According to a Kaiser Family Foundation (2022) study, 85% of large firms offering health benefits had at least one wellness or health-promotion program—proof that most employers are investing heavily in employee well-being. Yet engagement remains low. A Wellhub study found that only 29% of employees were satisfied with their corporate wellness programs in 2025, and just 44% said wellness was truly part of their company culture. Other sources tracking corporate wellness statistics report that only about 30% of employees participate regularly in these programs—suggesting that even the best-intentioned benefits often go unnoticed or underused.
The Real Reason Your Benefits Announcements Get Ignored
Most benefits rollouts follow a predictable pattern: HR sends a lengthy PDF during open enrollment, hosts a voluntary lunch session that conflicts with team meetings, and hopes employees figure out the rest on their own.
This approach fails for several reasons. First, employees receive benefits information when they're already overwhelmed with other enrollment decisions. Asking someone to absorb details about student debt assistance while they're trying to compare deductibles is unrealistic.
Second, benefits documents use language that makes sense to HR professionals but confuses everyone else. Terms like "dependent care FSA," "EAP sessions," and "HSA-eligible expenses" require translation for most employees.
Third, employees can't connect abstract benefits to their actual lives. Reading "we offer backup caregiving support" means nothing until someone needs to find emergency childcare before a critical presentation.
The Four Questions Every Benefits Message Must Answer
Before creating any benefits communication, identify what employees must understand to use the program. This varies by benefit type, but most require clarity on four key points.
Who qualifies for this benefit? Employees need to know immediately whether a benefit applies to them. "Available to all full-time employees" is clear. "Available to benefits-eligible team members meeting minimum hours requirements" is not.
What does this benefit actually do? Skip jargon and describe the practical outcome. Instead of "Our EAP provides confidential counseling sessions," say "Talk to a licensed therapist at no cost—up to 8 sessions per issue."
How do I access this? Employees need step-by-step instructions, not a phone number to call for more information. "Download the app, create an account with your work email, and browse mental health resources" works. "Contact HR for access details" doesn't.
When would I use this? Help employees connect benefits to real situations. Fertility support becomes relevant when someone is considering starting a family. Backup caregiving matters when regular childcare falls through. Student debt assistance clicks when monthly payments strain someone's budget.
Building Benefits Content That Works
Effective benefits communication requires organizing information around employee needs rather than HR categories.
Start With Life Situations, Not Benefit Names
Instead of listing "Fertility Support," "Mental Health Apps," and "Backup Caregiving" as separate items, organize content around moments when employees need help:
• "Planning to start or grow your family" leads to fertility treatment coverage, adoption assistance, and parental leave information.
• "Managing stress or mental health" connects to therapy sessions, meditation apps, and mental health days.
• "Balancing work and caregiving" bundles backup childcare, elder care resources, and flexible scheduling options.
This approach helps employees find relevant benefits without knowing what they're called or how HR categorizes them.
Create Decision Flows, Not Information Dumps
Rather than explaining every detail about every benefit upfront, guide employees through questions that lead to what matters for their situation.
A decision flow for caregiving benefits might ask: "Who do you need help caring for?" Options include children under 12, teenagers, aging parents, or a sick family member. Each answer reveals different relevant resources like backup childcare for young kids, after-school program databases for teens, elder care navigation for parents.
Employees see only what applies to them, reducing overwhelm and increasing the chance they'll actually use available support.
Show Real Costs and Savings
Many employees don't use benefits because they assume cost. Make pricing crystal clear immediately.
For mental health apps: "Free to all employees. Normally it costs $70/year."
For therapy through your EAP: "$0 for your first 8 sessions per issue. After that, sessions cost $25 with our insurance."
For backup caregiving: "Your first 10 days per year are free. Additional days cost $10/hour."
When employees understand exactly what they'll pay—or won't pay—they're more likely to try new benefits.
Bundle Related Benefits Together
Employees facing major life events need multiple forms of support simultaneously. Someone caring for an aging parent might need backup elder care, counseling to manage stress, and financial planning help to navigate care costs.
Create benefit bundles for common situations:
• "New Parent Support" includes parental leave, lactation resources, backup childcare, and mental health counseling.
• "Caregiving for Aging Parents" bundles elder care navigation, backup adult care, financial planning sessions, and flexible work options.
• "Managing Student Debt" combines debt repayment assistance, financial coaching, and budgeting tools.
Bundling shows employees you understand they're dealing with complex situations requiring multiple types of support.
Making Benefits Information Accessible Year-Round
Open enrollment shouldn't be the only time employees learn about benefits. Life changes happen throughout the year, and that's when benefits matter most.
Trigger-Based Communication
Send targeted information when employees are most likely to need it. Someone who just had a baby should receive details about backup childcare, not during open enrollment but a few weeks before their parental leave ends.
Employees who get married need information about adding spouses to insurance and accessing financial planning services.
Those who mention stress to their manager should learn about mental health apps and therapy options immediately, not six months later.
Searchable, Interactive Resources
Static PDFs fail because employees can't quickly find specific information when they need it. Interactive benefits guides let people search for terms that matter to them—"therapy," "childcare," "student loans"—and immediately see relevant options.
These guides can include calculators showing potential savings, comparison tools for different coverage levels, and direct links to enrollment or access instructions.
Visual Benefit Summaries
Many employees are visual learners who absorb information better through graphics than text. Create one-page visual summaries for each benefit showing:
• An icon representing the benefit
• One sentence describing what it does
• Who qualifies
• How to access it
• A QR code linking to full details
These summaries work as desk references, digital downloads, or posters in break rooms.
Measuring What Actually Matters
HR teams often measure benefits communication success by how many people opened an email or attended a presentation. But these metrics don't indicate whether employees understand or use their benefits.
Better metrics include:
• Utilization rates by benefit type. If only 3% of employees use your mental health app despite 40% reporting high stress in surveys, your communication isn't working.
• Time between benefit launch and first use. When employees access new benefits within weeks of launch, communication was effective. If usage doesn't pick up for six months, people didn't understand what was available.
• Support tickets to HR. Frequent questions about how to access a benefit signal unclear instructions. Decreasing questions over time indicate improving communication.
• Employee feedback on benefit awareness. Regular pulse surveys asking "Do you know what benefits are available to you?" and "Do you understand how to use your benefits?" provide direct insight into communication effectiveness.
You’ve Already Built A Great Benefits Package, Now Make Sure Employees See Its Value
Companies invest heavily in creative benefits that genuinely support employee well-being. But without clear, accessible, situation-based communication, these programs fail to deliver their intended value.
RELAYTO helps HR teams convert dense benefits guides and complicated vendor documentation into interactive experiences employees actually use. Whether you're rolling out new mental health resources, explaining complex caregiving support, or trying to increase utilization of existing programs, we can help you create benefit communications that drive real engagement.
Discover how RELAYTO can improve your benefits communication →