Employee benefits are becoming an increasingly vital aspect of any job. They are an essential part of not only recruiting top talent but also retaining it for the long-term.

In fact, according to a study conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, U.S. employees value a job that offers benefits four times as much as a job that has a higher salary but no benefits.

And while it’s common knowledge today that offering a diverse benefits package is a key part of running a business today, many companies still haven’t invested enough time and effort into improving benefits literacy.

If your employees don’t understand the benefits that are offered to them, and how they work, they’re often less satisfied — both with the benefits package and their employer.

Here are some ways you can improve benefits literacy at your company.

Define Your Workforce

Any time that you are engaging in an outreach effort, you want to know who your target audience is. In this case, your target audience is your overall workforce.

To that end, you want to be able to define your workforce. What is the typical age of your average employee? Do you have a diverse workforce in terms of age, gender, family makeup, background, etc.?

A great idea is to create different personas of your employees that include the key characteristics and demographics, their role at the company, their income level, their relationship status, their age and more.

Once you’ve created these, you can tailor your outreach programs to each of these different personas so you’re more successful in speaking to them.

Assess Their Benefits Literacy

Are your employees well-versed in your benefits offerings, or do they seem lost? Does this go for everyone in relation to all benefit offerings, or just some?

Before you can execute an effective outreach program, you need to understand what the current benefits literacy level is at your company. It’s also important to realize that the literacy could vary from one benefit to the next, and among one generation to the next.

For instance, employees from Gen Z might not be as in-tune with all the complex details of a 401(k) plan as members of older generations might be. They also might not value this benefit as much because they’re not as close to retirement age.

It’s your job as an employer to educate all of your employees on all the different benefits you offer, and the value of taking advantage of them, so that all employees can maximize what’s at their disposal.

Create a Communication Plan

Gone are the days when employers can simply distribute a pamphlet of all offered benefits and allow employees to peruse at their leisure. Companies that want to improve benefits literacy need to take a much more hands-on approach today.

An important aspect of the effectiveness of your outreach program is creating a communication plan. How are you going to distribute the resources your employees need to understand their benefits? What tools do you want to give your employees so they can investigate more and/or take advantage of the benefits offered?

Will you have a point person, or point team, who will be available to help employees if they have any questions, comments or trouble with the benefits you offer? Most important, what modes of communication are you going to use to disseminate this information?

Just like it’s important to create a workplace culture that’s diverse and inclusive, it’s equally as important to create a communication plan that does the same. This means providing a nice mix of printed materials, digital tools and face-to-face meetings.

By having a multi-pronged approach to communication, you’ll be increasing the likelihood that your employees will engage with you, and their benefits, more.

Constantly Communicate

Benefits can be complicated and confusing. Yet, because they’re so important, it’s essential that companies don’t just approach education from a one-and-done aspect.

In other words, businesses need to constantly communicate to their employees about the benefits they offer. This can be done in a number of ways.

You can create an employee newsletter that highlights a different benefit you offer each week. You can hold regular seminars on what’s offered and the benefits of taking advantage of them.

After your initial education sessions, it’s important to keep engaging with your employees about benefits. It’s no longer enough to do this only when it’s time to renew each year.

Beckham Insurance Group Can Help Improve Benefits Literacy

Companies today should take a keen interest in helping their employees take advantage of the benefits that are offered to them. Doing so shows employees that you care about them and ensures that they get the most value out of their compensation package.

At Beckham Insurance Group, we help all the businesses we work with create a plan to educate their employees about what benefits are offered and how to take advantage of them. If you run a business in the South Carolina or Georgia region, you can get to know the immense advantage of doing so by working with our team of seasoned professionals.