Pay & Benefits magazine - 26th October 2011

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Smartphones to dominate benefit communications

According to a recent report from Ofcom, one in three adults now use a smartphone. So, our question is, are smartphones going to be the key tool in communicating employees’ benefits?

With 37 per cent of adults now describing themselves as being addicted to their smartphone, it is certainly not a communication route we feel we can risk ignoring.

Smartphones, and the dramatic rise in mobile internet use over the past couple of years, have dramatically opened up the issue of the most effective way to communicate employee benefits. Consumers today expect and demand information instantly and easily, and these consumers are our employees. Employees want to know their pay and benefit details immediately, and in the case of voluntary employee benefits, take up their deals and discounts instantly.

At a recent exhibition we were blown away by the response from HR professionals to our mobile App. Key feedback was that an App is a great new communication route to engage employees. Particularly for those “hard-to-reach employees”, such as the mobile, retail and manufacturing workforce, who have limited access to computers, and also where employers are having to try and reduce the volume of expensive printed communication.

We believe it really is time now that we all start to embrace smartphones and integrate mobile communication in our overall benefits communication strategy. It is the one tool we all cannot seem to live without.

Karina Thomsen, Marketing Director. LogBuy