Or are employers just not communicating effectively?
In 2015, most organizations have employees that include Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and Millennials. Each of these generations is different in the way they find information, digest information, and act on information. Now if you read the title to this post (Employees Just Don’t Understand) like the DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (now known as the actor Will Smith) song, “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, chances are good you fall in the Generation Y/Millennial category. If you have no idea what I am talking about, chances are you fall in the Baby Boomer, Generation X, or later years of the Millennial Generation.
For those of you not in the Y/Millennial Generations, the gist of the song is that Will Smith’s mother wants him to act, dress, and live the way she sees fit. Will and his mother have different motives and goals which are the root of their actions, but both feel the other “just does not understand”.
Snail Mail, Flyers, Seminars, Websites, E-Mail, Texting, Blog Posts, Push Notifications….with all of these modes of communication, interactions with employees should be easy these days right!? Unfortunately, as many company leaders know, that’s just not the case. Understanding these modes of communication, who they will engage, and how to utilize them, can be a career in itself.
As a Benefit Consultant, one of the main challenges I help clients with is employee communication so that they understand their benefit offerings and how best to utilize them. While technology has provided access to employees like never before, new barriers also exist, such as a larger percentage of employees working remotely (30%-35% according to SHRM), employees spread geographically, and of course, gaps in understanding technology. In a benefits world of increased cost-sharing, intricate plan designs, and increasing regulation, communicating to employees may be more complex, but no less important. Ultimately, the time and resources spent choosing the benefit offerings, should be matched or increased following enrollment.
Now getting Will and his mother, (or in our case hundreds of employees) to agree on what benefits may be best suited for the organization can prove impossible, but getting them to understand those offerings should not. An effective strategy should encompass the following:
1) Engaging Content
2) A Clear and Concise Takeaway
3) “4×4” Communication
4) Ongoing Support
Meeting these goals is achievable when partnering with a benefits consultant who understands and has access to valuable tools they can use to span the generational gaps of communication. In my next blog posts, I will be taking you through each of the four components listed above with examples and tools to effectively encompass each of them. In the meantime, if you have any examples or stories you would like to share, I’d love to hear from you by e-mail or in the comment section below.
Ryan Kastner
Employee Benefits Consultant
