4 Ways to Rock Your Employee Benefits & Rewards Program

Compensation Outweighs Workplace Perks and Employee Benefits

Studies show that while employee rewards programs are popular by employers, they are not as appealing to the employees for which they were created in the first place. Employee perks and healthcare benefits are popular lures among employees, but salary compensation still reigns supreme as the benefit of choice.

Money is (and probably always will be) the number one way to recruit, retain and hire qualified job seekers. But, that doesn’t mean rewards programs should go by the wayside. A comprehensive total rewards package is essential, but half the battle is letting the employees know the rewards are
out there. Communication is the key.

Here are 4 ways that companies can use marketing approaches to communicating their total rewards program to their employee and candidate audiences for use as a recruitment and retention tool.

Learn More About Our Compensation Software

GET A DEMO

 

4 Ways to Internally Market Your Employees Rewards Program

• What’s the goal of the employee rewards program? What are the details? Make sure the benefits for all employees are clearly established, written and approved before setting your
  rewards program ship to sail. Set your sites and establish what success looks like with clear goals.

• Devise a written strategy. Overusing the copy machine to plaster pretty pink and yellow handouts all over the break room wall may communicate your Employee Rewards Program to some, but it isn’t a strategy nor does it have clear milestones to show progress or success. Neither is spamming email inboxes. Be strategic, develop a timeline with a calendar of communications and measure the responses.

• Media: We aren’t talking about broadcast television here. The medium (media is the plural of
  medium) refers to the method of delivery. How best to communicate to your audience (i.e. the employees) depends on what is available to your company. Is everyone housed in one facility? Do all employees have regular access to email? Is your company spread out across the nation or even the globe? Do you have remote employees who work from home? Because of all the variables, one
  medium of communication will inevitably leave one or more groups out of the communication loop and the last thing you want is an employee feeling like the company’s so-called red-headed step child. Write a list of different types of media that might be effective for your group such as department meetings, paystub inserts, emails, intranets, posters, letters or even a Facebook fanpage. Effective communication to your audience means wearing yet another HR hat and this one has a Marketing label.

• Get feedback. Feedback should come in two forms. You need to document how employees respond (or don’t respond) to communications so you can understand the communication penetration and know what works and, most importantly, what doesn’t. You aren’t a slave to your
  original strategy and outline so make adjustments that make sense along the way. Second, gather the response from employees in regard to the rewards. How do they respond? Do they wish there was something more? Take notes and always thank employees for their willingness to speak up (whether it is positive or negative). Assure them you are using their input to help build a better program for all employees.  Most important is that you pass this feedback on.

Rocking your employee rewards and benefits program involves creating a strategy and internal marketing campaign that speaks to your employee audience. Hoarding information won’t instill change in your company yet an improved employee rewards program could be the added incentive that helps retain employees and keep them engaged in their work, ultimately leading to better results.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. You can follow her on Twitter @blogging4jobs.