73% of Employees Want to Talk Benefits with People, Not Apps

Valerie Bolden-Barrett
HRDive | December 15, 2016

Dive Brief:

• Health Advocate released the results of a recent survey on communicating benefits, finding that 73% of employees prefer to talk live with someone about their benefits rather than use an automated system. Millennials were found to prefer live interaction even more than boomers and GenXers.
• Infrequent communication about benefits was troubling to 41% of employees. Health Advocate says organizations sometimes partner with as many as six benefit vendors of medical, dental, eye care, life insurance and retirement plan coverage. Employees often find navigating through an array of vendors daunting.
• Technology might have made live easier for people, but workers in the survey preferred getting information about benefits, health and wellness through live conversations. For help managing chronic conditions, 67% of men and 53% of women preferred live assistance versus 35% of women and 18% of men who prefer using apps.

Dive Insight: The survey points out that a one-size-fits all approach to communicating benefits could fail. Workplaces sometimes have three, possibly four, generations working together and therefore one approach that works for one group or individual might not work for another. Employers should use as many channels as is feasible to communicate benefits to employees.

This report comes at an awkward time for many third-party HR software providers. Firms like Zenefits, which recently launched its Z2 app, are depending on HR departments to make digital shifts in several areas, hoping to change the way employees interact with their employers.