“If there is any great secret of success in life, it lies in the ability to put yourself in the other person’s place and to see things from his point of view – as well as your own.” –Henry Ford
One of the most important factors in completing a successful dependent audit is understanding your employees’ point of view of the process. When employees are properly informed of the verification process and the reasons why it is being completed, you will find that it goes much more smoothly. Here are a few items to keep in mind when communicating to your employees:
Reasons for Conducting the Dependent Verification Process:
- Compliance – Depending on your organization’s unique situation, you will have a responsibility to make sure that only eligible dependents are enrolled in your organizations plan. This responsibility could emanate from ERISA, Sarbanes-Oxley, state legislation, or your shareholders. Communicating your organization’s responsibility may help your employees better understand theirs.
- Financial – While you probably shouldn’t point out the return on investment of the dependent verification project, you can mention the magnitude of the problem of ineligible dependents and what it means to your employees. You can use a case study or examples of other firms that have completed these audits and what percentages of ineligible dependents were found. The bottom line is the ineligible dependents on your plan are taking away funds from other activities such as: maintaining benefits for those who are eligible, salaries, and other benefits. Stressing the fact that a problem exists and that it is impacting your employees will help them understand the reasons why your organization is completing a dependent audit.
You should communicate with your employees through every effective channel that you have at your disposal. Company Newsletters, Bulletin Boards, Email, and proprietary messaging systems can all be used to notify your employees of important deadlines within the project. It is helpful to develop these communications with your vendor so that they are aware of the timing of them, and so that they can help you craft the message. Experience with multiple clients proves very valuable, and they can help your hone your message. Multiple channels of communication will greatly increase the level of compliance and response during the course of your audit.
One effective way of letting your employees know that your entire organization is behind this initiative is to include a personal communication from a top-level executive within your company. If possible, have this executive verify their dependents early in the process and indicate this in the communication. If the employees receive a communication that an executive has personally went through the process, it may help them to comply as well.
Look for more tips about communicating with employees in future posts…
