There was a time, believe it or not, when you had to work hard to sell the benefits of a final salary pension scheme. These days, final salary pension schemes are headlining in recruitment advertising. It just goes to show that it’s not the intrinsic value of the benefit itself that makes the difference, but how it’s perceived by employees. And people’s perceptions are shaped by a number of factors, not least of which is the effectiveness of communication.

 

So what makes for good communication? Increasingly organisations are turning to marketing approaches to help them. Here are 10 points to ponder.

 

Develop a marketing plan for your benefits that consists of a set of measurable communication objectives; a breakdown of key audiences; a media analysis and finally a budgeted media plan with timescales. Ideally your marketing plan should be based on solid research data on employee perception and understanding of benefits.

 

You can’t do much with marketing if your product is not competitive. Use market data to ensure that your benefits package compares well with those organisations with whom you compete for talent; then highlight the positive differences to your people.

 

 

Do the benefits you offer represent good value for money? How much does the company contribute compared to the employee? Are you investing in the benefits that, according to your research, employees actually value? Make sure that employees understand the real cost of benefits and what the company pays towards them.

 

 

Your benefit package should be positioned as part of your overall employer brand. Benefit messages should re-enforce other messages that are given to existing or potential employees about the kind of employer your organisation is.

 

 

Advertise your benefits and make sure that the benefit campaigns you run are creative and eye-catching, not just corporate wallpaper. Target your benefit campaigns to ensure that they are relevant. Take advantage of corporate events (such as salary reviews), individual life events (such as the birth of a child, marriage, divorce, etc) or benefit events (the annual benefit statement, flex enrolment or a change of provider, for example) to get your message across.

 

Get opinion formers on your side. For example, involve employee consultative committees, unions or boards of Trustees in communicating about the value of your benefit package.

 

 

Induction is a great time to get employees’ attention but how do you keep reminding them about the benefits that are available? Make benefit information and education accessible to all. Run benefit roadshows or use communal areas like coffee bars or canteens to display benefit information.

 

 

Brand your benefits. Develop a consistent style that is easily recognisable and stick with it.

 

Personalising the message makes a difference. In research carried out among organisations that offer personalised total compensation statements, over 85% strongly agreed that personalised information is more likely to be read by the audience. 

 

Develop compelling propositions for each benefit and for the benefit package in its entirety. A compelling proposition should be short, persuasive and relevant to your audience. Then make sure that you get this message across as often as you can.

 

Ignore this one at your peril. With the new EU directives coming into force, more and more employee benefits are becoming regulated products. That means you will need your communication material checked by someone who is FSA approved. You will also have to be careful about how you use terms such as “competitive” or “good deal”, as the FSA will require you to substantiate these claims.