HR Health Communications Survey Report

Christina Strong, MSU Human Resources Video and Communications Intern

April 2014

INTRODUCTION

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Michigan State University Human Resources (MSU HR) is in transition. The mission of

Michigan State University Human Resources is “to support the university’s strategic imperatives

by anticipating and meeting the needs of a changing community through high-quality, innovative

services designed to advance our culture of high performance.” To do this several initiatives and

projects have been created to help MSU HR fulfill their mission. One of these projects is entitled,

“Employing the Use of Multimedia in Improving Health Communication Strategies.”

The purpose of the project is to create health and benefits-related videos for the MSU

community that originate from MSU Human Resources. These videos align with MSU’s desire

to function as a high-performing organization. They are designed to inform, educate and provide

faculty and staff at MSU additional support in their endeavors to maintain their wellbeing.

“Employing the Use of Multimedia in Improving Health Communication Strategies” is also part

of the Translational Scholars initiative overseen by MSU Global. MSU Global is MSU’s

innovation and strategy unit in the Office of the Provost that assists faculty in creating,

facilitating and implementing impactful projects that lead to new research and funding

opportunities and enhance the reputation of the university community.

Translational Scholars is an enhanced student work experience designed to engage students

in the development of solutions to real research problems. Through the process of engaging with

faculty, staff, peers, and community stakeholders, Translational Scholars will develop Open

Educational Resources (OERs) that can be published, repurposed, and shared. The goal of this

experience is to look at problems from as many perspectives as possible and produce educational

outputs that will: aid in the development of research, provide a service to the community in need,

and produce an educational experience that is transformational to the student.

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As part of the project’s research process, a web survey was created in order to gauge MSU

HR employees’ experience in benefits-related communications. The survey was sent virtually to

23 staff members in the Total Compensation and Wellness unit and the Solutions Center unit in

the Department of Human Resources at Michigan State University (MSU).

A reminder email was sent out to non-responders on Thursday, April 3, 2014. Nine people did

not respond. While it was never assumed that all staff members would respond, there was a 60

percent response rate (n=14).

The survey questions captured demographic information such as name and the length of

time someone had worked in benefits-related customer service at MSU. Additional information

was also captured, including a staff member’s level of knowledge regarding benefits information,

which employee groups each staff member worked with the most, how staff spend most of their

time helping customers, the effectiveness of their communication tools and the topics they think

could benefit from multimedia communications.

The following report provides a summary of the survey results, with graphical

representations where appropriate and recommendations for the use of multimedia in health

communication strategies.

RESULTS

This part of the report summarizes the results overall for the entire set of respondents.

However, to provide useful information an analysis of the results will also be included. The

survey lacks the feedback from a staff and faculty perspective. This survey was internal and did

not focus on the customers that MSU HR serves, but rather the employees that provide the

service.

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The tables show:

MSU Benefits-Related Staff Experience

The majority of staff that work on benefits-related customer service has worked an

average of 3 -5 years at MSU HR. The number of years worked by other members of the

staff outside of the 3- 5 year range is almost spread evenly across.

The feedback provided is beneficial since most of the respondents have longevity at

MSU, have interacted with lots of customers, and have years of experience understanding

what has worked well with customers and what has not.

A majority of the staff members feel comfortable answering benefits questions. Those

that responded as slightly uncomfortable or uncomfortable may be new to dealing with

benefits.

Communication tools and methods for serving customers

The effectiveness of each communication tool was ranked in order of most effective to

least effective as: face-to-face meetings, phone calls, emails, presentations/orientations,

website and brochures.

The top three communication methods employed by staff in Total Compensation and

Wellness and the Solutions Center include (in order): telephone, emails, and face-to-face

meetings.

Open-ended questions were coded into the following categories: retirement, Affordable

Care Act (ACA), eligibility, new hires, student insurance, and life change events/leaves.

The majority of open-ended/additional information questions suggested the focus of the

multimedia communications should be on retirement.

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Multimedia Usage

The majority of staff members in Total Compensation and Wellness and the Solutions

Center work with support staff. Based on these findings the initial multimedia

components of the communications project should focus on support staff.

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Employee Experience

The majority of staff that work on benefits-related customer service have worked a

substantial length of time and provided beneficial information that can be used to assess the

quality of services provided to customers at MSU. This in-depth analysis allows for better

improvements.

Communication Tools and Methods

The communications tools that are used the most and that have been ranked higher in

effectiveness correlate. The tools that have been labeled as most effective are the most highly

used in benefits communication and customer service. Face-to-face meetings, since they were

ranked as the most effective form of communication, should be utilized more often for customer

service interaction. Face-to-face meetings were ranked as the number one most effective tool, but

used less than telephone calls and emails. A “drop-by” day should be considered for

implementation. This “drop-by” day would occur once a week on a designated week day. During

the “drop-by” day staff members would be open and available to meet with anyone that stopped

by during the day to answer any questions they have in person. “Drop-by days” should include

specialists and generalists.

