If You've Got Bad News, Give It Up

For a number of reasons, both good and bad, companies, unions and benefit funds are faced with difficult business results that lead to reductions in employee benefit 'entitlements.' Examples would include measures like reduced monthly pension amounts and increased participant cost sharing in medical benefit plans.
Burying your head in the sand: Psychologists say the 'ostrich problem' - ignoring information that can help us - arises because of the need to avoid negative feelings
But there is no need to stick your head in the sand, and, in so doing, keep participants (ne: recipients) in the dark. What is needed is a communications plan to create an actionable strategy to keep everyone informed and up-to-date. Too often, communications is an afterthought to lengthy and painful financial strategy sessions.  It doesn't have to be. At Just Got Word, we specialize in putting together participatory communication action plans that get everyone on the same page.  We find this to be very supportive of employee recruiting and retention goals.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NYC Hospital Crisis

In 2008, New York City hospitals spent $3 billion more on care than they took in. And, they operated at an average of a 6% loss versus the national average of operating at a 4% profit. One of the little discussed consequences of federal health reform and its related significant reductions in Medicare reimbursement will be the absence of any margin that can be used for capital investment. Speakers included: - Dr. Ralph de la Torre, President & CEO, Caritas Christi Health Care (recent name change to Steward Health Care)-- not a big fan of pharma companies; quite proud of himself for his work in Massachusetts, which has become, by default, the pilot for the National 'universal care' model advanced through the Health Care Reform Act. - Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners and Chairman, Commission on Healthcare Facilities in the 21st Century -- made a bunch of recommendations to the governor about 5 years ago as to which hospitals should be closed and whic
Read more

2011 Health Care Benefits New York Conference Feedback

tPF attended the above on March 7, 2011 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.  This annual event -- this was the 7th edition -- is an opportunity for health care, benefits and compensation professionals to convene and evaluate new health care practices and pending legislation.  Most of the attendees were HR and benefits administrators from large organizations in the New York metropolitan area. In addition to touring the exhibit halls and hearing what the vendors had to say, tPF had the opportunity to sit in on two general sessions presented by Patrick Kennedy (former Rhode Island Congressman) and David Tinkelman (MD/wellness expert at National Jewish Health, Denver, CO). Kennedy:  Loyal to the clan, his entire focus was on the CLASS act, one of the legacies of his dad, the late Ted Kennedy.  CLASS, a specific provision of the PPACA, offers caregivers and care recipients an alternative to the traditional long-term care insurance products that have cluttered the marketplace in re
Read more

Social Media Experts

Image
Just Got Word LLC has been retained by Factuarial, a New York-based actuarial services firm, to design and execute a social media strategy to help fuel Factuarial's ongoing growth.  Just Got Word will redesign Factuarial's website, and create a vibrant network of social media outlets to ramp up their expanding presence. We do social media, and we do it well.  Let us do it for your firm.  We are creative, fast and reasonably priced.  Let us help you wake up and energize your world.
Read more