Leveraging benefits communication to improve employee satisfaction and retention

Workforce benefits play a critical role in the financial security of employed Americans, providing valuable health and income-related protections. It’s no secret, however, that the quality of benefits communication is lacking at many organizations.

While employers may want to communicate benefits information more effectively, this is just one of many tasks falling upon frequently understaffed human resources departments. As a result, many companies condense their benefit communication efforts into the open enrollment period rather than spreading communications throughout the year. However, findings from LIMRA’s 2022 BEAT (Benefits and Employee Attitude Tracker) study reveal that frequent and ongoing benefit communications will yield a substantial return on employers’ investment in terms of improved employee satisfaction and retention, which will be particularly critical as employers strive to weather the Great Resignation and remain competitive in the current war for talent.

Most employees do not give their companies high marks for their benefits communications. Only 44% of employees think their employers communicate about workplace benefits “very” or “extremely well,” while more than a quarter say their employers communicate poorly.