Why you should be bull-horning your company’s benefits

Company benefits drive engagement – but only if your employees are aware of them. It’s your job to make sure they are, says one HR pro.

Company benefits are designed to drive engagement – but that can only work if your employees are actually aware of them – it’s your job to make sure they are, says one HR pro.

Kaitlyn Annaert heads up the HR department of Ontario based voice-over company Voices.com – she says leaders should use training to communicate employee benefits to the whole team and ensure they’re taking advantage of everything that’s on offer.

“Incorporate [benefits] information during the introductory training all new employees participate in during their first few days on the job,” says Annaert. That way, there’ll be no confusion and you’ll know employees can take advantage of all that is offered to them.

And of course – it’s always good to start on a positive, so why not boast about all the great benefits?
“A slide with the details and a verbal explanation can go a long way,” says Annaert, “especially with a team of Millennials who are used to 140 character communication. “

But mentioning benefits in one off, welcome training isn’t enough – at Voices.com, Annaert encourages “Training Tuesday” sessions.  “Ongoing communication can happen [at the] sessions,” she explains, and “employee 'experts' can share knowledge or insight with co-workers post-lunch in a shared space.”

Training Tuesday’s at Voices.com offers all employees the chance to discuss more than just benefits – each session lasts about 30 minutes and aims to improve engagement by educating employees on every aspect of their role – everything from emails hacks and how to adjust your lumbar support to help with managing your finances and setting up email campaigns for customers.

“Implementing short bursts of training like this has helped our team become more engaged, and had has provided the company with a channel to communicate company updates and knowledge sharing,” said PR manger Trisha Beausaert.

“Do this and you will have more engaged employees and an improved platform for communication all year round," asserts HR manager Annaert.

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