There are several important elements involved in the realm of employee health and other benefits, and one of these is the involvement of employees themselves in benefits-related decisions. While employees naturally won’t be able to decide your entire benefits program, involving them in some simple ways can often go a long way toward things like morale, the way employees view management, and more.
At Nielsen Benefits Group, helping transform company culture in health benefits and other benefit areas is one of our top services. What are some ways to include employees and make them feel heard as you make benefits decisions that impact them, and why is this so valuable for many companies? Let’s go over the answers to these questions in this two-part blog series.
Ways of Involving Employees in Benefits Decisions
As we noted above, employees can only be involved in these kinds of things to a certain extent — you can’t have them all vote on which health insurance plan to choose, for example. However, there are some ways that you can bring employees into the fold a bit more and ensure that their voices are being heard as you make decisions. Here are some key ways to do this:
- Get employee input on what they want/need.
- Consider using an anonymous survey to get employee feedback on what kinds of benefit changes or additions they would like to see.
- Use focus groups for more in-depth conversations.
- Show employees specific ways their suggestions are being incorporated
These are just a few of the key ways that you can get employees more involved in benefits conversations. Now let’s look at why doing so is so valuable.
Making Employees Feel Heard
Feeling heard is a major priority for many employees, and when it comes to benefits decisions that will impact them directly, this is especially true. When you make an effort to get employee feedback and then actually use that feedback to make changes or improve your benefits offerings, it shows employees that their voices matter. This can have a big impact on morale and how employees feel about management.
Plus, when employees feel like they’re being listened to, it can often lead to more productive and meaningful conversations. When you involve employees in these decisions from the start, you’re more likely to get buy-in on any changes that are made, rather than having employees resist or be negative about new benefits offerings.
Major Factor in Employee Retention
Several areas of research have shown that employees who feel like their voices are being heard are more likely to be engaged and stay with their company long-term. In fact, a study from the University of Texas found that employees who didn’t feel like their opinions mattered were two times as likely to leave their job within the next year.
So, as you can see, involving employees in benefits conversations can have a major impact on several key areas for your company. In our next blog, we’ll look at some other benefits that are found here.
For more on this, or to learn about any of our employee insurance or employee benefits services, speak to our team at Nielsen Benefits Group today.
