XL Communications

Turning Lemons into Lemonade

The Situation
A global technology client completed a major redesign of its benefits program, which minimized options and increased employee contributions.

The Challenges:

Help employees appreciate the value of their benefits and compensation package, in spite of these negative changes.
Obtain comprehensive employee feedback on communications effectiveness and the company's total compensation package.

The Solution:
XL developed a series of Compensation/Benefit-related newsletters, which clearly addressed the various features of their total comp offerings. These newsletters were distributed throughout the year, at times when the employee was not required to make any elections. This provided the opportunity to help employees understand the rationale, as well as the changes themselves. It also gave employees the time to process the information and consider their choices before having to make their elections.

In addition, XL developed a personalized Total Compensation statement, clearly illustrating the value of the new comp/benefits package. This statement included a side by side comparison of employee vs. employer contributions as well as promotional summaries of all the available programs and incentives.

Finally, a brief survey was included to gauge employee reaction to the communications and their total compensation package.

The Results:

62% of respondents reported a greater appreciation for their new total compensation package vs. the previous year, even though there was a reduction in options and increase in employee contributions.

82% of respondents agreed that the communications materials helped them gain a better understanding/appreciation of their benefits.

Human Resource Communications from Recruitment through Retirement.