Persona-Based Decision Support Tool Now Available for Voluntary Enrollments

Insurance Weekly News

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Standard Insurance Company (The Standard) has launched a persona-based decision support tool to enhance voluntary benefits education and enrollment efforts. This mobile-friendly solution delivers targeted communications to help employees better understand the voluntary benefits available to them and provides employers with a better understanding of their employees' preferences.

The new decision support tool assigns each employee one of five personas after completing a short survey, based on elements such as their level of engagement in the purchasing process, knowledge of available benefits and personal needs. The tool then generates a variety of personalized communications, including videos, claim examples and calculators, all aimed at helping employees make informed decisions.

"Employees want choice and customization as part of their benefits plan, but they're often confused or overwhelmed by traditional benefits communications," said Kevin McNamara, senior enrollment strategist at The Standard. "The Standard's enhanced decision support tool provides employees with tailored messaging based on their buying preferences and educates them about the coverage and how it may meet their unique needs."

"As we tested the tool, we found persona-based messaging helps employees quickly gain interest in voluntary benefits," said Jackie Waller, senior research program manager at The Standard. "Not all employees have the same benefits needs, whether it's due to lifestyle, age or personal buying preference, but assigning employees to a persona can help ensure benefits information is presented in a way that makes sense to them."

For employers, the decision support tool is customized based on their voluntary benefits offering. A key component of the new tool is a voluntary enrollment analysis and reporting feature. The report details employees' content-usage metrics as well as breakdowns of the persona types within their organization and pairs this with other data from The Standard about the communications preferences of each segment.

"Employers have been very interested in the enrollment analysis, as it provides them with a better understanding of their employees and their communications preferences," said McNamara. "This can help employers refine their communications strategy not only for voluntary benefits, but also for their entire benefits portfolio. This can help brokers stay on the cutting edge of benefits and communications practices."

"Industry studies have noted the importance of speaking directly to individual employees as part of the enrollment process," said Dayna Kirk, assistant vice president of Voluntary at The Standard. "Since launching our critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity products last year, we have focused on the importance of enabling customers with diverse wants and needs to make the most educated decisions regarding their benefits. Our persona-based decision support tool differentiates The Standard with customized, personalized employee communications."

For more information on The Standard's persona-based decision support tool, contact your insurance advisor or regional sales representative. About The Standard The Standard is a marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and subsidiaries. Insurance products are offered by Standard Insurance Company of 1100 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon, in all states except New York, where insurance products are offered by The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York of 360 Hamilton Avenue, Suite 210, White Plains, New York. Product features and availability vary by state and company and are solely the responsibility of each subsidiary. Each company is solely responsible for its own financial condition. Standard Insurance Company is licensed to solicit insurance business in all states except New York. The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York is licensed to solicit insurance business in only the state of New York. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170914005052/en/