Communication of employee benefits is advantageous for your business in a number of ways, including employee satisfaction and retention. Effective communication strategies can make or break workplace productivity and an employee's alignment with your business goals. Communication that clarifies the benefits provided by an employer helps motivate workers.

To implement a successful communication strategy it takes information, effort, time and money. Be sure to involve everyone in the planning process so employees feel involved and valued. Consider the following employee benefits communications basics:

1. Understand how good employee communication benefits workplace morale and trust.

2. Encourage suggestions from employees to develop creative employee benefits communication strategies.

3. Utilize employee communication materials and take advantage of an employee communication service.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn about how encouraging employee communication benefits your business

Keeping lines open for communication of employee benefits makes for satisfied employees. Understanding the benefits your business will reap due to better employee-employer communication regarding benefits packages will make the planning and implementation process worthwhile. The prospective benefits will provide you with goals to reach upon completion of your new communication strategy.

I recommend: Read an article provided by BNET to understand why its important to encourage truthful employee benefits communication. View an HR Management article dealing with the importance of communicating employee benefits.

Learn about benefits communication strategies to enhance morale and productivity

Fostering productive employee benefits communication can be difficult, but be sure to include employees in the communication strategy process to enhance creativity and implement a plan that works for everyone. Use surveys and interviews to understand how your employees would change communication channels at work and to better tailor future strategies to employee needs.

I recommend: Check out HOPE Health, which provides advice about using blogs for effectively communicating employee benefits. View an article provided by The Benefits Group of SourceMedia highlighting strategies to enhance employee benefits communication.

Learn about employee communication benefits derived by obtaining employee communication services

Outsourcing employee benefits communication practices to a specialized company will ease your workload and enable your business to utilize innovative communication techniques. You can also gain a better understanding of how employee communication material aids communication strategies implemented at your business.

I recommend: Learn about the communication materials and services provided by BTA Employee Benefits Communication to better understand how your business can take advantage of a benefits specialist. View case studies at BeneCom Associates to learn how clients have utilized the services of a full-service employee benefit communications company.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Improve employee benefits communication with the use of employee benefit statements to make sure everyone is on the same page. Issue such statements any time there is a change to an employee's benefits package.

Communicating employee benefits effectively in today's economic climate is essential to sustaining morale and company loyalty. Strategic employee communication services are invaluable especially during organizational change. Open the morning newspaper and you'll find the latest in a string of corporate layoffs, mergers and budget cuts. With employee communication benefits, you eliminate employee mistrust, foster positive attitudes and allow employee communication materials to provide personalized information in a cost-effective way.

Employee benefits communications also help you engage your employees with business decisions. Depending on the philosophy and organizational structure of your business, employees get involved in a personal way through customized employee communication services. Design employee communication material to maximize profits with these strategies:

1. Find employee communication materials to strategically support the needs of your company;

2. Engage and retain personnel during organizational change with company-wide employee communication services;

3. Increase your bottom line with web-based benefits communications software.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Employ strategic employee communication materials to support objectives

Keep your objectives at the fore with communication training resources, which improve interactions between your company and employees while enhancing productivity, loyalty and trust.

I recommend: Implement communication training courses to encourage dialogue and understanding among employees, teams and managers with companies like MaraStar Communications, which provides training courses with practical tips on how to communicate quickly and effectively. For a comprehensive employee communications strategy, Eloquor Consulting, Inc. designs a customized approach to meet your communication needs.

Utilize employee communications services during organizational change

Employee communication benefits both the employer and the employee. Communicating regularly with employees is just as important as providing an avenue for them to express their concerns and opinions. Newsletters, email updates and websites are beneficial options for supporting open communication with employees.

I recommend: Communication Ideas offers communications templates for newsletters and offers tips to help you keep employees in the loop during organizational change. Provide a comprehensive approach to employee communications services with a company-wide web portal; create one with WebOffice, which includes important announcements, calendars and up-to-date information.

Enhance profits with online benefits communications software

Customize on-demand employee benefits communications information including elective benefits, vacation and employee benefit statements to suit your needs. Many companies are outsourcing this vital component and find eliminating this administrative duty ultimately enhances the bottom line.

I recommend: Sage Abra provides a demonstration of the types of online benefits communications software applications available. Choose one like Benefit Software Inc., which offers a customized approach to employee benefits communications and a video demonstration.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Create an atmosphere of trust by providing opportunities to participate in company-wide benefits communication strategies. Survey employees or ask them to develop training materials, which will benefit the company culture. Efforts like these help employees adapt to organizational change with supportive enthusiasm while solidifying their commitment to the company.

