Benefits design is not a one-time project, but a continuous process that requires regular evaluation and feedback from your employees. How do you create a feedback loop that helps you improve your benefits offerings and align them with your business goals and employee needs? Here are some tips to get you started.
Before you collect and analyze feedback, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your benefits design. What are your business goals, values, and culture? What are your employee demographics, preferences, and expectations? How do you measure the effectiveness and impact of your benefits? Having a clear vision and criteria will help you design relevant and meaningful surveys, focus groups, interviews, or other feedback methods.
I disagree. First you need the feedback of the end user, which in benefits is the member/patient. It doesn’t matter what your company culture is or what your corporate goals are if you build a plan that patients can’t actually afford. The rate of medical bankruptcies in insured individuals is rising, as is the cost of insurance and care. There’s a way to mitigate costs - that part has become easy, but first we need the patient wish list so we can build the framework of the plan and then keep asking for input.
There are different ways to gather feedback from your employees, and each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Surveys are easy to administer and quantify, but they may not capture the nuances and emotions of your employees. Focus groups and interviews are more interactive and qualitative, but they may be influenced by group dynamics and biases. You may also use other sources of feedback, such as exit interviews, performance reviews, engagement surveys, or benefits utilization data. The best approach is to use a combination of methods that suit your objectives, resources, and timeline.
Utilization data is probably the best insight we have. Habits, routines, consistencies and inconsistencies can tell us how useful the plan is by showing us how it’s actually being used.
Feedback is a two-way street, and you need to communicate and engage with your employees throughout the process. Before you launch your feedback initiative, inform your employees about the purpose, scope, and timeline of the project. Explain how their feedback will be used and how it will benefit them and the organization. Encourage participation and honesty, and assure confidentiality and anonymity if needed. During the feedback collection, acknowledge and thank your employees for their input. After the feedback analysis, share the results and insights with your employees, and solicit their feedback on the proposed changes or improvements.
Feedback is useless if it is not acted upon. Once you have identified the gaps, strengths, and opportunities in your benefits design, you need to implement the necessary changes or improvements. This may involve revising your benefits strategy, policies, or vendors, or introducing new benefits or programs. You also need to monitor the outcomes and impact of your changes, using metrics such as benefits satisfaction, engagement, retention, productivity, or well-being. You may also need to collect feedback again after a certain period to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of your benefits.
Feedback is not a one-off event, but a continuous cycle of learning and improvement. You need to review and reflect on your feedback process, and identify what worked well and what can be improved. You also need to keep abreast of the changing needs and expectations of your employees, as well as the trends and best practices in the benefits industry. By creating a feedback loop, you can ensure that your benefits design is responsive, adaptive, and aligned with your business goals and employee needs.