Here's how employers can shift their current benefits communication to meet women's learning styles and needs through a benefits planning approach rather than the traditional type of benefits communication:

Provide ongoing benefits communication rather than annually or as a one-time event.
Make it holistic, incorporating all benefits and helping women to see the value of these benefits in helping them to achieve important life goals. Traditional communication has been technical and focused on details of specific topics rather than the overall picture of how benefits work together with employees' finances.
Make it personalized, specific to individual employees' needs, rather than transactional. This can be achieved through one-on-one financial and retirement planning consultations, and through helpline services that allow employees a way to ask personal questions that apply to their goals.
Make it relationship oriented rather than self-service oriented since women are more relationship driven. Provide a regular resource for education using the same educator so employees feel they have someone to go to and aren't left with questions about their benefits.
Subtly market the program to women in some of your marketing material whenever necessary or when the education is fitting for a group of women specifically, but be sure to do this in a way that does not alienate men.

Our own studies have found that women are twice as likely to participate in financial education as men, and they have a greater tendency to make the concepts they learn stick. This means that with both genders shifting their focus to retirement and realizing how far behind they are, employers have a strong opportunity to influence their female employees as well as their male employees to better plan for retirement. With more economic uncertainty and changes to employee and government benefits, they need it more than ever.

Instant Insights /

5 ways employers can improve women&#039;s financial education

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5 ways employers can improve women's financial education