When our clients launch a new online benefits platform a key consideration beyond the setup is how to drive engagement and create value added impact.
The technology is only useful if there is an underlying strategy to drive engagement. There are a number of tactical ways to do this to deliver an end to end omni channel engagement strategy:
Potential employee teaser and launch materials include:
Emails - teaser/launch/reminder
Triggered app communications - moments that matter
Webinars
Videos - including personalised videos containing individual values
Interactive pdfs and other digital materials
Virtual or face-to-face provider roadshows
Brochures and other printed materials (which may not be appropriate given your sustainability objectives)
There is also an interesting social model that should be considered to position such tactics and to best your leverage your technology...
I learned about this from working with the Chief Transformation Officer of the NHS, Helen Bevan. The NHS uses this technique to ensure effective change in their highly complex organisation.
What does this mean and how could you leverage this during your implementation?
- Old power is positional power in an organisation or system. In an old power world, the people who can make change happen are those with the authority to push commands through the system
- New power is the deployment of mass particpation and peer coordination to create change and shift outcomes. The more people particpate, the more power is created
- Research finds that a person who is at the centre in the informal network (new power) is significantly more important than their position in the formal system (old power)
- People who are highly connected have twice as much power to influence change as people with hierarchical power
When we think about deploying a new benefits scheme to an organisation failure is more likely to be about lack of engagement with the informal networks who really drive change than old power issues such as programme management system or the structure of plans.
The best societal movements have always been able to navigate both old and new power. I'd recommend that you are operating both levers and ensuring you are engaging your highly connected employees who want to contribute to this change. Having a focused benefits scheme aligned to your goals and people with the best technology will help to facilitate this at scale.
