Human Resources
Thought Leadership

Point of View:
Enabling the Ideal Decision-Making Process: Personal Guidance Changes the Game

As the employee portal becomes the hub of the work experience, there's an opportunity to maximize its effectiveness and reach the broadest group of employees and families by providing support from other communication channels — including customer service call centers, print materials, and in-person contact. Why? Employees are being asked to make complex decisions about their pay, benefits, and career, and each resource serves a different purpose in the decision process.

To accomplish any given task, consumers usually accumulate information over time and make a series of decisions. The most efficient and effective decisions are made when people have access to the right information and tools and use them in the right ways. With the growing complexity of many decisions — especially benefits enrollment decisions — employers often encourage employees to "take extra time" to plan and make informed decisions. But the reality is that many employees are pressed for time and want to use it for things other than making benefits decisions.

On average, employees spent about 45 minutes a year deciding which benefit options to enroll for. In contrast, they'll spend two hours trying to decide which pair of shoes to buy! That doesn't mean the answer lies in finding a way to get people to spend more time planning benefits decisions. (Hint: They won't!)

New rule: As benefits become more complex, employers no longer need to think that asking people to take more time to plan and decide is their only option. With personalized guidance tools, employers can help employees make a good decision in whatever time they're willing to devote to the process. Benefits may be getting more complex, but choosing (and using) them is getting much easier.

Employers are maximizing results with multiple channels and ongoing support.

But the best choices are also informed choices. To successfully launch a new initiative, give employees the opportunity to read about it, hear about it, talk about it, and test it out. Employees who make new choices, like switching health plans, need ongoing support so the choices they make work for them. Otherwise, they'll just go back to what they were doing before.

From employees' perspective, the resources do indeed make the company. Each communication channel has strengths and weaknesses in providing information, guidance, and timeliness. Whether you're helping someone buy a pair of shoes or choose a health plan, the Web allows us to use other resources effectively — not replace them completely.

The New Face of HR

Employees won't hold it against you if you introduce self-service options for managing day-to-day activities — as long as they have access to "hightouch" options when needed. By giving employees comprehensive resources and showing them how to use their tools effectively, you can maximize your total rewards and increase employee commitment. Providing the right tools at the right time for your entire employee population isn't easy. It's downright hard. And doing it in a way that doesn't get in the way of productivity is even harder! It takes vision, leadership support, strong technical capabilities, and ongoing development and measurement. Vigilance is required to ensure every point of contact is true to your mission, values, and culture.