Slovakia
Companies invest in employee benefits to motivate employees, support their health, and make everyday life easier. Yet HR teams often face the same scenario: benefits are available, but employees use them little or not at all.
At first glance, it looks like a lack of interest on the part of employees. However, in reality, it is very often a communication problem. Not of ill will, but of a poor interpretation of the intentions of the human resources department into the language of the employee's everyday life.
"Benefits only make sense when employees understand them and know how to incorporate their use into their daily lives. If they remain just information in an email or in a directive, their effect is minimal," points out Lívia Bachratá, Director of Public Affairs at Edenred.
Common mistake: Benefits were reported. Period.
In practice, it often happens that the HR department sends an email with the following wording: "As of February 1, employees have new benefits available." This is followed by a list of the names of the benefits.. Sometimes the benefits are glossed over in the onboarding presentation. And that's where the communication ends.
Formally, everything is fine. However, in practice, employees often have no idea what they can do with the benefits, where to use them, and why they should address them right now.
The result? Benefits remain unused, HR feels like the program isn't working, and employees don't see it as something that really helps them.
"Employees don't need a list of benefits. They need to understand what the benefit does for them, whether it's lunch, grocery shopping, relaxation, or self-care," explains L. Bachratá.
Therefore, it is recommended to show the benefits and their use in specific situations of everyday life. So that employees can imagine their use within their daily schedule at work or outside of it. Only then does the benefit become real help.
They need to be talked about often.
Another common mistake that causes benefits to remain underutilized is the frequency of communication. If they are discussed once, when they are introduced or when the benefits package is updated, it is woefully insufficient. Because life moves fast and employees forget.
"If benefits are not part of ongoing internal communication, they will quickly fall out of awareness. And employees then use them only minimally, which is a shame for both parties," continues L. Bachratá.
Regular, unobtrusive reminders in the form of short tips and seasonal recommendations work much better. This doesn't require any big campaigns, but regular, human communication.
For example, wellbeing in February, exercise and health in the spring, help with higher expenses before Christmas. This way, the benefits remain "in plain sight" and at the same time fit naturally into the lives of employees.
Understandable language
Texts about benefits often sound like a directive. Lots of terms, lots of rules, but few reasons why employees should care. They then perceive benefits as something formal, distant, and complicated. Not as something that should make their lives easier. "If we talk about benefits only in the language of entitlements and rules, employees will not develop a relationship with them. It is much more important to talk about advantages and real benefits," says L. Bachratá.
The difference is often only in the wording. Less official tone, more practical examples of using the benefits.
Not one email to everyone
Sending the same email to all employees with information about benefits is easy, but ineffective. Because not only do administrative workers have different work schedules, but they also have different needs, and production operators have different needs. It is also true that what a single person appreciates, a parent will perceive completely differently. "The same benefit can have completely different values for different people. If HR can take this into account in communication, the benefits will start to work much better," added by L. Bachratá.
It is not about generating different benefits for different groups of people, but about a different way of using them.
Benefits should be about understanding
Companies that invest in benefits want to take care of their employees. But they are not enough on their own. Their success depends on how well employees understand them and how often they remember them.
"Benefits start to work when they become a natural part of employees' lives. And this can only be achieved when we talk about them in a clear, regular and human way," concludes L. Bachratá.
