1. BEYOND THE USUAL BENEFITS
Five-year trends show the link between benefits education and business success
MK-1953 (2-14)

2. Five years of research confirm it
Benefits education is a “must have”
Employees value:
Effective benefits education
The employers who provide it
Voluntary benefits
Employees with effective benefits education are more likely to be:
Pleased with their benefits package
Happy with their employer
Engaged in their work
Companies with happy and engaged employees show significantly better performance than those without.1
2013 was the fifth year of the Unum Employee Education study.
The data continue to show that employees in general value effective benefits education and the employers who provide it. Employees also value employers who provide voluntary benefits.
These findings are important because when employees are pleased with their benefit education, they are also more likely to be pleased with their benefits package, happy with their workplace, and engaged in their work. And when they’re engage in their work, the company’s performance shows it.
These findings indicate opportunities for improvement among employers who would like to reap the benefits of excellent education and enrollment capabilities.
You can use this research to maximize the return on investment of your benefits program.
1 Gallup, State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders (2013).
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).
1 Gallup, State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders (2013).

3. 5 Five-year trends Employee ratings of… Access to… Benefits education
Steadily improved
Benefits packages
Remained consistent
Access to…
Voluntary benefits
Remained stable
Still room for improvement: Only one-third of employees rate their education excellent or very good
Between 55% and 58% of employees are offered voluntary benefits at work
Since the study was first performed:
Employees’ ratings of their benefits education have steadily improved. However, since only 1/3 of all employees surveyed rate their benefits education excellent or very good, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Employee ratings of their benefits packages have remained consistent with about half rating their benefits excellent or very good. 20% rate them poor or fair.
Access to voluntary benefits has remained stable, with between 55% and 58% of employees reporting that voluntary benefits are available to them at work.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

4. 5 More five-year trends Benefits education materials/resources
Number offered
Employees were offered more types of benefits resources
Type preferred
They want and use printed and personalized materials
Most used enrollment method
They used online enrollment, with no assistance, more frequently
In 2012, employers were offering more types of resources than in any year since we started conducting our survey.
Employees continue to want, and to use, printed and personalized materials
Want to take printed materials home to review
Printed materials are the most preferred and most utilized since the study began
Personalized materials are popular, but only about a quarter of employees reported receiving them.
When it comes time to enroll in benefits, the most frequently used method is online with no assistance (48%), followed by paper form (33%).
45% of employees said they would like assistance from their benefits staff or other benefits expert, but only 20% reported that help was available.
45% of employees said they would like assistance from a benefits expert, but only 20% reported that help was offered.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

5. Workplace and benefits ratings are tied to benefits education
When employees like their benefits education, they tend to like their benefits — and their workplace
This graph depicts the positive correlation between strong benefits education and high workplace satisfaction.
84% of employees who liked their benefits education rated their benefits package excellent/very good, versus only 25% who rated theirs fair/poor.
Similarly, 81% of employees who liked their benefits education rated their workplace as excellent/very good, versus 23% who rated it fair/poor.
In short, when employees like their benefits education, they tend to like their benefits -- and their workplace.
58-point difference
59-point difference
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

6. Employee engagement is also related to education availability
42-point difference }
39-point difference }
To find out more about workplace satisfaction, our research delved deeper into what elements make employees feel engaged in their work, and how benefits education can influence those elements.
When employees rate their benefits education highly, they are much more likely to rate their employer highly on these measures of employee engagement. The difference along all of these dimensions is remarkable.
For example, there’s a 42-point difference on the measure “being energized to the go the extra mile.” 81% of employees who liked their benefits education said this statement applied to them. Only 39% of the employees who gave their benefits education low ratings felt the same. And there’s a 39-point difference on the dimension that deals with staying with the employer.
The key takeaway for employers is that benefits education appears to be strongly linked to employee satisfaction and engagement, both of which lead to higher productivity for the company.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

7. Quality counts, but so do time and repetition
Greater employee satisfaction
Higher productivity
Better company performance
The results from our study continue to emphasize the importance of time and tools on employees’ ratings of their benefits education. We call this the 3+3 strategy: Employees need a minimum of three communications and three weeks to review them in order to make good decisions at enrollment time.
With at least three weeks to review benefits information, employees have sufficient time to:
· Take materials home to share with a partner or spouse
· Evaluate their personal situations
· Attend informational meetings, if offered
· Consult with trusted relatives or friends
· Do some additional research
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

8. Time is especially important
45-point difference
50-point difference
This graph depicts the positive correlation between increased time to review benefits materials and employee satisfaction.
In the study, 57% of employees with 3+ weeks to review their benefits materials rated their benefits education as excellent/very good, versus 7% who had only 1 week of less to review.
And 53% of employees who had 3+ weeks to review their benefits materials rated their benefits package excellent/very good, versus only 8% who had 1 week or less to review.
So, clearly, giving employees enough time to absorb and think about the benefits they’re offered helps them understand how valuable those benefits are.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

