors think that tailoring benefits communications to their various employee segments is “important” to their benefits strategies — a drop of five percentage points from four years ago.
“Employers who commit to creating a benefits strategy that is reflective of their entire workforce will clearly have a competitive advantage,” says Wiskowski “These data provide an opportunity for companies to look at a variety of communications approaches that achieve the goal of getting employees to sign up for the benefits and protections appropriate for them and their families.”
Business-savvy brokers will embrace this as a two-fold opportunity. As trained professionals, brokers can seek out benefit programs offering the best tax breaks for companies, a highly valued commodity for employers who may have handled their own benefits plans in the past.
Brokers also can provide the counseling necessary to close the communication gap and help employers inform employees about benefits options and investment opportunities.
