Five tips to increase employee engagement

Increasing employee engagement has long been a cornerstone of any successful benefits strategy. But offering a program is one thing – getting your people to consistently engage with it is another.

What can you do to close the gap and ensure your people don’t just appreciate your employee benefits offerings, but actually use them?

Here are five things every organization can do to improve employee engagement:

1. Identify and address gaps in your programs
   The idea of wellbeing has evolved well beyond the traditional boundaries of physical health, and amidst the COVID-19 pandemic its more important than ever that your total benefits offering evolves along with it. Take inventory of your current benefits and wellbeing programs. In today’s climate, are they still meeting the physical, mental, career and financial needs of your workforce? If not, it may be time to adjust your offerings. Analyzing your current employee benefits utilization data is a good place to start, as it could reveal trends and unmet areas of need across your total workforce.
    
2. Make benefits recommendations personal and data-driven
   Every employee is at a different place in their journey – and your benefits recommendations should reflect that. The most effective programs make it personal, taking benefits, biometric and self-reported data into account to recommend goals, challenges and a personalized action plan that can help guide employees on the path to improving their holistic wellbeing.
    
3. Communication is key in employee engagement
   If your employee communications are only aiming to educate, it might be time to revisit your engagement strategy. Today’s workforce is inundated with information and our research shows that employees are looking for clear, timely calls to action to help them take advantage of the relevant tools and programs they can utilize right now. For maximum impact, communications should be personal, segmented by population and delivered in the channel of preference (mobile, email, etc.).
   
   For those organizations that haven’t brought their people back to physical workspaces, consider adding additional communications or replacing traditional onsite channels with alternatives, like direct mail or text. By taking an omni-channel approach with multiple touch points, you’ll ensure employees are seeing communications no matter their location or current work situation.
    
4. Make employee engagement fun - even from afar
   Struggling to engage employees in your programs from afar? Consider gamification. Gamification can help employees achieve both their short- and long-term goals by encouraging them to complete challenges, either alone or with their peers, and consistently track their progress towards milestones. Real-time feedback, recognition and rewards will help keep your people motivated and engaged with their wellbeing, even while social distancing.  
5. Encourage results through rewards
   If you want to drive behavior change, think about tying results to rewards. Consider incentivizing your people to make healthier lifestyle choices with things like points, gift cards, HSA contributions or even premium differentials. Rewards could give your wellbeing program a broader appeal and give you a happier, healthier workforce.