We had a super exciting week! Sunday and Monday I was in Dallas at EBN’s 24th Annual Benefits Forum & Expo, the largest gathering of benefits professionals in the country. I was honored Monday morning to do the keynote presentation and share our three best practices for benefits communication.
The first step to getting people to pay attention to their benefits information is to make it accessible. The best way to make it accessible is to put it on the Internet—so all employees and families can access it anywhere, any time. This is the most important investment you can make in your benefits communication.
The next step is to communicate with employees year-round. Reminding them about benefits once a year is not enough. The key to doing this is using the right tools—social media is perfect for simple, conversational ongoing communication.
And finally, remember that you don’t have to do it alone! Use the vast free resources at your disposal (from us and organizations like the regional and national business groups on health) and promote free services that support your benefits strategy. And have high expectations of what your brokers, consultants and vendors provide.
At the same time, we were at Health 2.0’s San Francisco Conference. Liz Rowell moderated a panel on Sunday about employers, and I joined Monday’s panel about payers (AKA employers) via video Skype from Dallas. We loved the energy and innovation at Health 2.0 and want you all to put that on your calendar next year!
