Engaging employees in health plans: Small business tips
Small employers can boost benefits engagement with year-round communication, clear resources and support from brokers and health plans.
Health benefits represent a significant investment for employers, typically second only to salaries and wages.1 But the value of that investment may be harder for employees to recognize if they do not understand what their plan offers or how to use it.
That can be particularly challenging for small businesses. Employers with lean teams may have limited HR resources and less time to develop extensive benefits education or communications programs. At the same time, employees may still look to their employer for help understanding coverage, finding resources and making informed decisions about their benefits.
For small employers, improving engagement does not have to mean adding a complex new program. Consistent communication, accessible information and support from brokers and health plans can help employees better understand the benefits already available to them.
Why benefits engagement matters for small employers
Health benefits remain an important part of the employee experience. Surveyed organizations report that health benefits positively impact employee satisfaction (85%), recruiting, retention and performance (nearly three-quarters), and employee health (70%).2
Understanding those benefits matters, too. Employees who had positive experiences with their company benefits were 1.8 times more likely to trust employer leadership.2
That does not mean benefits engagement alone determines whether an employee stays with an organization, but helping employees understand the resources available to them can make the value of an employer’s benefits more visible, which may support satisfaction, trust and retention.
For small businesses, that opportunity can be especially important. Employers with smaller workforces often operate with fewer dedicated HR resources than larger organizations, and benefits education may be one of many responsibilities handled by a small internal team. Small-business benefits decision-makers rely heavily on their broker relationships for information and guidance.
5 practical ways to improve employee engagement
1. Communicate throughout the year
Open enrollment is an important time for benefits education, but it should not be the only time employees hear about their health plan. In fact, 73% of surveyed employees want more benefits education than they currently get.3
Short, timely reminders throughout the year can help keep available resources visible. Employers might share information about preventive care, digital tools or relevant health and wellness resources as those topics become timely.
For a small business, the person delivering the message can also matter. Leaning into the voice of company leadership can be important, since employees may be more likely to pay attention to benefits communications that come directly from a leader. Benefits updates can also be incorporated into existing employee meetings, emails or other regular communications rather than requiring an entirely new program.
2. Keep information clear and easy to access
Benefits information can become difficult to use when it relies heavily on health care terminology or requires employees to sort through large amounts of information at once. Clearer communication can help. Employers can focus each message on the information employees need to know and the action they can take next.
Using more than one communication channel may also help reach employees with different preferences or work environments. Some employees may respond to email, while others are more likely to see information shared during an employee meeting or posted in a common area.
3. Make communications relevant
5.3 point
higher Health Activation Index® (HAI®) score for UnitedHealthcare members who use the UnitedHealthcare® app or myuhc.com®, at least 6x per year4
Benefits communications do not always need to go to every employee at the same time. Employers may be able to make information more useful by aligning messages with relevant moments, employee needs or seasonal health topics. A reminder about preventive care may be appropriate at one point in the year, while information about behavioral health resources, flu vaccinations or digital care tools may be more timely at another.
Employers may also be able to use the UnitedHealthcare Employee Engagement Planner® — powered by Avery®, an AI virtual assistant — which populates a plan-year calendar with timely materials employers can share with employees, including information about digital tools, preventive care and health and wellness programs. Making employees aware of these resources before they need them can help make benefits easier to navigate throughout the year.
Where appropriate, employers can also work with their broker or health plan to identify opportunities for more targeted communications based on employee segments, workforce needs, employee feedback or broader claims trends. UnitedHealthcare recommends using these types of insights to help identify gaps in benefits understanding and make communications more relevant.
Employee feedback can provide another useful signal. Rather than assuming which benefits employees understand or value, employers can use surveys, questions and other feedback to help guide future communications.
4. Encourage employees to use digital resources
Digital tools can give employees a place to find information when questions arise, reducing the need for a small HR team to answer every benefits question directly. Employers offering UnitedHealthcare plans can encourage employees to register for and use the UnitedHealthcare® app and myuhc.com®, where available, to access plan information and other member resources.
These tools deliver a personalized health experience, with dashboards that show near real-time coverage details, spending progress, claims tracking, and tailored recommendations for benefits and resources that fit your needs.
5. Use the broker and health plan as an extension of the team
Small employers may not have the time to develop all benefits education internally. UnitedHealthcare notes that brokers can play an important role in helping small employers provide benefits education, particularly when internal HR resources are limited. Employers can regularly share materials provided by their broker or insurer and enlist additional support for employee education or question-and-answer sessions.
For brokers and health plan representatives working with smaller organizations, this creates an opportunity to help employers translate plan information into communications that employees can more easily understand and use.
Measure whether communications are reaching employees
Benefits engagement is not always captured by enrollment numbers alone.
Small employers can look for practical indicators that employees are interacting with the resources available to them. Depending on the communication or program, that might include attendance at benefits education sessions, use of digital resources, employee questions or responses to internal surveys.
Feedback can be particularly useful. Asking employees whether they know where to find plan information, which resources they value or where they still have questions can help employers identify gaps without adding a complicated measurement program.
Over time, those insights can help employers refine communications as their workforce and benefits needs change.
Share
