5 Tips to Increase the Long-Term Value of Your Total Rewards

Employees today value direct communication. In other words, it’s important that messages are being communicated with them, not at them. This is why it’s important to tailor communication to each group of employees within your organization.

To effectively communicate your total rewards, it is essential to send out targeted and personalized messages. Start by understanding what and who your audience is. From there, curate your messaging to address the needs and concerns of each specific employee group.

If you already have a total rewards system in place, look back at which categories your employees interacted with the most. By utilizing this information, you can identify what your employees value and customize your communication accordingly.

It’s also important to consider what your employees value and how it may differ depending on factors like age, marital status or what life stage they might be in. So, for example, younger employees may prioritize student loan repayment benefits or flexible work arrangements. But older generations may value retirement planning and healthcare benefits more.

When you can narrow down and target your communication, you’re able create more personalized messages about your company’s values. Total rewards communication should convey that the company has the tools and the desire to help employees.

Today, most people use multiple communication channels daily to talk to different people. Younger generations have adapted to even having multiple conversations with the same person on different platforms.

So, to ensure the broadest reach of your message, utilize a variety of communication channels. These can include your company’s website, email newsletters, social media platforms, posters, flyers, employee handbooks, and more.

By employing multiple channels, you increase the likelihood of your message sticking and being remembered in a positive manner. Switching it up also helps to prevent redundancy and helps employees feel more engaged.

Another reason to utilize multiple channels is to expand your reach. A younger employee may tend to check social media channels more often than email. Other generations may prefer receiving emails or a printed brochure with their options listed instead.

This is why it is important to consider your audiences and leverage multiple channels. Depending on which categories your employees fall under, you may consider using more of one kind of communication channel.

If most of your employees are not entry-level, it may be beneficial to use email as the main method of communication. However, for younger generations, it may make more sense to use social media channels as your primary method of communication.

Storytelling is a powerful tool for communicating the true ways your total rewards program has value. Improving the employee experience is all about providing a way for people to be able to relate to each other. This can look like communication that includes real-life scenarios where their benefits or rewards have improved someone’s life.

Doing this makes the rewards tangible and relatable. Being able to relate to your employees as people is such a key aspect of communication. A great way to communicate employee benefits is by creating videos or podcasts that feature employee testimonials. This allows you to showcase the value in action.

To communicate the value of your programs, you could showcase employees’ stories. For example, one story could be about how a wellness program helped an employee to better manage their diabetes. Another story could be about a family who was able to have children because of an adoption assistance benefit.

These stories create an emotional connection and enable employees to envision themselves benefiting from the rewards on offer.