COMMUNICATING YOUR WELLBEING STRATEGY

Transcription

1 COMMUNICATING YOUR WELLBEING STRATEGY

2 By the end of this module you will: Understand the costs and implications of not effectively communicating your wellbeing strategy to your employees. Know 3 effective ways of clearly communicating your unique wellbeing strategy to employees. Be prepared to have productive conversations with employees about what employee benefits they are entitled to, and why they are important. The recession has thrown business costs into stark relief. While pay freezes have been the norm for the past few years, Finance Directors, in particular, are recognising the value of employee wellbeing as a key strand of their staff recruitment and retention strategy. By offering benefits, such as private medical insurance or gym membership, employers can certainly build a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce. However, just offering great employee benefits isn t enough to promote wellbeing and financial security at work. You need to actually tell staff what your wellbeing strategy is. Did you know? The communications chasm between what benefits packages employers offer and what employees think they are entitled to is lowering staff satisfaction. This in turn drives up sickness absence rates and staff turnover. This costs a typical business with 1,000 employees 470,000 more a year than a business with similar benefits that has good communications in place

3 Fast facts - 3 -

4 In practice The way you talk about your culture is key to employee engagement. Better informed employees are more loyal. Tom May, research and information executive at Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), believes employees need to know about what you are doing to maintain and improve wellbeing it makes good business sense. In a world of digital working, with more people working flexible hours, you might not be in physical contact with staff as often. Therefore communication has become a top priority. It is not surprising that communication has been noted as the top skill managers would like to develop. However, recent ILM research has noted that this is also the skill which managers state their peers tend to do most badly. The key to communicating well is fostering two-way communications. It is essential that people feel consulted and listened to. You almost cannot communicate too much. Research conducted by Benefex, a reward and employee benefits provider, shows a positive correlation between the number of communication channels a business uses and employee benefit take-up. Simon Andrew, Head of Communications at Benefex, recognises the importance of face-to-face communication: If we trace communications right back, it all started with face-to faceinteraction. So it s no surprise today that it s still the most successful method of sharing information and driving a change in behaviour. However, there will be times when other methods are more applicable. And we can never rely on one channel only. The most effective campaigns are multi-channel, with the methods and messages tailored to suit the employee demographic

5 To communicate effectively with staff you need to be informed about what you offer as part of your wellbeing strategy. Many Board members, managers and line managers don t know the difference between different employee benefit products, for example, or why they are useful. Here are some useful definitions: Critical Illness (CI) cover Critical Illness cover means you ll get a taxfree lump sum if you re diagnosed with one of a number of covered medical conditions. The payment enables you and your family to solve some of the financial problems that may occur if you become seriously ill or permanently disabled. The policy can help with, for example, paying off your mortgage and the cost of medical expenses. Anyone can benefit from a financial boost at a time of physical and emotional stress. Income Protection (IP) Income Protection provides a regular replacement income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. Getting Income Protection through your employer (it s called Group Income Protection) will often mean that any medical conditions you ve had in the past are covered, subject to the T&Cs of your policy. It pays up to a maximum of 80% of your salary, via the employer, which normally begins to pay out after 6 months off work. This continues until you re well enough to return to work, reach the end of the policy or you retire. Life Insurance If you die, Life Insurance pays a tax-free lump sum, to provide financial support for the people who depend on you financially, like your husband or wife or partner and children (your dependants)

6 HAVING USEFUL CONVERSATIONS Have a look at these 3 effective ways to initiate conversations with colleagues about your employee wellbeing strategy: Conversation starters If employees aren t familiar with different employee benefit products available, it s hard for them to understand why they re useful. To initiate a conversation about Income Protection, for example, perhaps ask employees how long they think they d be able to support themselves and their families if they stopped receiving their salary tomorrow. Use the data available from your last benefits window, renewal period or staff survey to look for trends and inform where your strategy and internal comms need to be targeted. Share information and insights with managers on the most and least popular benefits and their value so they can cascade this through their teams. If your Board members, managers and line managers aren t familiar with your organisation s wellbeing strategy, it s hard for them to be role models. Why not give them an opportunity to reacquaint themselves at the next Board meeting? Good times to talk All staff meetings Benefits fair Board meeting Budget Exit interviews Confirmation of probation reviews Anniversary of service Staff survey - 6 -

