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Employee benefits communications see technological advances

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With the proliferation of electronics in everyday life—from iPads and laptops to photo- and video-enabled smartphones—most employees are never far from a gadget that makes it possible to communicate health, wellness and retirement information in new and interesting ways.

Not every employee wants or needs a smartphone app that can download an open enrollment video or calculate how much to sock away in a retirement account. But for employees who prefer tools like these, technology is unleashing an endless stream of possibilities.

Human resource experts say what employees are demanding and what employers are delivering varies widely from one company to the next. “It really depends on the workforce and what the preferences are of the workforce,” said Brenna Shebel, assistant director of the Institute on Health Care Costs and Solutions at the National Business Group Health in Washington.

While email and intranet communications are old hat, innovative employers are exploring various phone, Web and social media applications.

Here are some of the latest communications technologies popping up in benefits management offices across the country:

? SOCIAL MEDIA. Soon after international media and education company Pearson launched Neo, a Facebook-like platform connecting its employees around the globe, the U.S. benefits team began planning its first major wellness initiative: a virtual trek around the world called the Global Corporate Challenge. By leveraging Neo, Pearson exceeded its participation goal by 35%, recruiting 5,348 employees across 764 teams, said Theresa Rich, Pearson's manager of health promotion in New York.

? BLOGS. “Blogs are an incredibly effective way to educate people because you can give (employees) little bite-sized pieces of information and it's much more aligned with how adults learn now, how we digest other information online,” said Jennifer Benz, chief strategist and founder of Benz Communications in San Francisco. A company can get a microsite on the Internet at very low cost, and “there's a ton” of ready-to-use content from various carriers and vendors, she said. “A benefit manager who wants to do this on their own has a ton of information at their fingertips,” she added. Employers and their calls centers are answering questions one on one all the time, so they might as well do it on the blog, she said.

? VIDEO CLIPS. Smartphones that double as video cameras are making it easier and cheaper than ever to record and post video clips. “So why not use it? Why not send someone from HR to walk around the building and talk to people and then post it on the intranet, maybe even post it on YouTube, and let people hear what their colleagues are thinking and saying,” said Randolph Carter, senior vp in the communications practice of Sibson Consulting, a division of The Segal Co., in New York.

? GAMES. Before the last state legislative session, the Employee Retirement System of Texas rolled out an interactive Web-based game allowing health plan participants to submit their individual preferences for handling a looming budget shortfall. Kathy Kibbe, North American director of communication and change management with Towers Watson & Co. in San Francisco, has a client who conducted a texting game in which employees scavenged for key pieces of information about their benefit plan. “This was an example of a creative way to engage people,” said Ms. Kibbe. “When they're having fun, they're learning.”

? SMARTPHONE APPS. Quick response codes have popped up everywhere, from advertisements to product packaging. Scan the code with a smartphone to receive additional product information, videos, coupons, and more. Now benefits managers are pondering ways to use the codes to provide more information, too, consultants say.

? TEXT MESSAGES. Employers are thinking about how to sync up the message with the medium, Ms. Shebel said. Text messages are great for reminders or reiterating information that's been previously presented to employers. But, it would not be appropriate for introducing very large benefit changes, she said.

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