9. Communication tools should accommodate different learning styles
Visual learners may prefer videos or printed materials with images. Auditory learners usually prefer podcasts, video or spoken communications. Tactile/kinesthetic learners are “hands-on” and may do better with online interactive tools or worksheets they can fill out.
Age matters, too
Younger employees (ages 18-34) are more likely to prefer using electronic tools than older colleagues
An added wrinkle on the idea of providing multiple communications is making sure that those communications are of different types, to be sure they appeal to the various learning styles in a workforce population.
Visual learners may prefer videos or printed materials with images.
Auditory learners may prefer podcasts, video or spoken communications.
Tactile/kinesthetic learners are “hands-on” and may do better with online interactive tools or worksheets they can fill out.
We also learned something about people’s preference for different materials at different ages.
Younger employees (ages 18-34) are more likely than older colleagues to prefer using electronic tools.
They are 2-3 times more likely to prefer online chats or message boards involving a benefits advisor,
and 5 times more likely to prefer a mobile app.
The key takeaway is this: Tailor your education efforts based on your workforce. For example, when you rely on Unum for benefits education, you get access to a library of print, interactive and audio/visual materials that you can use to speak to all the different people in your company.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

10. Print materials are used most, but interactive tools are gaining ground
Most-used benefits education tools 2012*:
Percent of employees who used the tool when the employer provided it as part of their overall package of learning
In looking at the types of materials employees actually use, some trends stand out.
Employees continue to use printed and personalized educational materials the most. And those who received personalized communications that included their individual benefits costs were more likely to rate their benefits education highly.
While print is still the most popular, use of interactive web tools saw a major jump between this study and the previous one, in 2011.
14-point increase since 2011
*When several tools are provided.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

11. Room for improvement
Many employees continue to rate their benefits education poorly, presenting a significant opportunity for employers.
Many employees don’t fully understand:
25% said they did not understand the benefits being offered to them
The benefits their employers offer
The value of voluntary benefits
Only 21% of voluntary benefit purchasers said they did so because their benefits education made a good case for the coverage
This presentation so far has focused on the good news: that employees who rate their benefit education highly also rate their workplace highly.
The bad news is that, on the whole, employees continue to rate their benefits education poorly. So it’s not surprising that 25% said they don’t understand the benefits their employers are offering them.
Many are foggy about the value of the voluntary benefits they’re offered, as well. Only about 21% of purchasers said they bought the coverage because the materials they got did a good job selling the coverage. We found that supervisor encouragement to consider all options is important, including that these benefits typically cost less than expected and can be ported.
These findings represent an opportunity for employers. Improving the quality of benefits education can help employees see the value in the benefits that employers work so hard to offer. And -- again -- when employees appreciate their benefits, they’re more likely to be engaged and productive at work.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

12. Voluntary benefits: An increasingly important component of the benefits offering
Employees who have access to voluntary benefits tend to be more satisfied with their workplace and benefits.
Let’s look a little closer at employees’ attitudes toward voluntary benefits in particular – and how they affect workplace satisfaction.
As the economy slowly recovers, the value of voluntary benefits — and the financial protection they provide — is self-evident.
The gap in workplace satisfaction between those who have access to voluntary benefits and those who do not continues to widen.
In 2012, 55% of employees were satisfied with their benefits package when offered voluntary plans, versus 38% satisfaction without voluntary plans.
In addition, 55% of employees were satisfied with their employer when offered voluntary plans, while only 32% of employees were satisfied with their employers when they are not offered voluntary plans.
This insight is valuable to employers:
Employee-paid coverage offers more benefits/value to a plan without impacting the bottom line.
As cost-sharing increases with the advent of health care reform, adding voluntary benefits, such as critical illness, helps employers keep their benefits packages competitive.
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

13. Put these findings into action
Work with the right benefits partner to:
Create an effective education plan
Provide clear and relevant education materials
Ensure employees have enough time to make benefits decisions
Deliver communications materials conveniently online
Offer a choice of employee- and employer- paid benefits that complement each other
To put these findings into action cost-effectively, it’s important to work with the right benefits provider. The best partner will be able to:
Offer benefits that complement each other, both employee- and employer-paid
Create an effective education plan, with multiple communications, using a variety of learning methods
Provide clear and relevant education materials
Provide communications materials online
Clearly communicate these important points to employees:
How the benefits offer valuable protection
Why the offering shows how much your company values its workers
Why these benefits offer more affordable protection
When to sign up — so employees don’t miss out on enrollment
A half decade of research shows that employers who provide comprehensive benefits and benefits education win out. With more loyal, satisfied and engaged workers, their companies are positioned for greater success. There has never been a better time to evaluate your benefits communication strategy. Take advantage of any opportunities to align your offerings with what your workers desire and respond to. The rewards you reap will likely far outpace your investment — and distinguish your company as a place the best employees want to work.
1 ADP, Healthcare Programs: Employee Benefits Selection Can Be Made Easier Through Technology (2012).
Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Education Survey (2013).

14. Questions?
Unless otherwise cited, all statistics in this report are from the following study: Unum, Employee Education and Enrollment Survey (2013). Results based on an online survey by Harris Interactive of 1,890 employed adults with benefits from a variety of providers. Insurance products are underwritten by the subsidiaries of Unum Group. © 2014 Unum Group. All rights reserved. Unum is a registered trademark and marketing brand of Unum Group and its insuring subsidiaries. MK-1953 (2-14) FOR BROKERS AND EMPLOYERS