A Better Understanding of Employee Engagement and Benefits

What do you feel is the biggest health care challenge facing employers right now?

Strategies that feel more like punishments than support. Employers want their people to be healthy — to lower health costs and improve performance, ideally because they genuinely care about their people. But benefits designers and wellness companies have delivered programs without proper connection to business goals and company culture. This lack of context stifles inspiration and employee commitment. So programs that should feel like fun, strategic, social and immersive job and life support feel like hoops employees have to jump through.

What can be done to make employees more aware of benefits offered by employers?

I think this is actually the wrong question. It’s trendy now to try to get more people to the slew of benefits companies have bought for them, that hardly anyone uses. And there is value in that, to some extent.

But I’d rather start with first principles. What are we trying to accomplish as a business? What’s our purpose? How do we measure success? Then the key question is: Does every single employee program, communication and technology reinforce this? Do we have real-time feedback on how we’re doing towards that? After that, just take all the lessons of modern marketing — social, digital, personal, big-data-driven — and apply them.

In your experience, what benefits do employees find most valuable?

Ask 100 employees and you’ll get 100 answers. At Limeade, we’ve actually done this. What a recent grad wants from his or her benefits is different from a new mom or someone approaching retirement. There are regional, cultural and highly personal factors that make “choice” the most important benefit of all.

Beyond that, the most powerful benefits are the universal, “unofficial” ones that reinforce culture. For example, a positive environment with networks of supportive peers. Having a manager that cares about you is one of the most significant work benefits anyone can have.

We know 78 percent of employees would work harder if they felt their efforts were better appreciated. When employees feel their employer cares about their well-being, they’re 38 percent more engaged at work.

Which industry trend are you most excited about as we move into 2018?

I’m most excited to see employee well-being elevated far beyond traditional wellness. We can no longer ignore the fact that well-being is crucial to employee engagement and all of the business results an engaged workforce drives. This means elevating discussions that used to take place only in HR and benefits into the C-suite. It’s converging industries focused on employees, with the tech leaders with established points of view emerging as the winners.

What do you feel is the biggest health care challenge facing employers right now?

One of the biggest, and least talked about, health care challenges facing employers is mental health. With millennials reporting high rates of depression, the opioid addiction crisis and mounting evidence that stress and depression are linked to major physical health risks, employers need to look beyond traditional insurance to expand total well-being benefits and improve employee health.

What can be done to make employees more aware of benefits offered by employers?

The new workforce demands new benefits communication strategies. Instead of leaving benefits buried in handbooks, employers need to dramatically reimagine benefits engagement. From video marketing to social media and mobile apps, employers need to partner with benefits providers that offer modern marketing and on-demand access to drive benefits awareness, promote ongoing utilization and deliver the strongest return on investment. 

ACI Specialty Benefits worked with one Fortune 500 company with over 100 locations nationwide that wanted to reinvigorate their benefit program. As part of the engagement strategy, ACI produced a new benefits website that allowed users to submit direct requests for services, live chat with ACI specialists and search for a wide range of resources. Targeted email announcements, trainings and video orientations, social media posts and benefits information across internal company websites led to a 166 percent increase in users accessing services from the previous year, and 20-25 percent increased benefits utilization.

In your experience, what benefits do employees find most valuable?

Employee expectations and new workforce trends are changing the way companies do business. Today’s multigenerational, tech-savvy and socially-motivated employees want to work for companies rooted in a strong purpose and mission with a thriving culture. HR leaders who invest in mental health support and people-first benefits will see the strongest “return-on-individual” through improved engagement and retention.

New benefits and perks that speak to modern workforce needs — like financial wellness, errand running, all-inclusive caretaking support and wellness coaching — will continue becoming strong tools for retention and engagement in the years ahead. High-quality EAPs and corporate concierge programs can address any major gaps in benefits for the new workforce and support best-place-to-work initiatives for any company. 

Which industry trend are you most excited about as we move into 2018?

One of the fastest growing and biggest industry trends for 2018 is the emergence of popular concierge benefits, onsite perks and errand running at the workplace. Today’s employees are busy, juggling multiple work and life responsibilities, and personal time is often spent cramming in a long list of to-do items. Modern concierge and errand running benefits help employees take care of personal, life and family responsibilities and remain focused, present and happy at work. 

More than just a trendy perk, concierge programs and errand running services are helping employers achieve higher rates of job satisfaction, productivity and engagement. Benefits that provide modern convenience, reduce stress and improve quality of life are important for today’s best places to work, especially in high-stress industries like technology, law, finance and health care.

What do you believe is the most effective way to increase employee engagement in an organization?

First and foremost, you need to use the social media tools that are used by your employees. Studies show the percentage of time that people spend on these sites is significant, so make sure that your message is incorporated into those sites. Then keep the content fresh. The shelf life of information is shortening every day from an attention span stand point as well as from a usefulness perspective. Create a template that reiterates the key points and keeps the content fresh. It is also important to give the employees visibility and a voice within the program.

With more and more companies putting a focus on employee well-being and engagement each year, how do you see the HR industry changing to reflect this point of emphasis?

The bottom line is companies are struggling with the new culture of employees and the primary focus of the business. Understanding that there needs to be a balance between work and personal life while creating an environment of “ownership” is a growing challenge. Offering leisure products within recognition programs is a strong bridge. Based on the demographics, incorporate fitness products and home connectivity products. Fashion and conventional categories are also very strong. The work hard-play hard philosophy is still in place so give your employees incentives that enhance their personal lives as well.

