A way to make communication a positive experience.

About Fujifilm

FUJIFILM employs over 4,000 people across the United States at over 60 locations and different operating companies. Their population ranges from engineers to manufacturing employees and includes many non-native English speakers.  

The Challenge

As Director of Global Benefits at Fujifilm, Carolyn Gordon was facing some big benefits engagement challenges. “We were spending all this time and money communicating about wellness, but we weren’t getting the engagement.”

• Only 17% of eligible employees participated in the company’s health risk assessment initiative; 
• the health incentive rewards program was barely being utilized, and 
• health care costs had risen 12% from the previous year.

Why Airbo

Like most companies, Fujifilm was using a variety of communication tools to push information out to staff. There were emails, newsletters, posters, and fliers. “We were doing everything we should have been doing,” recalls Gordon. But the feedback was clear: HR emails were going unopened, and newsletters were getting ignored. Gordon knew that the success of the wellness and benefits programs depended on getting employees to participate, and that required effective communication. “I wanted to find a way to make communication a positive experience,” she says. 

Gordon is hardly alone. Information overload makes effective HR communication more challenging than ever. But while organizations struggle to connect their employees with their benefits, consumer platforms like Instagram and TikTok have revolutionized digital communication with visual and interactive tools that users find irresistible. What if these same principles were applied to an employee communication platform? 

Imagine benefit communications made of eye-catching images, easily digestible text, and fun, interactive elements. 

Outcomes

When Gordon introduced Airbo to the Fujifilm staff, the response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. “We’d never gotten that type of success,” said Gordon. 

That response lead to tangible results. According to Gordon, in 2012, Airbo contributed to Fujifilm, saving more than $5 million of its $565 million medical budget.

One of the concerns Gordon had about Airbo was how a new technology would be received across such a diverse workforce. Soon, she had her answer: Younger staff loved the format. Sales staff, often in the field, appreciated the ease and simplicity. The platform became so popular that manufacturing plant employees, with limited access to computers at work, were taking the initiative to log on from home. “We began to interact with people in an entirely different way, and they appreciated it.”

For Gordon, whose original objective was to enhance communication to drive participation in the company’s wellness program, Airbo has been a resounding success. 

Within one year:

• Employee health assessment completion rates increased from 17% to 54% 
• Participation in the wellness incentive reward program jumped 
• Company health care costs decreased by 12% 
• Nearly 90% of Fujifilm staff are on Airbo
• 96% of employees said that Airbo gave them a greater appreciation for their retirement and financial planning benefits
• 93% of employees said they like to learn about their benefits through Airbo

“It’s a great incentive to motivate employees,” one employee commented.“I feel like Fujifilm really cares about us.”

Gordon said the experience has been transformative. “Before Airbo, I had trouble getting people to read emails because it felt like a chore,” she said. “Now, Airbo is the only thing people read. They like that it’s easy and it’s fun. Airbo has become such a part of Fujifilm culture, people know if it didn’t come through Airbo, it must not be important.”