By Karen Bucks, iCIMS Blogger

How transparent are your HR initiatives?

And, I am not talking about your external recruitment and branding efforts. We will save those for another date. As an HR Professional, it’s likely that you are in charge of all of those fantastic employee benefit programs that everyone is so very grateful for.

When a new recruit starts, they are usually given a run down of all of the benefits available and how they can take advantage of those programs and opportunities. I know I was. Usually these recruits are excited to be starting at a company that cares enough about them to offer all of these great extras.

As time passes, the employee is no longer a new recruit. Theoretically, they have succeeded at their job and have contributed to company excellence. So, why have they become unhappy as compared with their first few weeks with the company? You may or may not have run into this at your company, but it is always something HR Professionals must keep in mind. What has happened to make your employee unhappy and how can you deter this from happening?

Easy. Reopen that Employee Benefits Handbook. In a recent survey, benefits were considered the second most important determinant of job satisfaction. Let's leverage that.

If employees have excelled in their position it is probably due to the time and dedication they have given to their career development, which probably includes improving their work efficiency, industry expertise and management skills. But we are human, and sometimes we forget about the other stuff. These employees may have forgotten all the good opportunities available at the company and that could be one reason for unhappiness.

One of the easiest ways to counter this problem is by reminding employees of company benefits that they may not be taking advantage of. Why not try sending out an email campaign: “Benefit of the Month”? As the holidays approach, send them a reminder of some discount programs that may be good for this time of year (e.g. www.workadvantage.com).

I know most HR Professionals are bogged down by day-to-day tasks or long-term strategic planning, so the idea of “reminding” employees of something you have already told them may not seem like the most productive use of your time. But, it may be necessary. Try a correspondence tool (like the above picture) that can automate the process and send out mass messages. Or another great tool to try is an Employee Portal where employees can go on their free time to learn about benefit programs.

Why not try it? It’s an easy first step towards improving employee satisfaction!