The Issue
One of our mid-sized clients, a manufacturing firm with just under 175 employees, revealed through a comment made during a monthly review session with our strategy team last year that many of their employees simply didn’t understand the value of the benefit package offered by the company. They felt that many employees either didn’t know about all the benefits available to them or were out of touch with the cost of those benefits.
Our Solution
We suggested that they show their employees the value of the company benefit package through an annual distribution of employee benefit statements. These statements, also referred to as "total compensation" statements, have the ability to detail as much information as the employer would like to present, such as values for health insurance, ancillary benefits, wellness benefits, taxes paid, vacation time, retirement programs, any uniforms provided, etc. Typically, all individual values are then added together and the employee is presented with a total value of all benefits. Benefit statements can vary in style and format and can be tailored to fit a specific employer’s objectives. Charts, graphs and other graphics can be included, along with any company specific images and logos.
The Summary
We developed the benefit statements after receiving a file from the employer including all pertinent data and the employer distributed them electronically with a note to each employee via email. Any employee without email access was able to pick up their statement at the Human Resource office. Many employees expressed surprise at the dollar value of benefits provided by the company and some employees only then understood the true scope of benefits provided by their employer.
Adding to the value of these statements was a secondary benefit. Several employees, after reviewing information on the statements, realized some of their enrollment data was outdated and needed to be changed. After terminating dependents no longer eligible and making other eligibility changes, the employer was actually able to save $22,500/month in benefits cost.
Employee benefits communication tools are more important than ever in today’s complex benefit environment. For a review of the various communication tools and how they can benefit your company.