Although many HR and benefit professionals remain unsure how to integrate technology into benefits communications, they surely realize that the same old paper packet just isn't cutting it. MetLife estimates that employees spend only 30 minutes each year reviewing benefits decisions - definitely not long enough to make smart decisions

.From 2000 to 2004, shareholder returns for organizations with effective communication were 57% higher, Watson Wyatt finds. Companies that communicate effectively also have a 19.4% higher market premium than those that do not.

To show what it takes to get benefit communications in shape for 2008, employers can take a lesson from Namasco Corporation, a 1,500-employee steel distributor with 25 regional offices and a diverse workforce that has taken simple technological concepts and applied them to their organization. Namasco is proof-positive that you don't have to be the Google or IBM of the world to join the technological wave of the future.

When Charlene Edwards began her job as director of human resources for Namasco in 2003, she started from the ground up. "From the tech perspective, we just had a payroll system," she says. Since then, they've implemented an HRIS record-keeping system, revamped paper communications and have plans to launch a companywide intranet by early 2008.Today, her company has two innovative e-magazines with audio and video components that guide employees through the on-boarding and enrollment processes, and are in the process of developing and onsite kiosks to provide one-stop shopping for all benefits and HR needs.

How Namasco did it

Edwards partnered with longtime business acquaintance Jennifer Needham of Smith Communication Partners to design a benefits communication plan that would increase employee participation and understanding of benefits and HR processes without taxing an already lean staff."My position is challenging because we have widespread locations, are in acquisition mode and [we] have a variety of employees at different levels of literacy, English-language capability and computer know-how," Edwards says.

Edwards and Needham began by revamping print communications and making them more graphically pleasing and easier to read, but it still wasn't enough. When Needham suggested an e-magazine to Edwards, it struck a chord."

We wanted to figure out how to communicate better [while limiting] the amount of paper we used," Edwards said.

Further, Needham adds, "These folks had limited attention spans, and they aren't sitting by a computer all day. We needed something that we knew would reach them."

Over a yearlong process, Needham helped Namasco design two CDs: the first dealing with onboarding and the second with benefits enrollment.

It helps those who learn both audibly and visually, Edwards says. It also streamlines the HR processes, Needham points out, and allows all employees to receive the same message in a simple, graphically interesting formula.

Edwards mails the CDs to office managers who can sit with employees in individual or group sessions to go over materials that have both an audio and a video component. Updating small portions of the CD to reflect yearly changes is simple, rather than requiring an entire revision and new distribution of a benefits manual.

While their magazine is a full third of their communications budget, it's a mere drop in the bucket of overall benefits funds- somewhere around 3% overall.

"The cost of the e-magazine was offset by less travel, a clearer understanding of benefits for employees and an ease of updating [that we didn't have with print materials]," Edwards says.

With the new technology, Edwards has seen significant improvement. "Now, our employees are asking intelligent questions about benefits," she says. "It's obvious they understand more."

Within six months, the information will be accessible 24/7, along with other benefits and HR materials, on an employee intranet, accessible both at home and in in-office kiosks. The employee portal will allow employees to log in and access payroll information, learn more about benefits options or make changes during open enrollment, all from one convenient location.

Since technology is changing faster than benefits are advancing, Edwards can't estimate where her company will go next, but says that the e-magazine has revolutionized her benefits communications and taken a lot of strain off of her HR staff, but acknowledges there is always room for improvement.

"Hindsight is 20/20. If I could do it in exactly the right order, I would have started with the portal first," Edwards admits, but says that the learning curve is part of the process.

Strategies for success

When implementing a technology-driven communications initiative, Edwards and Needham recommend that employers:

• Know your audience and your own HR limitations. If your employee population doesn't understand their benefits communications on paper, chances are they're not making smart decisions. Tailor your message to your audience, even if that involves bilingual communications or audio messaging for less literate employees.
• Start with smaller initiatives first, like adding an HRIS system. Then consider an employee portal.
• Talk to your peers, or partner with an outside consultant to make smart changes. "Don't just start Googling," Needham says.
• "Don't make yourself crazy," Edwards says, admitting that much of her ROI is subjective rather than objective. "Quantifying return on investment is difficult," but suggests that you have specific goals in mind and an in-depth understanding of your employee population to bring to executives.

Stay tuned for an ongoing print and audio series beginning this month, exclusive to BenefitNews.com, about emerging benefits and HR technologies and how they can apply to your workforce.