Using benefits technology to create seamless employee experiences 

As employees become more aware of and vocal about the benefits they need and want, the days of providing a single benefit offering for all are coming to an end.

Instead of designing benefits to meet the needs of the majority, increased benefit choice and personalization has the potential to make everyone feel supported.

However, without also providing a way of enabling employees to easily navigate what’s on offer, enhanced benefits offerings can become cluttered and therefore poorly utilized.

Essential to realizing the full value of a comprehensive benefits offering is putting in place a way for employees to engage with their benefits and seamlessly explore the options to find what’s right for them.

Benefits technology can help to achieve this in the following ways, while also automating this process, to deliver significant administration and costs savings for employers.

  • Personalize interactions

    Budget restrictions and rules about which locations or grades are entitled to certain benefits often need to be taken into account when personalizing benefits. The more benefits on offer, and the more diverse the workforce, the more complex these rules can become.

    Fortunately, benefits technology is designed to not only handle this complexity but also take things further by using advanced algorithms to tailor benefits suggestions to individuals. For example, by only showing them the benefits they’re entitled to or signposting them to relevant benefits following a life event, such as the birth of a child or illness.

This form of automated communication can also boost engagement with benefits

69%

Two thirds of employees with access to an employee benefits platform said the benefits communications they receive are engaging

55%

Compared to just one in two of those without any platform[1]

  • Engage with employees

    One of the biggest challenges associated with increasing benefits choice is the potential for information about benefits to become buried in emails, joiners’ packs and the intranet. Our research shows that just two thirds of employees know where to find information about their benefits.

    By using employee benefits technology to centralize your benefits, you can make it possible for employees to access all their benefits via a digital front door such as an app on their mobile phone or Single Sign-On (SSO) access via their computer.

    As well as making it easier for employees to connect with all their benefits in one place, this also enhances the user experience. Employees can seamlessly access a consistent benefits experience, at any time or place, regardless of which device they’re using.

  • Provide a globally consistent experience on a local level

    One of the biggest challenges associated with increasing benefits choice is the potential for information about benefits to become buried in emails, joiners’ packs and the intranet. Our research shows that just two thirds of employees know where to find information about their benefits.

    By using employee benefits technology to centralize your benefits, you can make it possible for employees to access all their benefits via a digital front door such as an app on their mobile phone or Single Sign-On (SSO) access via their computer.

    As well as making it easier for employees to connect with all their benefits in one place, this also enhances the user experience. Employees can seamlessly access a consistent benefits experience, at any time or place, regardless of which device they’re using.

  • Make people feel supported

    The overriding objective of any employee benefits program is to make people feel more supported and valued in their overall health and wellbeing. By using the data insights generated by employee benefits technology you can optimize the level of support you are providing to your employees and boost your employee value proposition.

    As well as using automated rules to send email campaigns to different demographics, alerting them to different services at different times of the year, you can also use intelligent data insights to offer much more subtle guidance and suggestions. 

    This could take the form of pushing information about mental health services to the front of employee dashboards, or a card to signpost people towards financial wellbeing support. Research shows that this level of personalization made 78% of employees feel that their employer cares about their health and wellbeing, compared to just 29% of employees without benefits personalization.[2]

  • Communicate in real time

    Employees often have questions about their benefits, such as the level of cover they’re entitled to or whether they can add a dependent. Waiting for HR or a benefits supplier to answer these queries can be time-consuming and frustrating.

    By allowing employees to access real-time support, such as AI Chat Assistants, benefits technology can provide immediate assistance, reducing response times.

    As well as enhancing the user experience, and reducing barriers to taking up benefits, this can also reduce HR administration time, which frees up HR resources to focus on more strategic and high-level objectives.

  • Automate processes

    Another major benefit of employee benefits technology is the ease with which employees can enroll in benefits. 72% of employees with access to this technology said benefits enrollment was a straightforward process, compared to 60% of those without.[3]

    That’s because instead of HR having to collate and forward benefits data to suppliers, the system automatically talks to payroll and benefits providers. This means employees can seamlessly self-serve themselves and enroll in benefits from the moment they join.

    This level of automation also empowers them to manage their benefits themselves, for example, by opting-in to new benefits without this highly sensitive personal data having to be manually manipulated. Not only does this reduce cyber security data risks, but it also ensures employees are automatically added into schemes for a truly seamless experience.

About the author(s)
Simon Jarvis

is an expert in product strategy and customer relationship management.

Ting Lye

is an expert in digital innovation and data analytics applied to healthcare

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