7 Take ten So, what s the best way to communicate your employee wellbeing strategy, the employee benefits you provide and why they re useful? That s the million-dollar question! The answer is that different things will work for different businesses, but here are a few suggestions (and real-life examples) to get you started. Think about whether you could implement anything similar in your organisation. Visual reminders - New Zealand telecoms company ihug wanted to communicate to its young Gen Y workforce, who said in a staff survey they needed to feel valued and suffered overload with each day. The company had recently experienced significant growth but also the high staff turnover common to the industry. ihug put new systems in place including desktop reminders, screensaver images and news tickers reminding staff of their great wellbeing initiatives in an eyecatching and fun way. Microsite/company intranet - Lots of people find it easier to consume information via video rather than reading lots of text. If you have a company intranet, or you re able to invest in an employee wellbeing microsite, consider getting staff to upload videos of themselves talking about your wellbeing strategy and how it benefits them. This insight will sound much better coming from them, and you could even offer a prize for the best one. Website - US healthcare company Ardent were introducing a new system of allowing employees to offset rising health premiums against healthy choices they made. Worried the scheme might not get very good take-up, and also wishing to put their company benefits into one easily accessible place, they launched an enrolment programme and set up a wellness website with social media features which anyone could access. The scheme was a great success with a 91% staff take-up

8 Internal newsletter/ /magazine - An internal newsletter, either printed or online, would be a good place to remind staff about your great wellbeing initiatives. You could do it in a newspaper-style with stories about staff members who ve been benefiting from their gym membership or private health cover etc. Alternatively, consider sending a few dedicated employee wellbeing communication s, which detail things like what employee benefits you provide, but remember that just because you send them out, it doesn t necessarily mean they ll be read! Noticeboards - In a digital age, you may not even consider your noticeboard as a good way of communicating. But with people receiving more and more s each day, it can be a way to stand out! Whilst not everyone will read it, it s a great place to catch people s eye with something visual (e.g. a poster). Company-wide presentations - You could ask your employee benefit providers to come in and give a presentation. There may be a cost associated with this but sometimes, having an external representative can make people sit up and take notice. Presentations can be particularly useful if you have a complicated subject like pensions, and a company representative who is able to bring the subject to life. It s generally best to keep any presentation under 30 minutes and be sure to leave time for Q&As at the end. Staff meetings - This is a great opportunity to showcase any new employee wellbeing initiatives you ve introduced, or new employee benefits you re providing, and to let them know where they can find out more information. Handbook - And let s not forget the trusty staff handbook. Make sure your benefits are clearly listed within its pages, and that everyone s got one! - 8 -

9 BE BESPOKE Workplace context Ask yourself Get prepared 1. Improve awareness Have a look at the charts below, and think about how you currently communicate your wellbeing strategy. What do you need to know/find out to improve awareness in your organisation, and ultimately develop a wellbeing strategy which is tailored to address the needs of your workforce? Communicating employee benefits appropriately to potential and current recruits is a vital part of any wellbeing strategy, and a failure to do so can have a very tangible impact on a business. Research shows that failure to effectively communicate benefits package costs UK companies 2.7bn every year through increased staff turnover and sickness absence. How are we communicating our benefits package to new recruits? Is our benefits package clearly communicated to our employees right now? Do we communicate this information often enough? What opportunities are there for us to communicate this information on a regular basis? Ask others (employees or colleagues) Should I ask staff whether they think we ve got our wellbeing strategy right? Can I ask line managers whether they feel prepared to have conversations about our wellbeing strategy, e.g. what employee benefits we provide and why they re useful? Can I ask recent new joiners whether they think we re communicating our wellbeing strategy effectively during and after the recruitment process? - 9 -

