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 being provided. A centralized benefits website is an effective way to begin getting a return on your investment.
A benefits website provides your employees a single place to visit to learn about all things benefits-related. More robust sites also allow employees to take actions from their site, such as enrolling in benefits, submitting claims, downloading forms, etc. A benefits website is more than just a place to house information—it’s a tangible extension of the type of employee experience you’re striving to provide.
With that employee experience in mind, make sure your benefits website offers these four components:
Convenience
Benefits decisions are very often family decisions, so information on your benefits website needs to be readily available to both employees and their spouses/partners. That means your benefits website should be hosted outside your company firewall so it can be accessed from a home computer or a mobile device. Also make sure it’s responsive, so it adapts to whatever device it is being viewed on.
Comprehensiveness
Your benefits website should be reflective of your full range of benefits—from medical, dental and vision plans, to a 401(k) retirement plan, to many other work/life benefit options. And don’t forget to add a search function to make it easy for employees (or spouses/partners) to quickly find what they’re looking for on the site.
Relevence
Information needs to be updated regularly. This helps establish your site as the go-to resource for current benefits news and shows you prioritize this work. One way to do this is by looking at the data to see what information employees are searching when they visit the site. You can use those analytics to make updates to the content.
Communication
To ensure the website becomes the go-to benefits resource, you need to consistently communicate about it. In addition to keeping it fresh year-round, reference the benefits website in all your materials: emails, posters, digital banners, social media posts, etc. You should also include it in new employee materials, so employees are introduced to it from day one on the job.
Ready to get started?
Open enrollment is coming up quickly. This is the ideal time to launch or update a benefits website. If you want helping thinking through your open enrollment or yearlong benefits communications strategy, we’re here to help. We’re passionate about communicating well to employees and helping you make the most of your investment.
Reach out to us at helloindy@westcomm.com.