What is one change a company may notice after implementing an employee engagement solution?

All programs consist of 20 percent of employees totally engaged and eager to achieve. Then there are 20 percent of employees that are almost impossible to motivate. So, an effective program will see movement among the remaining 60 percent of employees. These programs can take form in a greater esprit de corps and a breakdown of internal silos. It also takes the form of greater collaboration if there is a peer to peer element in the program. The culture of the organization will also improve because employees see a commitment to them and that the engagement is real.

If you could give one piece of advice to an organization looking to increase engagement, what would it be?

Build your program by listening to your employees. Don’t make assumptions. Don’t think that “one size fits all”. The employees in the organization hold key elements to increase engagement.

What do you believe is the most effective way to increase employee engagement in an organization?

Positive employee engagement begins with aligning the organization’s objectives and employees’ goals. When an employee feels their work matters and that they are contributing to the overall success and mission of the organization, they feel more engaged. Feedback on the employee’s activities, work deliverables and behaviors goes a long way to reinforce the value of his or her contributions and how that employee can improve and learn.

With more and more companies putting a focus on employee well-being and engagement each year, how do you see the HR industry changing to reflect this point of emphasis?

HR has started to move from being a tactical leader to a strategic partner to business. There is a generational shift in how employees perceive their employment. Engaging employees has become more important. Employees expect to know the organization’s goals and how their work matters. They want to be appreciated for doing well and given feedback when they can do better. Engaged employees can do wonders for the organizations in achieving their goals and strategic objectives. 

What is one change a company may notice after implementing an employee engagement solution?

Organizations that take proactive steps to implement engagement solutions will immediately get a pulse of the organization as well as the culture based on how the employees adopt that solution. Active engagement really begins implementing insights from how employees take advantage, or do not take advantage, of the solution. Merely implementing a software or solution will not magically produce results unless the management is invested in increasing the solution adoption.  

If you could give one piece of advice to an organization looking to increase engagement, what would it be?

An organization looking to increase engagement must get a good read of its culture and get unqualified investment from leadership in this initiative. If the engagement programs are run by middle management or HR without active leadership from the CXX suite then the odds of success from such programs are not very high. If there is one thing an organization should do to increase engagement, it is to make it a main goal of the top leaders.

What do you believe is the most effective way to improve employee health in an organization?

Employees live more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else. Providing a healthy environment and a supportive culture facilitates effective engagement for employees and their families motivating them to practice healthy behaviors. On-site comprehensive primary care health services help build employee trust, drive engagement and optimize employee health.

With more and more companies putting a focus on employee wellness each year, how do you see the HR industry changing to reflect this point of emphasis?

People want to be healthier. They want to trust their providers, access believable information and work with reliable support services. Successful employers will offer benefits designs promoting utilization of high value providers and effective well-being tools that empower and engage people in meaningful behavior change.

What is one change a company may notice after implementing an employee health solution?

The most important change I’ve seen is an improvement in overall employee engagement. Once a person starts to take control of one part of their life, this personal accountability extends to a wide range of health and lifestyle issues and then more broadly to their home and work life.

If you could give one piece of advice to an organization looking to increase its employees engagement, what would it be?

Build the trust of your employees. Let them know that you are sincere in your efforts to improve their health and well-being and not just trying to save money. Communicate in ways that are meaningful, non-intrusive and personalized enough to peak interest without crossing the “creepy” line and breaking trust.

What do you believe is the most effective way to improve employee health in an organization? 

Turn your workplace into an “active workplace.” This involves finding work tools that adjust to the user, promote spontaneous movement and counter the negative effects of sedentary behavior. An active workspace encourages balance, so workers can build more activity into their daily routine when it’s convenient for them, benefitting their long-term health.

When incorporating active design, invest in ergonomic products that are highly intuitive and ridiculously easy to use — or people won’t use them! Also, don’t just show employees how to use the products; teach them why ergonomics is good for them and how it will help them to be healthier overall. (Note that if the products are intuitive enough, you won’t have to teach people how to use them!)

Finally, for added motivation, pair ergonomics with technology that reminds people to move more and shows progress over time — whether it’s just a reminder to stand after a long period of sitting, or a notification that encourages a person to take a quick lap around the office.

With more and more companies putting a focus on employee wellness each year, how do you see the HR industry changing to reflect this point of emphasis?

Not only are companies putting an emphasis on it, employees are making decisions on companies that provide better wellness programs. Each day we are getting more and more evidence that wellness directly affects engagement, ability to deal with stress and employee interaction. As a result, I think that wellness data will have biggest impact on the HR industry, which historically has been more focused on mitigating risk.

What is one change a company may notice after implementing an employee health solution?

In the realm of active design, research is showing that when you give employees a way to increase small movements throughout the workday, they tend to experience a boost in energy and productivity while lowering feelings of tension and depression!

If you could give one piece of advice to an organization looking to increase its employees engagement, what would it be?

Think about human nature. If the solution you’re implementing isn’t easy to use or follow, most people won’t engage with it. They have a lot on their plate already! Or, people may become intimidated by one-size-fits-all health and nutrition initiatives that many companies are attempting to roll out. With active design, you are providing intuitive, ergonomic work tools — like sit/stand tables and chairs that encourage movement throughout the day — which allow people to get active on their terms. So my advice? Give people the power of choice.