New year, new trends! Exciting things are happening in the world of employee communications. Here are some that will bring the buzz to your total reward offering.
If there’s one predictability at the start of every year, it’s the staple ‘trends’ piece. Here at Eximia, we like to get a little more specific. And so we bring you our top three picks for the year ahead, based on what some of our most forward-thinking clients are already doing – with results!
The best bit? They’re all things we can help you with too! So if you’re ready to kickstart 2023 by challenging the process and trying something new, read on…
2023 will be the year of… microsites
Ok, so microsites themselves are nothing new, but their use is still in the pilot phase for many employers. More and more of our clients are dipping their toes in the water, and we’ll be working with them throughout 2023 to leverage their full power! Some of our clients are already well ahead of the curve…
For example, one of our clients launched a share plan last year – no easy feat when their mostly store-based colleagues, speaking a range of languages, are spread across 14 countries, each with various tax implications attached. We created one centralised hub to act as their employees’ main source of information, with supporting materials to drive them toward it through hyperlinks and QR codes.
This gave colleagues easy access to the information they needed, when they needed it. Colleagues could make the journey through share plan participation, to vesting and beyond, at their own pace. We also provided different templates for our client’s sub-brands, as colleagues were more likely to engage with the brand they knew.
Even better, this hub allows colleagues to continue on their financial wellbeing journey. It regularly grows, with educational content added to keep engagement high throughout the lifecycle of the plan. Why is that important? See our next top trend.
2023 will be the year of… financial education
As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, employers are placing a growing importance on supporting their colleagues’ wellbeing. An increasing number of our clients are keen to offer specific financial wellbeing support.
The answer is to have an agile approach to your reward and benefits communications strategy. Many employers have tools and support in place, but find that these aren’t being fully utilised by their people. It’s often down to people not understanding what’s on offer. They either don’t know what’s available – or are put off trying to use it by its complexity.
It’s not surprising. It can be so easy to assume colleagues ‘get’ pensions, share plans or other rewards. Yet survey after survey reveals exactly the opposite. See for example Profile Pensions’s recent study, which found that one in four millennials find pension rules “very confusing”.
We predict 2023 to be the year organisations start to plug that knowledge gap. They’ll want their people to fully understand what’s on the table – and see how those benefits can help them plan for the future, even if the ‘right now’ looks a little bleak.
We’re seeing an increasing number of clients turn to video and animated content, to break down complex financial offerings (such as share plans, bonus schemes and pensions) into bite-sized information that brings these benefits to life. There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to turn 14-pages of share plan Ts&Cs into a one-minute video that informs colleagues and gets them enthused. And our fabulous team of copywriters, designers and animators know just how to do it!
2023 will be the year of… the champion
Remember how back in the days of the pandemic, employee champions became suddenly popular? Some organisations had been using them for years, but their use spread as companies sought help to deliver lockdown wellbeing initiatives.
Using champions to help deliver all kinds of internal messages has really taken off. People trust people more than they trust messages from corporate HQ. Champions provide a face for your message, and so can help you get your information across in a relatable and authentic way. They’re also your ear to the ground, able to provide feedback about the concerns and questions they’re hearing most.
One of our global clients recently found out just how effective champions can be. They used ‘reward champions’ to help engage and inspire large numbers of employees, across multiple territories, during the launch of a new share plan proposition. The success rate of the launch was impressive, with more than three-quarters of colleagues starting the share plan participation process within days of receiving their invitation to join.
As well as the communications materials we created for all employees, we designed and delivered communications with the champions in mind. This empowered them to do their role, and made them an integral part of the launch to employees. We needed them to be inspired by the share plan, so we trained them in both the rules of the share plan, and in how to communicate to the people in their locality. They were able to give invaluable feedback about how the campaign was landing in their local territories – which we could work with to make tweaks along the way to create even more buzz!
Fancy being a trendsetter in 2023 and getting great employee engagement results to boot?
Then come and chat to us!
