Get Schooled: These Benefits Education Tricks Will Eliminate HR Burnout

You know the scene all too well: your bleary-eyed HR team is working deep into the night downing black coffees, as they respond to an endless blitz of emails and texts. Often, the messages come from employees overwhelmed by the complexity of their health benefits plans. And you get it:you’re confused too. If only there was a comprehensive educational guide to help address your employees’ benefits confusion and relieve your overburdened team.

Luckily, we’ve compiled one for you. In this guide, we discuss the materials, tactics, and technology needed to help employees more fully grasp what benefits are available to them and how best to use them. Our goal is to help usher confused employees out of the dark, up company morale, and (cue the confetti cannons) give time back to your HR team.

The confusion is real

As the complexity of benefits plans continues to increase so does employee confusion. For your employees, parsing the intricacies of their health coverage—deductibles, co-pays, in-network vs. out-of-network providers–can be a daunting task. They may put off important visits to their primary care providers or specialists, simply so they don’t have to think about their plan. Missed appointments can lead to missed diagnoses, their health decreasing, as their productivity plummets. For your team, managing employees’ endless benefits inquiries, addressing misunderstandings, and correcting errors consumes a great deal of time they simply doesn’t have.

So, what to do about it? Proactively providing comprehensive education to your employees can improve proper member utilization and give time back to your team. By offering tactics such as clear and concise plan summaries, ongoing communication, and personalized communication, HR teams can empower employees to make informed, intelligent decisions about their health. This not only enhances benefits utilization, but it reduces your team’s workload.

Clarity is key

Providing clear and concise plan summaries is the first step to cutting confusion. These summaries should break down the essential elements of each benefits plan, including:

• ‍Coverage Details: Summaries should clearly outline what is covered under the plan, including preventative care, primary care visits, specialist visits, emergency services, and prescription medications. Use straightforward language and avoid fancy jargon to ensure employees of all backgrounds and educational levels will understand the details.‍
• Costs: Provide a transparent overview of costs associated with the plan, including premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket maximums. Consider including visual aids like charts and graphs to illustrate the costs clearly and bring some life to the report.‍
• Provider Networks: Highlight the importance of in-network providers and offer tools or directories to help your employees find and select high-quality, low-cost providers within their network. Be sure to emphasize the significant financial gains of staying within their network.‍
• Additional Benefits: Offer information on FSAs, telehealth services, and other benefits that can enhance overall health and well-being. This can encourage employees to take advantage of services that promote preventive care and healthy lifestyles, which can increase their overall health and workplace satisfaction.

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Keep the conversation going

Education should extend far past enrollment season. Ongoing communication is crucial for keeping members informed, educated, and engaged with their benefits throughout the year. Regularly popping into their inboxes with information about their benefits can encourage utilization. Here are some tactics for implementing ongoing conversation:

• Switch it up: No one communication mode is going to land with every demographic in every context. Reach members through email, SMS text message, phone calls, and printed materials in multiple languages. These updates should be concise and focused, providing actionable information that employees can easily understand and use.
• Create a Social Plan: Reach your employees where they are: online. Develop a social media strategy that offers essential health benefits information, preventive care advice, and plan updates. You can make the content fun by posting quizzes, contests, and polls. Videos and livestreams are also a great way to engage younger audiences.
• Keep it Simple: Complex medical jargon simply won’t cut it. Use clear, concise language with engaging graphics, when appropriate.
• Use Plain Language: Implement plain language standards for all communication materials.

Make it personal

To truly engage employees, keep it personal. By leveraging data analytics, benefits guidance can identify employees who may benefit from tailored educational materials. For example, younger employees might benefit from information on preventative care and managing stress, while employees with chronic illnesses might need more detailed information on monitoring and managing their chronic condition. The following tactics will help you personalize your educational approaches:

• Tailor your materials: Segment your employee population based on demographics, health status, and benefits utilization patterns. Use this segmentation to develop tailored materials that address the unique educational needs of each group.
• Lean into life events: Major life events often coincide with changes in benefits needs. Identify employees experiencing life changes such as parenthood. Reach out with personalized communications offering relevant benefits information and education. Conduct surveys to keep up with employees’ life events and milestones.

Technology is your friend

Truly reaching modern employees means leaning into the latest technology. Technology can make it easy for employees to view, find and access educational materials and benefits information. It can also simplify the entire benefits journey which will reduce confusion and misunderstanding. Here are some tactics for leveraging technology:

• Put the user first: Provide employees with a simple and intuitive experience that puts them first. It should provide easy access to plan information, provider directories, and educational resources. Easy access means employees are more likely to spend time reviewing resources and gaining a deeper understanding of their benefits. Features like push notifications can remind employees of important deadlines and encourage utilization.
• Offer support: Benefits journeys should never be a solo trip. Implement chatbots that can provide instant answers to common questions and guide members through the complexity of their plans. These tools should be available 24/7, providing support when your employees need it most.
• Lean into AI: Benefits guidance that integrates AI can provide faster, more precise answers to all your employees’ burning questions, increasing their benefits knowledge and understanding. AI will master every detail of an employee’s plan, and then empower care guides to steer members to the smartest care decisions.

Measuring success

To ensure your education initiatives actually drive up engagement, you need to measure their impact. Key metrics to track include:

• Benefits utilization: Monitor the utilization rates of various benefits, such as preventative services and telehealth. Increased utilization can indicate that members are more informed and engaged.
• Member satisfaction: Conduct surveys to gauge member satisfaction with the education materials and overall benefits experience. Use this feedback to make continuous improvements to your educational efforts.
• Administrative efficiency: Track the time and resources spent on managing benefits inquiries and correcting enrollment errors before and after implementing the education initiatives. A decrease in these metrics indicates the effectiveness of your tactics.

What to do next

By offering clear communication, personalized support, and smart technology, you can turn the complex benefits landscape into a simpler, more navigable terrain. Employees will feel more valued and capable, leading to better health outcomes and more positive work experiences. HR teams regain precious time, reducing burnout and increasing efficiency. By prioritizing comprehensive benefits education, you’re doing more than improving a process; you’re paving the way for a more harmonious and efficient workplace, where everyone thrives.

Ready to steer your focus towards benefits education? Let our benefits guidance solution implement all your educational needs for you. Contact us today to learn more.