Multimedia Creation

The use of multimedia creation is very beneficial. An additional comment from the survey

supports that online materials or links to online materials help customers.

“I find that using emails with links to our web information, often gives individuals the

information they are looking for. They often don't know where to look on our website. Most

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employees approaching retirement still prefer an individual appointment. They see

retirement as a large decision and often want confirmation and understanding of the

information provided. I ranked Presentations #3, in effectiveness, mainly because I spend so

much time of my time with emails, phone calls, and appointments.”

The multimedia presentations and videos that would be created would fill the gap between what

benefits-related staff identified as effective tools and ineffective tools. Though multimedia may

fill the gap, offering training for staff to fully understand the tools they have available to them

may be required. Understanding how to troubleshoot video or another presentation tool if it is

necessary is vital.

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS/ ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

In order to analyze the open-ended questions and additional comments, responses were

coded and placed in different categories. The following categories were used: retirement,

Affordable Care Act (ACA), eligibility, new hires, student insurance, and life change

events/leaves.

The communications tools that are used the most and that have been ranked higher in

effectiveness correlate. The tools that have been labeled as most effective are the most highly

used in benefits communication and customer service. This survey does not take into

consideration though which group uses which method the most, since no sign in sheet is used

during face-to-face interactions or no online data captures which group is using which method.

E.g., Retirees may use face-to-face meetings more and the website less, younger staff under age

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40 may use online resources more for retirement than those ages 41 and older, faculty may use

the website more versus brochures, etc. According to the 2013 Survey of MSU Employees,

conducted by the Office for Survey Research at MSU, the top six subjects that faculty and staff

want to receive information about via email include (in order): benefits and pay information,

employee discounts and resources, retirement information, policy and procedural updates,

training and professional development opportunities, and health and wellness. Also, according to

the 2013 Survey of MSU Employees, MSU HR is contacted most about benefits-related topics.

In addition, face-to-face conversations with benefits-related staff found that

presentations/workshops incur very low attendance. As a result possible considerations for

improvement could be to spend less time on presentations/workshops and more time on

multimedia materials that are accessible to everyone or traveling presentations held in different

colleges to make it easier for faculty and staff to attend. Also, face-to-face conversations with

staff revealed that younger people tend to use online materials for finding retirement information

more than older people.

Since online resources (website) rank low in effectiveness by the benefits-related staff, a

website usability study and assessment should be conducted on the benefits section of the HR

website. This assessment could uncover improvements that could make the website more

effective and potentially reduce the amount of telephone, email, and face-to-face time that is

used by benefits-related staff to answer employees’ questions, if the answers can easily be found

online. The multimedia components created should be utilized on the benefits website in addition

to creating a separate online presence for the materials stationed somewhere separately on

YouTube, a blog, a combination, etc.

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Multimedia creation and usage:

Materials created for use including videos, slideshows, PowerPoint presentations,

transcripts, etc., will not focus solely on benefits information. The goal is much broader. The

goal is not only to inform MSU faculty, staff and students of critical information, but to relate it

back to their health to ensure they make better decisions in the future. This includes health

information from a benefits perspective. I.e., if you take care of yourself when you’re younger,

you may need less medical assistance when you’re older. Less assistance means less worry when

wondering if you’ll have enough money saved through your retirement accounts for your health-

related needs.

There will be efforts to translate the videos into different languages for international

faculty, staff and students. Storytelling will be the central focus (though not the only focus) of all

health-related information that’s disseminated. Research has shown that storytelling is an

effective and persuasive method for disseminating health information1.

Future research considerations:

Since the website and directing people to online resources was ranked low in effectiveness

an assessment of the website’s layout and functionality should be considered. A survey of the

design and usefulness of the benefits section of the HR website should be conducted and given to

the customers that use the benefits section of the HR website. A customer feedback box on the

benefits section of the HR website should be considered for implementation to capture constant

1 Using Narrative Communication as a Tool for Health Behavior Change: A Conceptual, Theoretical, and Empirical Overview. Leslie J. Hinyard, MSW, Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH. Health Education and Behavior, 2006. http://bit.ly/Nzt1jR

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feedback on ways services could be improved. Though the MSU HR website was mentioned in

the 2013 Survey of MSU Employees, it did not focus specifically on the benefits section.

A questionnaire should be given to customers that use the services of the Total

Compensation and Wellness and Solutions Center units, including: MSU faculty, MSU staff,

MSU student employees, MSU temporary and on-call employees, and retirees. This survey can

help assess the effectiveness of the communication methods and services employed by Total

Compensation and Wellness and the Solutions Center.

In the future, a scope document should be created analyzing the number of deaf and hard of

hearing people at MSU. This document should be used to determine if closed captioning in the

video components are needed to help the deaf and hard of hearing understand benefits and

wellness information.

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