After our HNI University workshop on branding benefits and benefits communication, we sat down with presenters Mike Natalizio and Harry Gottlieb of Jellyvision to recap some of the highlights from the event.

1. Focus on the employee, not the benefits

It's easy to get caught up in the minutia of what you have to communicate about your benefits plan.  But employees only care about one thing: picking the best plan for them.  Remember who you're talking to, why they're reading your materials or at your meetings, and stick to just the information they really need to hear whenever possible.

2. Have the courage to not be boring!

Boring comes in a lot of forms - confusing, not interesting to me, irrelevant, overly serious.  Have fun with the way you communicate with employees!  Keep it short and sweet, and inject humor whenever possible.

3. Mission: be a great place to work

The goal of employee benefits and all of your internal communication efforts should be to establish your company as a great place to work.  At the end of the day, this is the brand -- the gut feeling -- you want employees to walk away with. 

4. Show people that benefits are actually a benefit to them

By improving your benefits communication, you're leaving employees smarter about their benefits and what your plan can do for them.  When they have a clear understanding of this, they are usually much more appreciative of what they're getting from the company and are more likely to feel happier about working for your company as a whole.