Receiving continued employee benefits communications education and training shows clients your dedication to your field. When they know you take the time to keep up with trends and changes in the industry, it can give them confidence in dealing with you.

Knowing how to implement employee communication materials gives you a professional edge in times when benefits change rapidly in employment. Continued employee benefits communications and training offers insight into ways to portray current trends to employees in an understandable manner. To educate yourself in employee communication material, you might want to look at the following educational opportunities:

1. Get a degree that covers employee communication benefits during class time.

2. Further your employee benefits communications education and training through online resources.

3. Become a member of an organization designed for those who offer employee communication services.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get a degree that focuses on communication of employee benefits

When you get a degree in business management, you will most like get hands-on training in employee communication benefit courses. Getting a degree shows clients that you are willing to put time and energy into getting the best education possible in your field.

I recommend: Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania teaches insurance and risk management and also specializes in employee benefits. Many professionals in the field get their certification as an employee benefits specialist through this program. Orfalea College of Business at California State Polytechnic University offers a degree in Management and Human Resources, which highlights management science in its courses. It also highlights management in human resources.

Continue benefits communication training by using online resources and courses

Study employee communication materials in the comfort of your home, learning around work schedule. Taking courses online lets you work at your own pace and offers more flexibility than an on-site classroom.

I recommend: Get a basic introduction to benefits at UC Berkeley Extension, which offers an online course covering plans for employee benefits. It teaches common choices in discretionary benefits. ERI Economic Research Institute covers benefits communication strategies through its online courses. It covers topics from controlling health care costs to employee vacation benefits.

Keep current in employee communication benefits by joining an association

Whether you want input on benefits communication strategies or want to learn where to find a seminar in your field, joining an association dedicated to your field puts you at an immediate advantage. It helps you network and keeps you current in industry trends.

I recommend: International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans offers members coursework in the field for employee benefit specialists. It also keeps members informed on business happenings via list serves, job posting services and peer networks and assists in research with its library and information center. The Professionals in Human Resources Association offers continued training for its members through conferences and programs. It keeps members updated in the newest industry business developments and services.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider working as an intern to get the inside scoop on employee communication services.

Hand in hand with engaging your employees in the company's success is the ability to effectively communicate significant company events and policies. When you reach out to employees with clear and consistent communications that are personalized as to position and department within the company, you're demonstrating just how much you value your staff. Research has shown that companies effectively communicating the benefits they offer to employees engender high morale and positive attitudes toward work. Get started on your company's employee benefits communications plan by learning some key terms and concepts.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Benefit compliance

Benefit compliance, or the adherence to federal and state regulations regarding employee benefits, is at the heart of any benefits communications program.

I recommend: Go to Baker, Thomsen Associates to find out when your company needs to revise its employee benefits communications and which documents are most likely to be the subject of regulatory changes.

Launching a new benefit program

Your company needs to focus on launching a new benefit program when it has made substantial changes to its current programs.

I recommend: Benecom offers a case study in launching a new benefit program. Find out what a company's specific challenges and goals are in launching a new benefit program and how you can tell when the program has been effective. You'll also find out how results of the program are analyzed.

Employee research and benchmarking

Employee research and benchmarking provides data that companies depend on to gain an understanding of their employees' attitudes.

I recommend: Go to Eloquor Consulting to find out the particulars research communications specialists provide and four main strategies companies use to collect this data. You'll also learn how results from the research can help you revise your communication strategies.

Printed benefit statements

Companies have been depending on printed benefit statements to educate employees about the real value of their overall benefits packages. These statements are sometimes called total compensation statements or total rewards statements.

I recommend: Go to Benefit Software to find out how you can help your employees understand the real cost to your company of providing the benefits you offer. You'll learn how these statements can help you encourage dialogue with employees about company benefits policies.

Wage and salary survey

The wage and salary survey refers to an annual survey that collects data from many jobs in more than 200 companies.

I recommend: Go to The Employers Association to understand how to use the results from this survey for benefits communications. Find out how the results of this survey are used to compare data between jobs, regions, company sizes and industries.

Incentive compensation

When you implement an incentive compensation policy, you are offering salaries that will attract and retain top talent.

I recommend: Go to Authoria to find out how to manage incentive compensation programs and how they are critical to maintaining a competitive edge in your industry.