It's Time to E-N-R-O-LL!
Stop Me if You’ve Heard This Before… Part of surviving open enrollment is taking time to laugh! For all those “If I had a nickel…” moments, mark it on this bingo card. Who will win on your HR team? Download BINGO Card You…
Westcomm Launches 2021 Benefits Communications Survey
We are excited to announce that our 2021 Benefits Communications Survey is ready for you to provide input and insight! About the Survey We are working with a third-party independent research firm* to deploy this study to learn:…
Narrow Networks: What Your Employees Should Understand
Updated July 2022 Narrow provider networks are becoming a common part of employer-sponsored medical plans. For many organizations, these networks are the best option for controlling medical costs. That’s because narrow networks limit you…
Make Your HR Portal a Resource Your Employees Actually Use
Updated February 2022 Employees need an online space to find everything they need to know about their benefits. While we always encourage employers to build a benefits website (especially one outside of the firewall so spouses and…
The Second Pandemic: Four Ways You Can Combat Employee Burnout
Updated January 10, 2022 Over the past year, there has been a lot of talk about burnout. It’s more than talk, though. Studies are showing it’s real—and impacting every aspect of life, including work. If you ignore it, your most valuable…
3 Ways Internal Communications Can Impact a Hybrid Workforce
A virtual workforce is likely here to stay—maybe not en masse but in some hybrid form. A survey of Fortune 500 CEOs revealed that 26% of them believe at least some of their newly virtual employees will remain that way forever.…
5 Ways to Hit the Mark with Your 'Return to Work' Employee Communications
We’re starting to see companies return employees to office workplaces. As that happens, reactions will be varied. Some are ready to be back with their colleagues. Others are reluctant to return—perhaps they’ve come to enjoy working…
Begin Planning Now for Benefits Open Enrollment
Updated April 2022 As you begin planning for your company’s next benefits open enrollment, the best place to start is with last year’s process. Did you meet your goals? What kind of feedback did you get from employees? What communication…
Four Tips to Help You Personalize Employee Retirement Communications
Some reports say yes. Seven in 10 workers report they are at least “somewhat confident” about retirement savings, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research annual Retirement Confidence Survey. The survey…
It's OK – Global Employee Engagement Campaign
You can help drive change in your workplace culture by proactively providing support for employee mental well-being. For example, Cummins Inc. is focused on overcoming stigma related to mental health and making sure its employees across…
5 Things to Know about Building Resiliency in Your Workforce
Updated April 2022 If COVID-19, the Great Recession, supply-demand issues and worker shortages have taught us anything over the past couple years, it’s this: employers must elevate efforts around mental wellness. Increase awareness. Talk…
Employee Benefits: Three Important Trends for 2021
With benefit communications as one of our specialties, our team at Westcomm is always absorbing all we can about benefit trends. We recently reviewed MetLife’s U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, which examines workplace dynamics and how…
COVID Vaccine Communications: What Role Will Your Organization Play?
Last year, employers found themselves communicating regularly about protocols that had never been part of their standard operating procedures before this. Now things like social distancing and wearing a face mask are a normal part of…
Your Internal Communications Should Meet Diverse Employee Demographics
The demographics of today’s workforce has changed considerably in recent years—if not drastically in 2020 alone. In addition to more employees working from home (and many also managing e-learning for their kids), we’re seeing older…
An Employee Benefits Survey Shows Employees You Care (And Can Benefit Your Company, Too)
Employees want to know their companies cares about them. This has been particularly evident as we’ve navigated COVID-19 and the ways in which it has impacted daily home and work schedules of employees everywhere. One way to demonstrate…
How to Use Data to Make Your Benefits Communications Relevant & Meaningful
Updated April 2022 When it comes to benefits communications, one size does not fit all. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed if you try to tell every employee everything about every benefit, your communications will fail to resonate with a large portion…
Support Tools Help Your Employees Make Medical Plan Decisions
Updated February 2022 “How do I know which medical plan to choose?” We’ve never done a survey on it, but we’d guess this is the number one question asked during open enrollment and new employee orientation. While employees like having a choice of…
Start the Year off Right with 10 Employee Benefits Reminders
We realize you just finished (survived) open enrollment, and the last thing you want to do is think about communicating any more about benefits. However, the start of new year is one of the best times to make benefits communications a…
Three Ways to Make Diversity, Equity and Inclusion an Integral Component of Your Company Culture
Many companies are focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion. For some, it is a program they’ve established—perhaps for some, committees; but for others, it has seeped deeper into their collective cultures. The discussion dived deeper in Part…
“Self-Care” Not a Buzz Word; Offer Your Employees Mental Health Support
Across the globe, employers are seeing the need to scale-up their investments in mental health. Employee wellness programs are moving beyond gym memberships and instead providing support for employee mental well-being, including tools such as…
Family-friendly, Flexible Benefits Key to This Year’s Open Enrollment
Open enrollment is just around the corner! As your employees will have benefits on their minds, now is an excellent time to feature your family-friendly and flexible benefits. With the current workforce climate and competition for…
Health Is More Than You Realize – Employee Engagement Campaign
There’s a lot of talk about social determinants of health. But what exactly does that term mean? What are social determinants of health and how do they impact work within social services? And, most importantly, how can knowing about the…
Five Ways to Increase Employee Engagement Through Visual Design
Updated April 2022 Have you ever spent a considerable amount of time crafting the right message for your communication, only to have it barely skimmed over? However, do you put the same time and thought into how the communication looks?…
Lessons From A Traveling Video Kit
Necessity is the mother of invention. Imagine needing to complete a video project during a pandemic when the footage you need involves multiple interviewees across multiple states — without ever leaving your (socially distant) home base.…
Four Components for a Great Benefits Website
Updated April 2022 Every year, organizations spend million$ of dollar$ (literally) to provide benefits to their employees. However, many employees don’t understand all of their benefits—nor realize the value of what they are actually…