Obvious fact No. 1: Diversity in employees' age, ethnicity and job station presents inherent communication challenges and opportunities.

At a time when the cry for health care cost mitigation and increased ownership of one's own health has reached a fevered pitch, the only thing higher is the stakes.

As companies strive for more diverse workforces, burgeoning corporate health-improvement strategies face new challenges to reach different employees in different ways.

If you have the added challenge — like I do — of a population numbering in tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (with many of those manning sales floors or factory lines) and a turnover rate approaching half that number, the success of your health-improvement strategy may seem more feasible on a wing and a prayer, rather than a perfectly executed communication plan.

Obvious fact No. 2: Communicating to employee populations previously entrenched in a "sick care" insurance culture mandates aggressive change-management and sustainable communications.

Employees fostered in this sick-care culture statistically are sicker and have more chronic illnesses. Moving the needle on short- and long-range cost-mitigation depends on employees embracing the notion of owning their own health.

But how do you reach them with "know your numbers" messages and appeals to complete health risk assessments or take advantage of preventive care services — especially if they aren't sitting in front of computers, but tending to demanding customers and widgets all day? Here are some helpful tips:

Innovate, plug in and empower

1. Innovation is key. Don't let your innovative benefits fizzle because of the same old, tired communications. While you never want to lose the tried and true, stretch the resources — and maybe the budget — by incorporating interactive video, more online decision-support tools, text messaging and graphic-heavy marketing print pieces that drive employees to a dedicated Web site. Cyberspace provides boundless fertile soil for growing an ongoing, dynamic dialogue with your employees.

2. Don't assume that your aging population and their spouses are unplugged. While a large chunk of your employees may not have access to a dedicated computer at the store, factory or lumberyard, research indicates that over 80% of the working population have access to a computer outside of work.

A dedicated benefits Web site can be a cost-effective way to engage your workforce and their underengaged spouses eager to understand their family's benefits. After you gain employees' trust that the content is accurate and consistently up-to-date, they will come to depend on it, and you'll have the audience you need to maintain an engaged workforce.

Supplement this "pull" communication with "push" messages sent via all the print, broadcast, electronic and face-to-face communication opportunities available, including the personal e-mail distribution list captured through your enrollment site or call center. Include links to your Web site to get people back to the online hub every time.

3. Enlist and empower champions at every level.

Once your CEO and executive team are on board with your strategy, continue your top-down approach by using progressively more detail as you move down the continuum:

• Upper-level champions (below executive level). Provide high-level speaking points and a few PowerPoint slides for their next direct-report meetings. Ask for 10 minutes on the next department meeting agenda or national managers' meeting. Let them be the first to see and interact with your new communications tools.
• Mid- to lower-level champions. This group is indispensable for effective change management and for reaching the company's health-improvement goals. Use Web, teleconference calls, road shows, and printed or online toolkits to get them on-board early in the game. Contests and prizes for HR managers/supervisors are effective in creating healthy competition and incentives to generate awareness and excitement among their employees. Keep this population informed regularly (at least quarterly) so you can keep them engaged and empowered at every turn.
• Ground-level champions. Provide one-stop communications that anticipate employees' questions. Conduct lunch-'n-learns, onsite health screenings and localized benefit fairs, leveraging your health plan's resources and manpower. Organize contests to get employees to take action — whether it's to enroll, complete/update health risk assessments or share a health-improvement success story in an upcoming communication piece.

If an employee quit smoking after 40 years or lost 40 pounds by implementing one of your health-improvement programs, run a contest to get these stories in and give them prime real estate in your next communication or home page. Ground-level employees can be your new strategy's loudest cheerleaders!

4. Mix it up. Don't have the extra budget dollars for cutting-edge technology? Then shake up your current communications. If your annual poster campaign is the standard 11"x17" piece relegated to the same place on the break-room corkboard, maybe it's time for a round static-cling that sticks to vending machines, doors, tables or even floors. Send out your yearly six-panel brochure, but include a perforated or cut-out portion with an action plan checklist, your Web site address and important contact information. Make it something they can't throw away. Shelf life and sustainability are key and will help drive employees to your more affordable communication channels.

5. Increase your ROI through laser-focused, targeted communications. The best thing about your population can be your biggest challenge.

Tackle your diverse employee base by addressing conditions and risk factors peculiar to each segment:

• Add targeted articles on your Web site geared toward certain ages or ethnic groups.
• Send out birthday cards on milestone birthdays to remind employees to schedule a mammogram, colorectal exam or prostate screening.
• Leverage data from your health risk assessment to contact employees with certain conditions or risk factors via print, e-mail or telephone.

You'll have fun watching the spikes in your claims data as a result of these targeted pieces.

Obvious fact No. 3: When it comes to communicating to diverse populations, skillful communication means it's repetitive, simple and compelling. It also means success.

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Contributing Editor Jill Hudgins is the manager of benefit communications at The Home Depot.