Why communication is missing link in employee benefits engagement
Employee benefits are often built with good intent. They are there to support health, protect families, improve financial wellbeing and help your employees navigate life’s more difficult moments.
For your organisation, they can also strengthen retention, improve engagement and support a more resilient workforce.
But many employers face the same quiet problem. The benefits are in place. The investment is significant. The intention is right. Yet your employees still do not use the support available to them.
That is not always a benefits problem. More often, it is a communication problem.
If your employees do not know what is available, cannot find the right information or do not understand how to access support, even a well-designed benefits programme can fall short. The value is there, but it is not being felt.
And in a workplace where people expect information to be instant, relevant and easy to access, that gap matters.
The benefits gap is not always about what you offer
Many employers spend a lot of time reviewing the shape of their benefits package.
That is important. Your benefits need to stay relevant. They need to reflect workforce needs, business objectives and changing employee expectations.
But there is another question that deserves just as much attention: Do your employees know how to use what is already available to them?
Research from GRiD found that only 57% of employers believe their workforce is aware of and understands all the benefits available to them. GRiD also found that 35% of employees say their company does not communicate benefits, or they cannot remember receiving benefits communications.
That is a sizeable disconnect.
It suggests you may be investing in health, wellbeing, protection and financial support that employees either do not know about or do not understand well enough to use.
Awareness is only the first hurdle. Access is the second.
Research from Lucid found that most workers spend up to two hours a day searching for information relevant to their role. That matters for employee benefits because information often sits across different systems, documents, providers and portals. If your employees have to hunt for support, they may give up before they get help.
The benefit exists. But from the employee’s perspective, it might as well not.
Why poor communication weakens outcomes
When employees do not understand their benefits, the impact can be practical, financial and human.
Take private medical insurance as an example. Many schemes include access to early intervention services, such as musculoskeletal support or physiotherapy. Used early, these services can help your employees address issues before they become more complex.
But if your employees do not know that support is available, they may delay seeking help.
That delay can lead to:
- More serious health issues
- Longer recovery times
- More time away from work
- Lower productivity
- Higher costs for employers and insurers
- A poorer employee experience.
In this context, communication is not just about telling people what is available. It is about helping your employees take action at the right moment.
That is where many benefits strategies lose momentum. Not because the benefits are wrong, but because the route to using them is unclear.
Traditional communication has a timing problem
For years, benefits communication has often relied on familiar formats such as benefits fairs, posters, handbooks, presentations, launch emails, onboarding packs and annual enrolment campaigns.
These channels can still play a useful role, but they are often built around the employer’s schedule rather than the employee’s need.
Your employees may hear about a benefit when they first join the business, but if they do not need that support until two years later, will they remember where to find it?
They may receive information during annual enrolment, but if the message is not relevant to their life at that moment, will it land?
This is the weakness of one-off communication. It can inform, but it rarely sustains engagement.
Employees do not need benefits information only once a year. They need it when something changes, when a need arises or when they are ready to make a decision.
Better communication starts with relevance
Effective benefits communication is about saying the right thing, to the right people, at the right time.
That means moving away from broad, generic messages and towards communication that feels more relevant to your employees.
A stronger approach usually includes:
- Year-round visibility: Keep benefits present throughout the year, not just during enrolment or renewal windows.
- Audience-specific messaging: Different groups in your workforce are likely to value different types of support. A single message will rarely work for everyone.
- Clear actions: Employees should know exactly what to do next, whether that is logging into a platform, contacting a provider or reading more information.
- Multiple channels: Email alone is rarely enough. Benefits messages may need to appear across employee hubs, platforms, manager briefings, intranet pages and campaigns.
- Measurement and refinement: Review what people engage with, where drop-off happens and which messages drive action.
Your employees may need support at many different points in their lives, from starting a family, buying a home or entering a partnership, to becoming a carer, experiencing a health issue, reviewing their financial priorities or thinking more seriously about retirement.
These moments can increase the need for guidance, reassurance and practical support. They are also when benefits can feel most relevant, because the need is immediate and personal.
But you may not always know when these moments happen. That makes it harder to trigger timely communication.
Technology can help. A benefits platform like Broadstone’s Flexcel can make it easier to surface relevant information when an employee updates their circumstances or searches for support.
However, technology is not the whole answer.
Employees need to know the platform exists. They need to understand why it is useful. They need to trust that it will help them find what they need quickly. That trust is built through regular, clear and useful communication.
Accessibility matters as much as awareness
Your employees should be able to quickly understand what support is available to them, how to access it and what they need to do next. If the answer is buried in a handbook, hidden in an old email or spread across several systems, there is a barrier. And every barrier reduces the chance of action.
Employees should be able to:
- Find relevant information without friction
- Understand what each benefit provides
- See who is eligible
- Know how to access support
- Take the next step with confidence
This is particularly important when people are under pressure. If an employee is dealing with a health concern, family issue or financial worry, they may not have the energy to search across multiple channels.
The best outcomes come when technology is supported by a clear communication strategy. One that keeps benefits visible, relevant and easy to act on throughout the year.
This is where employers can make real progress. Not by treating communication as a launch activity, but by making it part of the ongoing benefits experience.
The real measure of value is usage
Employee benefits can support wellbeing, strengthen loyalty and help your organisation stand out in a competitive talent market.
The key questions are:
- Do your employees know what support is available?
- Can they find the information quickly?
- Do they understand how to access it?
- Are communications relevant to their needs?
- Is engagement measured and improved over time?
If the answer to any of these is uncertain, the opportunity may not be to add more benefits. It may be to help employees get more value from the benefits already in place.
A better question for employers
The true value of a benefits programme is not in the list of benefits you offer. It is in whether your employees know what is available, understand how it can help them and can access support when they need it.
That is where communication earns its place as a strategic priority.
Not as an afterthought. Not as an annual campaign. But as the link between employer investment and employee impact.
Build a clearer, more effective communication strategy that helps your employees understand, access and use the benefits you provide. Broadstone can help you turn benefits investment into employee impact. Get in touch to start the conversation.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Broadstone
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