Your organization is a living system sustained by information throughputs. The flow of critical data to individuals and groups throughout the system via efficient channels breathes life into your company. Employee benefits are one category of key information that should be communicated with utmost efficiency. Modern digital technology helps streamline this data flow.
Technology has made tremendous strides in its capacity to meet the unique needs of your employees and impact your bottom line. Human Resource departments utilizing tech platforms and networks to communicate vital information have tremendous advantages not available to them in the past. For example, consider the modern-day benefits of adopting digital total rewards statements and using other forms of HR-specific technology in employee benefits education to streamline HR processes and enhance both company and employee performance.
The Impact of Technology on Employees
Digital platforms that can host significant data loads make information readily available for consumption and promote meaningful interaction are the most economically viable mechanisms for educating your employees about their benefit options.
When it comes to benefits education, employees prefer technology that is customizable, interactive, engaging, and personable. Digital total rewards statements exemplify this preference. For example, these statements communicate information about an employee’s unique overall benefits package, including compensation and the monetary value of additional perks. Providing these statements in digital rather than paper format is advantageous to your employees in many ways.
- Digital format creates an information powerhouse. There’s no real limit to the quantity of relevant information that can be included in this structure. Data can be pulled from and/or linked to any number of internal and external information sources.
- The presentation quality of dynamic information can be efficiently maintained. Simple updates and edits can be performed quickly and be seen immediately by all employees, allowing them to make informed decisions with ease.
- Employees can have a snapshot visual of their total benefits package in proper context. They can see the value of what they currently have plus additional options available to them. This is a great educational tool for advertising additional benefits or for increasing participation in other programs.
- Digital is the most efficient communications channel. Information can be accessed instantaneously, and employees can interact with this information via smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices at their own leisure. These options drastically increase the probability of engagement and participation.
The Role of Technology in HR Functions
Technology designed to enhance HR functional performance impacts overall organizational performance as well. Training and education related to benefits are just one of many HR functions. A comprehensive digital platform can not only provide timely dissemination of information to employees, but it also provides critical financial data related to HR billing from the vendors who offer these benefits.
For example, robotic process automation provides a platform for your company’s effective internal cost of benefits analysis. By simply downloading vendor billing and invoice information, your company can identify and remedy cost discrepancies associated with various benefits providers quickly and efficiently. This level of analysis and response can prove to be highly profitable over time as it allows your HR department to quickly implement employee benefit changes in real-time with less risk of vendor overpayments.
A tech-empowered HR department that can receive and disseminate vital information via multiple channels, analyze engagement and make timely responses is one most likely to maintain compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws. Unfortunately, compliance can be a major hurdle for many companies. Oversights can prove costly and sometimes even result in coverage lapses for employees.
Digital technology enables your organization to provide a comprehensive benefits platform that can be understood by all, accessed by all, and customized to each individual. This provision improves employee experience immensely. Efficient onboarding, knowledge sharing, multi-channel reach, data analysis, and efficient response times allow your HR department to function as it was intended to function – for the benefit of your workforce.