Legal & General has launched an HR communication toolkit aimed at helping employers boost the value of employee benefits and wellbeing.
The six-step guide, including templates, examples and checklists, has been developed based on research commissioned by its group protection arm.
The insurer said its toolkit draws on findings from its Wellbeing at Work Barometer which this summer asked UK companies and employees about their experiences of wellbeing in the workplace.
L&G added the toolkit combines strategic internal communication techniques to help employers:
- Integrate benefits into a wider wellbeing programme – Customised communication was considered the top way to help integrate benefits with a wellbeing strategy in the workplace, by two fifths of the businesses surveyed.
- Ensure that the programme is purpose-led, aligned with both HR and business goals and measurable – One in three line managers said what would help them improve wellbeing support to the teams they manage was ‘clear direction from the top on company purpose and values and how wellbeing fits in’.
- Collate and combine data to ensure value creation for people and for business – A third of employers said the implementation of wellbeing in their organisation would be improved by the ‘ability to more easily share data with trusted external partners (insurers and intermediaries), to gain help in designing and communicating programmes that will be valued’.
L&G added it will roll out a series of supporting content over the coming months to help equip intermediaries use the toolkit with clients.
Suzanne Clarkson, managing director of Coach House Communications, who partnered with L&G to design the toolkit and material, said: “The need to improve benefit and wellbeing communication was growing pre-pandemic and has accelerated rapidly since, as leaders put human risk on a par with commercial risk.
“There’s now a load of pressure on HR to ‘do better’ when it comes to communication, but they don’t necessarily have the time, skills or resource.
“So, it’s really encouraging to now see a provider putting its weight behind this imperative. And doing it in a way that centres on helping employers get much more purpose-led, targeted and effective with their communication, instead of just doing more of the same.”
Jo Elphick, marketing director at Legal & General Group Protection, (pictured) added: “We have heard from surveys through the years with both employers and employees, that the key to unlocking value from any benefits investment is communication.
“A common approach has been to do more, and while intranets and other channels have emerged, this continues to be an issue. We have tried to break down and simplify the approach so that both employers and advisers get this much needed support.
“It’s a big shift away from traditional provider support on benefit communication, but our feedback and research tell us that it’s much needed as employers strive to get more joined-up, purpose-led and efficient. And in turn, helping their people be well, get better and be supported.”