Want to Attract & Retain Talent? Consider Employee Benefits Communication.

Employee recruitment and retention within the manufacturing industry is more crucial than ever with the “Great Resignation” and COVID in full swing. So, what can you do when it comes to hiring and keeping employees?

When Joe took a new job at a plant down the street, he didn’t think twice about his current company’s benefits. Heck, he didn’t understand them. So he made the jump for a $1 per hour increase in pay. What he didn’t realize? He gave up far more than that in his health plan and 401k contribution.

For most people, compensation is the top factor when evaluating job openings or offers, but wages aren’t the only part of the total compensation package. For example, the average total compensation package within the manufacturing industry is composed of 66.3% salary and 33.7% benefits.

Here’s the catch-22, employees can’t value their benefits if they don’t understand them, and the vast majority of people don’t even understand the basics of health plans. In fact, according to the Journal of Health Economics, 86% of employees can’t define the basic terms that make up their health plan, like copay and deductible.

This lack of understanding creates a major recruiting and retention opportunity. The more employees understand and value the benefits available to them, the more likely they’ll be to look beyond their paycheck and see the actual total value of their compensation package. For example, where they previously saw an annual salary of $23k, they now see $23k plus $12k in benefits, bringing their total compensation package to $35k.

Explaining the value of the benefits is especially important as employers continue to add new ones, from telemedicine to family support.

The need to communicate these benefits and educate employees on how to take advantage of what’s available to them is of the utmost importance. However, that can be difficult for manufacturers with a dispersed workforce, which is where Airbo comes in.

We make employee benefits communications simple by breaking down complex benefits into digestible pieces of content and by meeting employees where they are– on their smartphones. By doing so, employers see an increased understanding and appreciation for their benefits and offerings, and participation within these programs skyrocket.

Take longtime client Fujifilm as an example. A Fujifilm survey found that 96% of employees had a greater understanding and appreciation for their benefits after partaking in the Airbo Employee Experience, a pretty typical result.

The key takeaway? It’s time to take a cue from great organizations like Apple: having a great product isn’t enough. You need to have great marketing to help people see the value. Similarly, having great benefits isn’t enough. You need to have excellent communications to help employees value them.