How Morningstar gets its savvy workforce excited about their benefits
The Problem
As a financial services firm, Morningstar’s culture and employees are as no-nonsense as they come.
The benefits team knew that they were dealing with a smart, technologically savvy, and skeptical workforce. They knew that employees wouldn’t have the time to take part in hour-long benefits presentations, nor the patience to watch videos or read pamphlets that weren’t tailored to their own personal situations.
The Plan
The benefits team figured that rather than hour-long presentations, employees only needed about 10 minutes’ worth of benefits guidance. So they called on ALEX to increase engagement of benefits options among their well-educated employees and deliver personalized recommendations on their best-fit plans.
Although a company culture may not be funny, it can still have funny people and people who will appreciate a light moment in a complex topic, which ALEX delivered.”
Paul Reiman Head of Total Rewards, Morningstar
The Outcome
Engagement was astounding—100% of surveyed Morningstar employees found ALEX’s medical plan explanations to be helpful, and 96% of them found the whole medical insurance module helpful. It’s clear these serious-seeming employees found engaging with ALEX to be a wise use of their time and responded well to its conversational approach and choice bits of humor.
Not only did it save the benefits team hours on having to schedule and conduct benefits presentations, it saved Morningstar’s busy employees time by not having to attend them. With employees guided to the benefits that were right for their needs, on their own time, both the HR team and employees could focus on other priorities.
ALEX recommended the medical plan I was already enrolled in—so we’re both smart.”
Employee, Morningstar
Workforces are diverse. You have to appeal to people in different ways. For those who prefer a very straightforward thing, you’ll always have your summary plan description; it’s required. For employees who aren’t going to spend a lot of time reading, a more casual approach can be really appreciated. That’s where ALEX gave us the leg up we were looking for.”
Paul Reiman Head of Total Rewards, Morningstar