DEI & Employee Benefits Communications
Imagine if you were forced to sit through a presentation that seemed like it was for other people, not you. This is an unfortunate reality in financial services, and happens more often than we’d like. Rosalyn Brown, CRPS, has spoken about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and financial services pretty regularly over the last few years, and I have often found her insight invaluable in helping uncover gaps in communication and unconscious bias in the financial services industry when we are speaking with consumers. I recently chatted with her about how DEI relates to employee benefits and communications, with helping plan sponsors at the forefront of our minds. Read on for highlights of our conversation!
The Value of Diversity
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (occasionally you will also see a “B” which stands for Belonging). Let’s take a closer look at diversity.
How are different types of people represented in your workplace? Typically we think of race, but “diversity” also refers to background, education, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, handicaps, etc. Regardless of what your company does, it is helpful to have those different voices and experiences at the table so that you can better target your audience (whether your audience is your employees or your customers). Being able to see a “customer experience” through someone else’s lens makes it possible to enhance it for better outcomes. This is good business sense all around!
Relevancy Is Key
With respect to the Great Resignation, many people are leaving their jobs not because of the pay, but in part because of how they feel at their workplace. As a result, employers are refocused on offering amazing benefits in order to attract and retain talent, including a great retirement plan. When you have a diverse workforce, however, each employee will see retirement differently. For some, “retirement” means rest and relaxation, while for others it will involve traveling the world or going back to school.
If an employee has a variety of benefits available to them, a benefit (such as a retirement plan) will only be perceived as valuable if it is relevant to their own situation. Being able to make sure your benefits are relevant starts with understanding what your employees find valuable, then how the benefits are communicated to them, and understanding how they might make decisions or be influenced about those benefits.
Our workforce looks very different today than it did even a generation ago – it’s projected that by the year 2050 the US will be a “majority minority” nation. What does this mean? There are going to be many demographics plan sponsors will need to keep in mind when it comes to retirement plans and other benefits. Listening to your employees is of the utmost importance!
Making Retirement Plan Decisions
How do demographics and diversity affect decision-making when it comes to retirement plans? Well, younger employees who have never filled out enrollment forms, for example, may rely on their parents or peers for information. Employees who have just arrived from another country may rely on others who have been in the US longer. Those employees may not have anything comparable to a company’s retirement plan back home, and may require more information.
For many plan sponsors, communications regarding employee benefits are tailored to just one demographic, when in reality there are many demographics represented among their employees. It’s vital to speak in each demographic’s language (both figuratively and literally) in order to convey the information they need to hear. Storytelling skills can be useful to describe how someone uses their benefits, since stories are something that we can all relate to.
Speaking of Stories…
Here’s an example of how we need to meet people where they are in order to communicate to them about retirement plans and other benefits.
In the mid-2000s I was assisting with an enrollment at a hospital in Texas, just about two miles from the Mexico border. The workforce was quite diverse, and included immigrants from Mexico, doctors and nurses who had come from other parts of the country (or even other countries), etc. This was an employee base with a lot of different needs, and we quickly found out that one gigantic group meeting was not going to cut it.
We ended up using a “divide and conquer” tactic, talking with groups of about five employees at a time. Friends would group together and help each other out during the meetings. This arrangement helped us get a lot of valuable information from the employees, and enabled us to communicate with them in relevant terms and to clear up common misconceptions.
Different cultures view not only money and their savings differently, says Rosalyn, but also their employers and financial institutions differently. So much of what we learn and believe about money is passed from generation to generation, and that can include mistrust of financial institutions, or even automatic enrollment in a retirement plan. It’s up to plan sponsors to give employees the relevant information they need to make wise decisions regarding their benefits.
Best Practices for Implementing DEI Programs
Many companies want to implement DEI programs, but since they view it as a “people” issue, they simply hand it off to HR. But does HR have the ability and resources to handle it? And how do the employees view it - as something akin to Christmas lights, which get put out for a month then get packed away?
Focusing on different demographics during different months of the year is all well and good, but it can’t stop there -- we need to understand their needs and how they feel about the organization and their place in it all year round. We also need to measure DEI indicators the way we measure everything else, and make it a part of the organization’s strategic plan.
Bottom line: Each leader has to be accountable for DEI. It’s good for the bottom line, for employees, for morale, etc. There are so many benefits to DEI, and it all starts with the leadership as a whole, not just HR. Your vendors should also be held to the same standards: Are they communicating benefits information differently and effectively for different demographics? Are they reaching the right folks, and sending the right message?
Why Employees Matter
According to Rosalyn, in order for companies to be sustainable long-term, they need to take care of their first priority - their employees. They’re the ones feeding both the top line and bottom line. They need to feel a sense of belonging and connection to the company and its vision and goals. They need to feel appreciated, and know that their opinion and their perspective matters to their employers.
Key Takeaways
Here are a few important takeaways from our chat:
Benefits, including the retirement plan, are not one size fits most. First consider who your audience is made up of and inventory common and different experiences. Identify areas of cultural distrust.
When explaining your benefits, work to ensure your employees understand what they are, and their relevance to their culture, background, etc. Use examples and stories to communicate to them how to best take advantage of their benefits.
Make sure your employees’ voices are heard (and really listened to), and that you’re taking inventory of those things that matter to them.
Measure DEI and benefits related metrics, just like other corporate metrics.
Rosalyn is also coordinating the WIPN Diversity Summit to be held this September. To receive notifications about the event, subscribe to their newsletter at www.wipn.org or go here for more information.