Michael Held is CEO and founder of LifeSpeak Inc. (TSX: LSPK), a leading whole-person well-being solution for employers and health plans.
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Workplace benefits can be confusing at the best of times. But during open enrollment, when employees are navigating multiple options and trying to predict what life might throw their way in the coming year, it can be downright overwhelming. Whether it’s because they don’t understand what's being offered, don’t realize what’s available to them or simply lose sight of what they've signed up for, employees often struggle to make the most of their benefits or related workplace policies.
Business leaders shouldn't underestimate how this confusion can affect their organizations. Benefits are a powerful resource for increasing retention and job satisfaction and improving productivity. HR teams have traditionally been the go-to resource for addressing benefits education, but business leaders need to play a more visible role if they want to build a lasting workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being and all the benefits that come with it.
Managers and other leaders are in a unique position to normalize benefits like unlimited PTO and mental health support that employees might otherwise be unaware of or reluctant to access. By committing to active modeling of benefits use and a personal focus on well-being, leaders can help employees identify with their team, cultivate feelings of belonging, improve how their organization is perceived and increase employees' engagement with their job and the organization.
Spread the word about your support for employee well-being.
Any effort to improve benefits utilization among your workforce should start with education and awareness. While benefits checklists and summary plan descriptions play a role in this, an executive voice carries more weight and garners more attention. Use newsletters, direct mail, benefits portals and other internal communication tools to extend a personal message from leadership about the importance of enrolling in company-sponsored benefits.
If you and other leaders are comfortable, share a personal story about how you've engaged with benefits. For example, was there a particularly challenging time when you turned to on-demand content and expertise or an employee assistance program to support you? You can also talk about the available financial support resources, such as flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts or 401(k)s. Share how you've used them to prepare for your future, how employees can enhance their own financial planning with these tools and how financial (in)stability can impact overall well-being.
Don't limit these communications to the open enrollment period, either. While employees make final decisions about voluntary benefits during open enrollment, regular reminders throughout the year will help ensure they're aware of all resources available to them. This is an effective way to draw attention to unfamiliar or underutilized benefits and promote benefits that address health issues you've noticed within your workforce, such as stress or poor nutrition. You can also highlight benefits that don’t require enrollment, including PTO, mental health days, flexible work schedules and personal coaching and support. Regular reminders of the benefits available to them can also help employees feel more supported by your organization.
Model the benefits behavior you want employees to adopt.
The best leaders do more than just talk, which is why you must demonstrate that it's encouraged—and even expected—for employees to take advantage of their benefits. Lectures about maintaining a healthy work-life balance won’t carry much weight if your executive team or frontline managers regularly send and respond to emails when they're on vacation. That’s why it’s important to model the behavior you’d like employees to adopt.
For example, at LifeSpeak Inc. we reinforce the importance of disconnecting while on vacation. When I’m out of the office, I try my best to be truly out of the office. Employees won't see emails, texts or even LinkedIn posts from me, and I encourage all my employees to do the same. I also make a point to encourage executive participation in workplace fitness challenges, which energizes people at all levels because they get to know their colleagues better as they share photos of their activities during the challenge.
While HR teams remain the first point of contact for most employees when it comes to benefits information, your organization will get more mileage out of these efforts and improve engagement when leadership helps carry the message. Whether your goal is to increase EAP utilization or the use of digital benefits to reach remote or dispersed teams, show everyone the way by talking the talk and walking the walk.
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