Improving employee engagement through behavioural science

Author

Guy Clarkson

UK Digital Growth Leader

Employers must move beyond simply administering benefits and create an engaging and emotive benefits experience to make employees feel valued.

The ultimate goal of any employee benefits strategy is to enhance the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to attract and retain talent. However, employers can fail to see a return on their investment because employees struggle to engage with their benefits.

Just one in two (52%) say the communications they receive about their benefits are engaging¹. Without proper curation, information about employee benefits can also become buried in emails or the intranet, meaning only two thirds (65%) of employees know where to find information about their benefits when needed¹.

It’s therefore perhaps unsurprising that investment in HR technology is now being driven by a focus on employee experience, with Mercer Marsh Benefit’s Benefits Technology 2024 report revealing that 84% of employers view a consistent employee experience as their highest priority².

The power of the digital benefits experience: improving employee engagement

Digitising the user experience employees go through when navigating their benefits can not only help alleviate frustrations and increase take-up of benefits, but it can also create a valuable emotional touchpoint that enhances employee engagement and company culture.

For example, Darwin employee benefits software enables employers to centralise all their employee benefits and signpost employees to relevant benefits.

Creating an emotional bond: using the science of attachment to attract and retain talent

For a long time, many employers have increasingly focused on increasing choice and better personalisation when it comes to employee benefits. However, how the benefits are delivered is just as important.

To make this shift, employers must step away from viewing their benefits offering as a set of features for employees to choose between and start viewing the entire benefits user experience as an opportunity to create emotional touchpoints that can boost loyalty.

To support this process, the new user experience (UX) from Darwin takes a very human-centric approach. Zoe Dimov, head research for Darwin at Mercer, explains, “After conducting research with employees across all regions, we drew on the science of attraction to create an intuitive user experience that makes employees feel valued, supported and in control – three fundamental drivers of employee retention.”

The principles of attachment underpinning the Darwin user experience

To make engaging with their benefits an emotionally rewarding experience that strengthens their bond with their employer, Darwin utilises five principles of emotional attachment:

Control

Clear, simple and transparent information about their benefits choices, makes employees feel empowered, to improve trust and prevent overwhelm³.
Confidence

Engaging visual confirmations, success messages and completion status reduce uncertainty and boosts confidence in benefits choices and the employer⁴.
Reciprocity

Total reward statements demonstrate the full value of their employer’s investment in them to encourage individuals to want to give back to their employer⁵.
Delight

Playful and engaging effects and language, instead of corporate jargon, makes interactions more fun and enjoyable to improve employee engagement⁶.
Meaning

Aligning benefits to personal goals, values and life events, helps employees feel connected to their employer to increase their attachment and loyalty to their employer⁷.

As the future of technology continues to evolve, so will digital employee benefits platforms. Advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are anticipated to not only further enhance the user experience but also the ability of employers to draw data insights to inform strategy.

Critical to success will be mindful innovation that doesn’t jump on trends for the sake of it but rather harnesses technology in a way that supports employee engagement strategies by personalising the user experience even further, to create yet more emotional touchpoints.