Benify to talk employee experience, EVP, and digital communications at HRD Summit in Birmingham— February 6-7

HR Directors Summit, Birmingham, England

On February 6^th and 7^th, Benify will participate in the HR Directors Summit, Birmingham with our Executive Vice President of Global Enterprise, Chris Wakely speaking about creating a consumer grade experience for employees as the best way to increase employee engagement.

Chris will discuss why communicating benefits and rewards as part of the employer value proposition (EVP) to employees is an impactful first step in opening dialogues with employees; interactions throughout the employee life cycle have a strong effect in boosting employees’ retention and productivity. He will share findings from Benify’s Benefit Gap and Compensation Gap studies and will discuss why presenting impactful information digitally optimizes the employee experience.

Why discuss employee benefits as part of the EVP?

Benefits are top of mind with employees, as we have seen with our 2018 HR Trends to Watch summary, especially those increasing financial wellness and work-life balance. When employees consider their overall work experience, they point to benefits and how well they are communicated as an indication of how their employer values them. However, benefits are often under-communicated by the employer. This can lead to employees’ misunderstanding the offers and even missing chances to participate in those benefits that can help them create the work-life balance or financial wellness they seek.

"Communicating the EVP with employees at all possible touchpoints is critical for companies that want to engage their talent. Benefits are of particular interest to employees, and are a good starting point to open the dialogue. However, from our Compensation Gap study we know that employees almost always underestimate what they actually get from their employer; everyone knows what they are paid but the value of additional elements such as benefits are often misunderstood and undervalued," says Chris Wakely.

He continues, "Pointing to benefits as just one way that the employer cares and demonstrates the EVP is a win-win. Benefits are important to employees. And for companies, benefits are important to attracting the right people and remaining competitive as an employer; benefits certainly should be elevated in discussions with potential recruits as well as, existing employees.

Communicate Well— Boost Employee Engagement

Communicating well creates a positive employee experience and can drive employee engagement in all that’s on offer—benefits, social activities, training programs, team building events, town halls and more. Employers can differentiate their organizations in the marketplace and improve chances with talent attraction when they highlight their total reward offering. It is important to get employees to take part– to enroll in what is offered, too. However, this relies heavily on targeted communications:

"Communication is key in inspiring employees. Regarding benefits, clarity is tops," says Chris. He continues, “Additionally, communication to employees should be finetuned, more frequent, targeted in nature, and of course, digital whenever possible since that is employees' preferred method to obtain information – It’s all about treating employees as if they are consumers. These days, employees seek convenience and the ability to access information wherever and whenever—outside of workspaces and workhours.”

Lack of information is a key area that employees complain about and could explain the difference in what benefits they rate as being important to which benefits they enjoy and actually participate in. Furthermore, communication about what the employer offers (besides benefits) should not be limited to the interview moment or during onboarding discussions or even any enrollment period. Rather, communication should be ongoing throughout the employee lifecycle at numerous touchpoints, to add richness to the overall employee experience.

"A key aim in employee communications should be to make the total reward known, appreciated, and something exciting to participate in. Keeping the employee’s perspective in mind and understanding their objectives throughout their journey adds a layer of information for HR that helps guide them in communicating benefit availability at key stages," adds Chris. "In fact, communicating in a way that employees prefer, that is, digitally, is just as important as deciding upon which information to provide and when."

Chris Wakely will be presenting on Day 1 of the HR Directors Summit event in Birmingham-- on February 6^th at 1:15 pm. The theme of the conference is Curators of the New Business Landscape.