Comments on: 6 ways to emphasize wellness in your annual enrollment communications

By: what can be learned from towers watson’s annual enrollment 2010 survey — free-range communication

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:03:01 +0000

[...] their online enrollment with their wellness providers’ (13%). this is good news, as open enrollment is the perfect time to nudge employees about their health and lifestyle [...]

By: autom

autom — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:52:38 +0000

this is the way to do it..responding to others' comments IS the convo that happens on blogs. as ppl do a tug-n-war think on whether or not twitter is a broadcast or conversation platform, blogs should not have to come under similar scrutiny—the platform is *intended* to foster dialogue. kudos for setting an example! a

By: femelmed

femelmed — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:30:08 +0000

hi, everyone. thanks for your comments.

crystal, glad to know you can put some of this information to immediate use! holler if you're pulling your hair out in the madness of AE comms.

autom, glad to see you can fight against your ADD ;0 user testing is a great idea, as is having some communication folk involved in writing these assessments.

frank, it takes a village -- it does, it does. i love the idea of actually bypassing the employee and appealing straight to the kid with health comms.

mark, firms are now coming out with flash quizzes that actually tell the employee what plan to enroll in after they answer a few questions. i don't know yet of any study on how these are working out, but it'd save me, you, rob, and everyone else a huge headache if they nailed it.

jill, thanks for reading!

f

By: Jill Sherer Murray

Jill Sherer Murray — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:18:05 +0000

Fran, this is a fantastic post and so helpful (and of course, timely, statement of the obvious I know…). Thanks so much for taking the time to share! Keep all the great insights coming. See you soon–
Jill

By: Mark Bednar

Mark Bednar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:57:44 +0000

excellent post, fran. well thought-out, and the practical examples are right on. i'm thrilled w/ IKEA's use of social media. The more interactive and engaging you can make this stuff that “you and rob muddle through” (and, you're not alone w/ that — I'm there w/ you), the better. I've seen companies do interactive web-based benefits guides as well, and that's far more engaging than a black and white word doc. i think, too, it's important to remind employees of the consumerism side (esp. in refernece to HDHPs) and that being healthy not only saves the company money but them as well — and that may be a sexier message for them.

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:53:58 +0000

Fran, this is an excellent article. Really great to share how to do this…I really like the “reach out the family” aspect…it takes a village.

By: autom

autom — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:16:12 +0000

ya that was long. but worth the read.

with regard to point #2 i'd like to add that if internal communicators are given the opp to be involved in mapping out and fine tuning an online version of the health risk assessment vehicle (or the overall enrolment/re-enolment vehicle) that they also ensure they are involved in thoroughly testing it. including a solid UAT (user acceptance testing) phase helps identify gaps not only in usability but also content.

i once managed the full implementation of a new bilingual health benefits microsite (from design concept to roll out) for a former firm. went off swimmingly and learned many a best practices including the UAT peice.

thanks for the share -a

By: Crystal Peterson

Crystal Peterson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:08:35 +0000

Really good post, Fran. I think a wellness message, if done correctly and targets your audience, can be very effective. I'm actually in the process of reviewing our benefits now for our upcoming open enrollment and I will be incorporating a couple of your tips.