By Chris Ceplenski, Managing Editor, News

"The pendulum for benefits responsibility has swung back over to the employer."

"We saw a drastic rise in enrollment in our high deductible health plan (HDHP) when we renamed it an HSA plan."

"Benchmarking against your competitors is important, but don't be a copycat."

"Eliminate the benefits-speak and communicate to your employees like they communicate with each other."

These statements were among several insightful nuggets offered by a panel of benefits professionals in the Silicon Valley area, in a WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference session aptly titled "How Silicon Valley's Best Employers Use Benefits to Drive Employee Engagement."

The panel was moderated by Jennifer Benz, CEO of Benz Communications and featured: Rosemary Arriada-Keiper, senior director, Rewards at Adobe; Sarah Lacuna, Americas Health & Global Wellness Offering leader at Intuit; Andrea Trudella, benefits director of NVIDIA; and her colleague, Beau Davidson, vice president of Human Resources.

Benefits impact on engagement, productivity

Benz asked the panel about how benefits drive productivity and engagement. Adobe's Arriada-Keiper expressed her view that "benefits demonstrate commitment" and that organizations need to customize benefits that are relevant and meaningful to employees—where they live, their lifestyle, etc. A valuable benefits program should "mitigate distractions people have outside of the work environment," she said.

Intuit's Lacuna agreed, adding how important it is to "talk to employees to decide what's going to add value" and, when making decisions about your benefits offerings, to ask "How is it going to impact employees in a way that will benefit the customer?" In other words, how can benefits be structured where you can both engage employees and meet business objectives?

Lacuna underscored Arriana-Keiper's note about designing your benefits with a goal of removing distractions that can create difficulties for employees—including absenteeism. "You need to be present to be engaged and productive," she noted.

Trudella (from NVIDIA) explained that "prospective employees are looking for the company that can provide them an innovative and competitive benefits package."

She also stressed the importance of continuing to communicate your benefits and how employees can use them beyond attracting potential employees, but also once they're on board. "Have a documented benefits strategy—know where you've been and where you're going," she advises.

Trudella also emphasized the importance of benchmarking—"If you're not benchmarking, you should be"—she stated. You need to know where your benefits stand against your competitors, but you can't 'copycat,'v" Trudella says. You have to choose benefits that fit your culture. Don't assume that employees want a particular benefit "just because Google has it" for example.

Solicit employee feedback

Meanwhile, when discussing the topic of benefits communications, everyone on the panel agreed that seeking out feedback from employees was paramount. Several panelists explained that they survey and/or talk with employees to find out what's top of mind for them in terms of how they feel about their benefits program.

Trudella and Davidson implemented some recent changes to their communications at NVIDIA after participating in an informational session they saw as boring and uninspiring.

They decided to start speaking the language of their employees, including a making a concerted effort to eliminate benefits- and legal-speak. They even took a bit of an "irreverent" approach towards their communications, examples of which they shared with the audience, including a poster that read (in part): $30,000 TO PAY YOUR STUDENT LOANS? H*ll yeah!

They also explained that they renamed their HDHP as an HSA plan at NVIDIA because of low enrollment, especially among Millennials who would "run away" at the sight of the words "high deductible." They note that enrollment in the plan has since sharply increased.

Lacuna explained that at Intuit, they learned by talking with their employees that they craved more communications about their benefits (a shared theme among panelists is that employees often aren't aware of all the benefits available to them). So her team has now implemented an "all year-round benefits communication plan" where a specific benefit is highlighted each month.

Intuit also provides employees with age-specific suggestions in their communications (i.e., presenting '6 important benefits' for employees in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc) to help guide employees with their decision-making. This strategy has been very effective and helpful to employees in their benefits selection.

Benefits decisions as shared responsibility

Benz elicited responses from the panel that indicated a shift away from the 'consumerism' model when she asked about the "responsibility of the employer to take care of their employees" when it comes to benefits decisions.

Arriana-Keiper captured the general consensus of the panel when she explained that Adobe's approach was that employees were responsible for making informed decisions, but that Adobe believes they should provide employees the tools they can use to make such assessments, noting that health care is a "complex landscape" for employees to navigate.

"Employees want us to be much more involved in helping them make healthcare decisions," Lacuna added, noting that the "pendulum" for responsibility was swinging back and that there's a shift away from the employee "self-service" approach towards benefits.