How to engage employees with group income protection
Group income protection is a benefit which is key for an employee’s financial security should they be unable to work due to long term illness or injury.
Unfortunately, it’s often a benefit which doesn’t sit at front of mind with most employees,so trying to make it relevant and of interest can be a real challenge.
Here are some thoughts and strategies to drive better employee engagement:
Key reasons why employees may be disengaged
Disengagement with the benefits on offer is a common theme. It’s crucial that the reasons for any disengagement are understood before attempting to offer a solution.- “It will never happen to me”: they might believe they're unlikely to experience a long-term illness or injury - this is likely to be a prevalent attitude with the younger workforce.
- Not understanding the concept: employees may struggle to appreciate what the benefit is intended to offer.
- Lack of urgency: it’s an undeniable fact that other, more immediate benefits may well be of more interest or appear more relevant to a particular demographic.
Effective engagement strategies for employers
Despite the challenges there are many ways in which group income protection can be promoted to your workforce and the value of the benefit reinforced.- Clear and consistent communication of the benefits.
- Explain the benefit clearly: use simple language to outline what protection is being provided to the employee.
- Highlight the value proposition: think about how income protection can safeguard their financial well-being should an employee be unable to work due to illness or injury.
- Bring the benefit to life: if possible, use anonymized case studies of employees who have benefited from the policy. Your insurer may be able to help if you have never made a claim on your policy.
- Tailor communications of the benefit to different employee groups: age, job role, and family status are all worth considering as people at different life stages will have different priorities.
Educate employees to raise awareness
- Workshops and webinars: invite your insurer to run interactive sessions to explain the policy and any associated benefits in detail.
- Digital resources: offer easy-to-access information on the benefit through your intranet, employee email communications or mobile apps.
Demonstrate employer care
- Highlight the employer's commitment: show employees that their well-being is a priority.
- Offer reassurance should a claim be made: explain the support services typically available during a claim.
- Promote well-being: keeping healthy helps avoid the need to make a claim. It makes sense to promote all health and wellness support which may be available.
Provide good access to information
- Allow employees to access policy information online - a quick win if you have a benefits platform.
- Interactive tools: provide access to calculators or simulations to help employees understand coverage.
Financial wellness programmes
- Link income protection to overall financial health: this is often missed but do show how it fits into broader financial planning.
- Offer financial planning resources: provide access to tools to help employees manage their finances and understand the importance of income protection, should an employee fall ill long-term.
Undertake regular reviews and provide updates of the benefit
- Communicate changes: Always ensure employees are aware of any policy modifications or improvements.
- Conduct employee surveys: Include questions around income protection in surveys and use the feedback to refine how the benefit is communicated.
Value-added benefits
Income protection policies now come with an increasing wealth of non-contractual additional services which can be used to make the benefit more relevant. Amongst other services, policies can now come with:
- Access to virtual GPs
- Wellbeing support
- Mental health support;
- Physiotherapy
- Second medical opinion
- Nutrition guides
- Fitness support and
- Access to shopping savings and discounts
Finally, ensure that you always measure engagement
It's crucial that you take the time to understand employee’s engagement and satisfaction with certain benefit. There’s nothing worse than paying a significant sum for a benefit that nobody understands and doesn’t engage with.
We believe that by following these strategies, you can significantly improve employee engagement with group income protection benefits, which will also ultimately enhance your employee’s financial security should the worst happen.
In partnership with Barnett Waddingham
Everything we stand for at Barnett Waddingham is embedded in our promise – to do the right thing. We’ve applied this meaningful principle across all aspects of our business with continued success.
