ESS Implementation Increases the Need for Benefits Communication
Benefits communication and administration is a time consuming and costly duty most HR departments dislike. There seems to be little reward in providing round after round of training for employees during open enrollment and processing the resulting stacks of paperwork. That’s one reason Employee Self Service (ESS) portals are such a popular choice. Especially with the shift toward CDHPs and portability, it makes sense for individual workers to take more responsibility for handling their own benefits.
ESS Doesn’t Make Plans Less Complex
However, there is always a tradeoff. When employees take charge of their benefits administration, this doesn’t make them magically more informed. You know how confusing insurance plans are. Making elections that truly meet the needs of your family is something you think about long and hard whenever there are changes in pricing and coverage. If your company uses FSAs, HRAs, or HSAs, you spend even more time on budgeting and planning for healthcare expenses.
For the average employee, this decision making process is fraught with anxiety. People are smart enough to know when they don’t have a sufficient level of expertise to make fully informed decisions. They are experiencing worries over how any changes will impact their take home pay as well. Sending workers to an ESS website and telling them to just read the FAQ if they aren’t sure about their choices isn’t a helpful response.
Ensure Adoption and Comprehension
HR branding is negatively impacted when you completely divorce personal interaction from the benefits enrollment process. A good rule to follow is doubling your communication about a topic whenever you shift another administrative responsibility to your employees. Expect to spend additional time on training to speed adoption of a new ESS system.
Your approach needs to be interactive but doesn’t necessarily have to be face-to-face. Virtual classrooms and live chat may feel sufficiently personal to generation Y workers. There should always be more traditional options including a helpdesk and phone line (with live operators) available for older employees so they don't feel alienated.
Provide a Steady Flow of Information
After users are comfortable with navigating an ESS site, you can focus on explaining practical considerations and suggestions for employees to get the most out of their benefits. This is where HR needs to really take the lead in using social technology. Blog posts, podcasts, Twitter messages, and YouTube videos all offer opportunities for employees to learn without having to slog through boring fine print.
Continuous communication in the form of helpful advice keeps the value of benefits and the ease of using your ESS portal at the forefront of worker's minds. This increases their satisfaction level as they come to view self service as a convenience rather than a burden.
