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Forbes Human Resources Council
Expert Panel, Forbes Human Resources Council

As business owners and managers know, keeping employees happy and well cared for is key. Studies suggest that happier employees are more productive, boosting not only the overall workplace atmosphere but also company productivity. Not only that, but motivated employees are also less likely to leave, keeping retention rates high.

One way to care for staff is to offer employer-provided benefits. However, while most companies offer a range of benefits, rarely do employees take full advantage of them. Without knowing why employees underutilize benefits, it is hard for HR to help. Below, 12 members of Forbes Human Resources Council explain the reasons employees may not be using benefits and how HR may remedy the situation.

All photos courtesy of Forbes Councils members.

1. Have A Benefits Communication Plan

HR professionals are on the "inside" of benefits conversations and are versed in the details, but can often forget the average employee is often less conversant in issues such as vesting, match, copay, deductible, in/out of network, etc. Crafting plain language communications is part of the formula. Work with your communications department to develop a multichannel communications strategy. - John Sigmon,

2. Assess Usage Data

Regularly assess usage data of benefits in relation to the cost of the benefit to determine the ROI. Bring in employees on this process by polling them at least annually (prior to benefit re-enrollment) to check in if the benefits are still important/useful to them and their families. Ask if they have ideas about other benefits that might be more relevant to them. - Ushma Mehta, KenSci Inc.

3. Educate Your Employees

HR plays an important role in educating employees to understand all company benefit choices available. Individuals learn in many ways, so HR should provide a variety of platforms to share this information. HR can provide Q&A sessions on-site, webinars for those who work remotely, record videos to share with employees and email important updates, reminders, and information on a regular basis. - Debi Bliazis, Champions School of Real Estate

4. Minimize The Paperwork

Some benefits can be harder to access due to the amount of work an employee needs to put in, in order to obtain them. If there is a lot of paperwork associated with it or external sign-up processes, see how much this can be minimized to help employees use them more easily. If they aren't being utilized, there isn't a lot of point in offering them. - Karla Reffold, BeecherMadden

5. Provide A Few Useful Benefits

Not all benefits will be useful to all employees. (For example, employees without kids won’t take maternity/paternity leave.) Rather than expecting all employees to utilize all benefits, HR should focus on providing a few useful benefits to each segment of the employee population, and ensure they’re made aware of what’s available to them during onboarding and in the employee handbook. - John Feldmann, Insperity

6. Offer Better Spousal Benefits

Some employees may find that their spouse's employer-provided benefits are a better option than their own. This is inevitable and it is not practical to change company benefits because of a select few employees. However, HR should analyze enrollment numbers and understand how their benefit offerings stack up to other organizations of similar size and industry. - Tiffany Jensen, Pure Grips

7. Give Your Employees Time To Participate

Learning and development is a benefit that employees ask for but do not always participate in. Some employees are not interested in the training, while others don't feel like they have time to attend. HR and company leadership should encourage employees to take advantage of this benefit by offering training that appeals to a broad range of workers and making sure they have time to participate. - Michele Markey, SkillPath

8. Assess Their Benefit Preferences

Annually surveying employees about which benefits and perks they care about can explain a lot about why they may not be taking advantage of a specific benefit or perk. Each segment of the workforce has diverse preferences about which benefits matter, so it's critical to understand what matters most to your current and prospective talent pools. - Heather Doshay, Rainforest QA

9. Make It Less Complex

In all the years I've been in HR, I've never encountered a person who didn't want to fully utilize their benefits. They simply didn't understand how to navigate the complexity or how all the benefits worked. I've found that making myself available for a number of days following an enrollment period and checking in with new employees to better explain the benefits really helped. - Zach Montroy, SPHR, Navigate the Journey

10. Provide Benefits That Match Employee Needs

Benefits don’t always match the needs and wants of employees. People are diverse — different generations, career stages and life goals. Listen to employees when designing your offerings. Conduct company-wide pulse surveys and talk in small groups. Also, realize benefits (details of coverage, programs) can be confusing. Look for benefits technology that makes enrollment easier, like shopping online. - Vivian Maza, Ultimate Software

11. Showcase Your Benefits With Visuals

Most people pay attention to benefits when they are hired and at open enrollment. But the richness and the full spectrum of today's competitive benefits largely go underutilized. HR can partner with the communications team to showcase unique benefits on a monthly basis through infographics and on the company intranet or newsletters. Visual communications can boost the impact of written content. - Cat Graham, Cheer Partners

12. Simplify The Complicated, Paper-Driven Process

Employees simply get overwhelmed trying to understand what each benefit entails and requires. Access to digestible content is crucial for employees. Leveraging innovative technologies, HR teams can deliver tailored content specific to employees’ individual needs in seconds, alleviating the confusion put on employees. Employees have all the tools they need to own their understanding of benefits. - Beth Ann Steinberg, Zenefits


