Are Employees Actually Using Their Benefits?

How to Drive Awareness, Engagement, and ROI

When it comes to employee benefits, even the best-designed plan won’t deliver value if no one actually uses it. Across Canada, HR teams invest heavily in health, wellness, and financial programs, yet participation rates often tell a different story: employees aren’t fully aware of what is available—or how to access it.

The result? Missed opportunities for both sides. Employees lose out on valuable coverage and wellbeing support, while employers see low return on investment and rising frustration when benefits don’t seem to “land.”

So, how do you close the gap between benefits offered and benefits used?
Here are five ways organizations are turning awareness into action.

1. Communicate Beyond Enrollment

Benefits shouldn’t be a once-a-year conversation. Too often, the message peaks during open enrollment and fades quickly after. Instead, think of benefit communication as an ongoing story—with seasonal reminders, micro-learning, and bite-sized education.

Try this:

  • Send short, friendly benefit spotlights once a month (“Did you know your plan covers professional counselling?”).
  • Tie messages to real life moments—like back-to-school, tax time, or flu season.
  • Use visuals, infographics, or short videos instead of long policy PDFs.
  • Sign up to Benefit Strategies emails with insider tips, resources, and more communication from our partners and our direct learning opportunities.

2. Use Data to See What’s Working—and What is Not

Analytics may be your best friend in benefit optimization. By tracking usage rates across categories—paramedical, dental, mental health, and virtual care—you can spot trends, gaps, and opportunities.

Look for patterns like:

  • Low uptake: A sign that employees may not understand the benefit or how to claim it.
  • High claims in one area: An opportunity to reinforce or expand support (e.g., mental health coverage). Hot tip: Talk to the Benefit Strategies Team about our Quarterly Claims Analysis Services!
  • Demographic differences: Younger workers may favour lifestyle spending accounts, while more mature employees may use extended health more.

Partner with your Benefit Strategies and our providers to access aggregate utilization data, then use those insights to adjust your communication strategy and plan design.

3. Meet Employees Where They Are

Every workforce is different. Some employees prefer emails; others tune out unless it’s on Slack, Teams, or mobile applications. Consider what channel is best for your communication with your team.

Segment your communication to match these habits:

  • Use internal channels employees already check.
  • Simplify access with QR codes linking to benefit portals or provider apps.
  • Ensure all communication is mobile-friendly—because most employees won’t read a PDF on their phone.

Accessibility is part of engagement. If it takes more than two clicks to find a benefit, most won’t bother. Ask Tammy and Chelsey at Benefit Strategies for help as we create online resources and tutorials for plan members.

4. Make Benefits Part of Your Culture

The most effective employers go beyond listing benefits—they integrate them into the culture. That means leadership buy-in, open and ongoing conversation, and celebrating usage as part of wellbeing and performance.

Ideas to try:

  • Host quarterly “benefits cafés” or virtual Q&A sessions with your HR or provider team. Daryl, President of Benefit Strategies also offers “lunch and learn” and “ask me anything” sessions on employee benefits.
  • Encourage leaders to share how they personally use benefits (e.g., therapy, financial planning, or fitness).
  • Highlight real employee stories—authentically and with permission. Benefit Strategies and our partners are also happy to share case studies and testimonials from real clients. 

When benefits become part of everyday conversation, employees start to see them as real tools for wellbeing, and not just paperwork in a welcome folder.

5. Track Engagement Like a Marketing Campaign

Your benefits deserve the same attention as any internal brand.
Use metrics to evaluate impact:

  • Email open and click-through rates
  • Portal logins and app downloads
  • Claims utilization trends over time
  • Employee feedback and survey results

Not sure where to start? Send Benefit Strategies an email. We are here to help. 

The Bottom Line
Employee benefits are one of the largest investments Canadian organizations make—and one of the most powerful tools for retention and engagement. But ROI only follows awareness.
By treating benefits like a living, breathing part of your culture—supported by smart data, year-round communication, and authentic storytelling—you turn an underused cost into a true competitive advantage.

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