10 2. Tailor to fit Workplace context Effective communication of benefits is not just about making sure staff know what is on offer; it is also an opportunity to find out what employee benefits and other initiatives they value most, and to evaluate whether your current offering reflects this. Ask yourself Do I know what benefits my staff value? When was the last time I asked them? Does what we offer reflect their needs? Do I know the demographic breakdown of my workforce? Am I tailoring the communication of our wellbeing strategy to ensure it resonates with my workforce? Ask others (employees or colleagues) Could we introduce a staff survey to find out what employee benefits our workforce value most?

11 IN SUMMARY Think about Once you ve decided what actions you should introduce in your workplace to improve the communication of your wellbeing strategy, you need to think about how you can implement them. Consider what you could do: Today (e.g. take a look at your employee noticeboard. Is there anything eye catching that you could put there to spread the word about your employee wellbeing strategy and the employee benefits available?). Tomorrow (e.g. catch your Finance Director and engage in a conversation about employee benefits. Share the Money Talks infographic with him/her!). Next week (e.g. ensure that a discussion about your existing employee wellbeing strategy is on the next Board agenda, so you can work together develop a long-term plan). Peter O Donnell, CEO of Unum UK, says: Simply offering a great employee benefits package as part of an effective wellbeing strategy isn t enough to promote wellbeing and financial security amongst employees. Our experience shows that contrary to employers beliefs, communicating with staff about financial protection and wellbeing initiatives leads to lower absence rates and reduced time off sick. Having an open dialogue between employers and employees about benefits builds a more productive and loyal workforce, and the bottom line benefits are evident

12 If you don t remember anything else, remember: Many companies have expensive benefits packages in place which are not sufficiently widely communicated. 64% of businesses have invested in good employee benefits, but don t tell staff what they are entitled to. Poor communication is costing UK businesses 2.7bn a year. Employee retention and engagement is lower amongst staff who are unaware of the benefits on offer, and as a result are more likely to call in sick or leave the company altogether. Don t forget to update your CPD record after completing this module! You can use all of the learning from this module to contribute to your CPD. Just download and complete our easy-to-use template and keep it with your CPD records. Other modules in this series include: 5 ways to improve workplace wellbeing Top tips to attract and retain the best people 5 ways to improve motivation and trust 10 ways to win over your Finance Director Developing an effective wellbeing strategy

13 Read more All references and sources, included in this module can be found here and are available in Your Ultimate Wellbeing Toolkit. Cass Business School produced a report on behalf of Unum assessing the impact of not communicating employee benefits effectively: An infographic was produced to accompany this Cass Business School report: Plain English created a plain English guide to Income Protection on behalf of Unum, which is explained in this video: Unum has created a simple glossary of insurance terms, which doesn t include any confusing jargon: INSURANCE-A4-DOC2.pdf?59fa6ba5-2c dabd-d8618f20351c Unum worked with the CIPD and a number of employers large and small to produce The Blueprint a practical guide to help employers communicate wellbeing strategies effectively, and to make the case for a renewed focus on health and wellbeing at board level:

14 The Future Laboratory produced The Future Workplace report on behalf of Unum, which looks at how the workplace is evolving and what employers need to do to successfully manage employee wellbeing over the next 5 years: pdf?aaeb312c e8a-19c6-c af90 Tom May, research and information executive at Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) shares his top tips for business leaders on creating a caring company in this article: Unum produced a blog guide looking at ways companies can communicate employee benefits to their staff: Cass Business School produced a report on behalf of Unum to show the difference in the financial security of workers today compared to 30 years ago:

15 Think about Use this page to reflect on the following: Immediate actions you could take. Things you could do as an ongoing commitment to clearly communicating your wellbeing strategy. Conversations you might have with a colleague about your existing employee wellbeing strategy. The kind of things you would like to see in the workplace to communicate your wellbeing strategy more clearly