	Employee Benefits In Focus

Research predicts future landscape of benefits communication

The process of communication planning and implementation is often the key factor determining the effectiveness and performance of an employee benefits scheme. Yet many organisations underestimate the role that targeted, accessible and relevant communications can play in building, nurturing and growing employee engagement.

In terms of the future, it seems that communicating more effectively with employees about their benefits is high on the agenda for HR teams and organisations. One only needs to look at recent Employee Benefits research (2009) to note that improving benefits communication is a key priority for the months ahead.

But alongside communication, what does the future of rewards and benefits hold? And what can it offer organisations that want to engage and drive their workforce in the months and years ahead?

The growing preference for communicating total reward is certainly becoming clear but, in addition to this, the future is likely to witness further significant changes to the way employers communicate with their people about rewards and benefits.

Many commentators, for example, are already pointing to the General Election and the changes that any new governing party is likely to make to the way employee benefits are taxed.

“A new government is going to find it hard to balance the books and it seems likely whoever is in power following the election will consider changes to the tax regime on benefits and the exemptions employers and employees are entitled to. Organisations need to put a communications plan in place to manage these changes and ensure that, whatever happens, they don’t get the blame for government decisions in relation to tax and employee benefits,” says Charles Cotton, reward adviser at CIPD.

The tough economic environment that we’ve all been battling over the last couple of years has certainly set the scene for the future of benefits and their communication, says Alistair Denton from Motivano. “Our experience of the credit crunch and recession has been such that organisations are now programmed to ensure they’re getting the maximum return on investment from their benefits spend,” he says.

“Closely associated with ensuring maximum value from benefits is the issue of communication. This will only grow in significance for companies and employees as more organisations acknowledge the potential of targeted and relevant communication, more than likely under a clear and recognisable employer brand, to engage employees and contribute to sustained business performance,” adds Denton.

It is here that organisations can leverage the skills and experience that exist within the business. “The skills of marketing and HR will further blend together as organisations pursue and seek to sustain high levels of employee engagement. The same will soon be true when it comes to benefits communication,” predicts Andy Philpott.

“The employee engagement process and evolution of employee communications will follow a similar development path as customer engagement. The future will increasingly see us move towards profile and permission based marketing to employees, where they are empowered to pull relevant information and communications to them,” he says.

And, as we move out of recession, many employers are concerned about the prospect of high employee turnover as key talent that chose to ‘stay put’ in roles while times were tough finally make the decision to move elsewhere.

“Technology will continue to be an area where organisations can ‘future proof’ their rewards and benefits communication. It is already playing a key role and will continue to do so as social networking and mobile telephony, for example, make people and information more accessible,” says Nick Courtney, key account director at Accor Services.

“Developing technology offers organisations a unique opportunity to package reward and benefits information in a way that makes it accessible and relevant for all employees. The trick for companies will be to find the blend of communication and technology that best meets the needs of their current and future population,” he says.

At the same time, many leading HR and Benefits professionals would like to have more time to devote to face-face communications, either directly themselves or working closely through the existing line management structures.

The future, then, will be about smarter technology enabled communications, with higher skilled face-to-face engagement and improved visibility and measurement of ROI. A challenge, yes, but the prizes for getting it right will make the effort worth it!

The Accor Services White Paper ‘Communicate to Benefit’ released in February 2010 brings together findings from an online survey and interviews with leading industry and academic experts.

It explores the key issues and challenges confronting organisations in their attempts to communicate benefits to their employees today and in the future, and provides tips and advice.

Next Steps

Click here to download a free copy of ‘Communicate to Benefit’.

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