participation

Edelman, a public relations agency, noticed that their employees were not taking advantage of their benefit options. In an effort to increase participation in their disability program, Edelman’s U.S. Human Resources Director Laura Smith decided to do what her business does best – communicate.

During Edelman’s open enrollment period, Smith sent an e-mail to all 1,000 of their U.S. staff emphasizing the importance of planning ahead in the event disability strikes. She encouraged all employees to visit the CDA Web site to learn more about disability financial planning and Edelman’s disability insurance program. Just putting disability awareness on the employees’ radar yielded positive results. Her e-mail increased staff participation in their disability program by 7.2 percent.

“We have a young staff, and we pride ourselves on providing as much information to them as possible about benefits so they can make informed decisions during open enrollment. I’m very pleased with how this turned out,” said Smith.

Employees stated that they were more likely to take note of this benefit because they received information about it from a trusted source – their HR director.

“After Laura’s e-mail went out, I took another look at the disability option. I checked out the CDA Web site and saw some of the financial implications of disability. I knew that I needed to do something to ensure I still had an income in the event I suffered a disability,” said one employee in Edelman’s D.C. office.

To help your employees protect their financial security by putting disability awareness on their radar, see the letter Edelman sent to their employees or a sample newsletter article for insertion in your internal bulletin.