Manager training: HR’s secret weapon to drive benefits engagement

HR and benefits leaders are no strangers to the challenges of driving benefits engagement. Some companies excel at getting employees to use the suite of benefits available to them, and some flounder. Benefits communication and engagement can be a key in improving the employee experience at your company—50% of employees say that they would feel more cared for if their employer improved benefits communications. 

While email communications, Slack messages, and benefits webinars can be important in spreading the word about benefits, many companies overlook their secret weapon in driving benefits engagement: Managers. Studies back this up—only 18% of employers say managers at their organization are well-equipped and comfortable discussing benefits with their direct reports. 

In our recent webinar, Tactical strategies to drive family benefits engagement, our speakers discussed how to use manager training to empower employees and increase benefits utilization. Here’s what you need to know from our discussion. 

Why managers are key to driving benefits engagement

As the most frequent point of contact for employees, managers often have better trust and rapport with their teams than HR or leadership does. Managers are positioned to help with benefits engagement in several ways:

• They are the main points of contact for employees: Managers are often the primary, and sometimes the only, points of contact for employees when discussing personal and professional concerns. A study from The Predictive Index found that 80% of employees feel they can approach their boss with problems. They, more than anyone else in your company, will know if employees are needing to take time off for medical reasons like fertility treatment, or are struggling to find adequate childcare. This access to employees makes them uniquely positioned to inform them about benefits and drive engagement.  
• They are often more trusted by employees: People managers are often more trusted by employees than HR or senior leadership due to the closer working relationship. This means that employees are more likely to explore benefits information coming from a manager that they interact with regularly, and managers will be able to tailor that information to align with an employee’s unique needs. 
• They can normalize reproductive health discussions and break down stigma: Employees may be reluctant to approach their HR team or engage with benefits due to a desire for privacy. Managers can help break down these barriers by normalizing discussions around reproductive health and creating a psychologically safe environment for employees to ask questions and seek support.

How to upskill managers to advocate for family benefits engagement

We know that managers are well-positioned to drive benefits engagement, so how do you equip manager to be able to handle these conversations with their direct reports? There are three specific ways to start off: Scheduled events, self-directed resources, and soft skill training. 

Scheduled events

These events can be scheduled throughout the year for all people managers, providing them with the resources they need to support employees and drive benefits engagement.

• Open enrollment deep dive: Host an annual learning session for manager training during open enrollment. Make sure to go over detailed information on new and existing benefits, highlight the value of these benefits to employees, and provide guidance on how employees can access and utilize these benefits. This equips managers to effectively support employees with benefit-related questions not just during open enrollment but throughout the year. 
• Manager training sessions: Implement quarterly lunch and learn sessions for managers, where you give a benefits offering refresh paired with a deep dive on a specific topic. Quarterly topics might include:some text
  • Understanding the various life stages employees may experience (e.g., family planning, postpartum care, parenting, menopause) and how company benefits support them.
  • Tips for discussing sensitive topics (e.g., fertility treatments, pregnancy loss, LGBTQIA+ family planning, surrogacy) with empathy and tact.
  • How to initiate conversations about reproductive and family health with empathy.

Self-directed resources

These resources can come together to provide a self-serve library for managers to help them have delicate conversations with employees and ensure that they're getting the resources they need.

• Comprehensive FAQ document and scripts: Develop a resource that addresses common employee questions about benefits. Include prepared responses that managers can use in conversations, providing scripts for things like introducing fertility support options in 1:1 meetings.
• Manager-specific communication channel: Establish a manager-only Slack channel, providing a space where managers can ask questions on behalf of themselves or their teams. This is also a good place to share additional resources and trainings from your HR and benefits team, as well as highlight upcoming lunch and learn workshops. 
• Monthly benefits spotlight: Prepare a “monthly benefits spotlight” slide for managers to integrate into team meetings. Highlight one benefit each month, such as fertility support or mental health resources.
• Enrollment marketing materials: Share any marketing materials from benefits vendors, including informational PDFs, emails explaining specific benefits, and articles related to reproductive health and other benefits topics.

Soft management skills

Paired with the concrete items listed above, soft skills go a long way in these conversations, and two essential skills sets a good manager apart from the rest: active listening and leading with empathy. 

• Active listening: As part of active listening, seek to understand without judgment first and ask open-ended questions. Managers may want to dive right into solutions mode, but it's important to really listen to your employees first and foremost.
• Leading with empathy: Active listening goes hand and hand with empathy, allowing people to feel heard, understood, and supported. Things like reproductive health, family planning, and menopause can be hard to talk about with anyone, let alone in the workplace, so equipping your managers to have conversations about these topics in an informed, helpful, empathetic way can help reduce the stigma and make employees feel better supported overall.

Where managers can have benefits conversations

Just as you should be providing managers with different training types, managers should also communicate about benefits with their teams effectively and in varied ways. Since family benefits can be so personal, 1:1 meetings are often the best place to discuss benefits and check in. This 1:1 environment also allows managers to tailor information to the specific individual. 

To normalize discussions about women's and family health, managers can also add family benefits to the agenda of their next team meeting. Sometimes people feel more comfortable in small group settings than they do one-on-one. Lastly, asynchronous communication is also important. At Maven, we use Slack and email for ongoing benefits reminders and information, and answering any questions that managers and employees have about existing or new benefits.

How to measure success: Proving the impact of manager training programs

You'll want to track KPIs to measure the organizational success of your manager training program and family benefits engagement. Here are a few KPIs that it’s useful to target:

• Employee engagement metrics: Track not only overall employee engagement but also the usage rate of reproductive health and family benefits. You can get even more granular here, breaking them down by department or team.
• Health outcomes: Monitor key metrics like reduced C-sections, NICU admissions, and improved fertility outcomes. As employees see their peers receiving value from these benefits, they are more likely to use them too.
• Business outcomes: We know that engaged employees are more productive, more loyal, and more likely to be thriving both at work and at home. Benefits utilization can be a great indicator of employee engagement and health, allowing you to assess overall well-being.

Managers are your frontline to driving benefits engagement

When it comes to driving real benefits engagement, managers can make an outsized impact. When you teach managers tailored communication skills to initiate these important conversations with their teams, they foster a culture of care and support. Well-trained managers not only improve benefits utilization but also foster a healthier, more engaged workforce.

HR and benefits leaders need to invest in ongoing manager training programs and leadership development to improve both trust and benefits usage, and Maven can help. To learn more about how your HR teams and managers can drive benefits enrollment, contact our team today. For hundreds of manager-specific resources, check out Maven’s Manager Training Hub.