July 23, 2026

Inclusive engagement is critical to helping employees and their family members find, understand and use health and well-being benefits. Even when inclusive benefits and policies are in place, differences in health literacy, language, digital access and familiarity with health systems can limit participation. Inclusive engagement focuses on how information is shared, how programs are activated and how employees are supported throughout their health journey. Engagement gaps are common: fewer than four in 10 surveyed employers in 2025 reported high employee engagement across most well-being dimensions, despite near-universal availability of programs highlighting that access alone does not guarantee activation.¹

By applying engagement strategies consistently across global operations while remaining responsive to local context, organizations can improve participation, reduce gaps in care, and strengthen the overall impact of their health and well-being strategies. Effective engagement does not require launching new programs; it requires making existing offerings easier to find, understand and use.

Below are ideas for action related to each key strategy. Implementing a holistic approach—and when possible, a global approach—will promote inclusion and consistency throughout the organization.

1 | Enable Employees and Their Family Members to Find, Understand and Engage in Benefits

Address Engagement Gaps and Remove Barriers

Engagement often hinges on ease of access rather than interest and can vary widely across workforce populations, even when benefits and well-being programs are broadly available. Differences in role type, wage level, geography and awareness can all influence participation. For example, studies show that low-wage earners are less likely to participate with employer-sponsored health and well-being programs while also having a greater prevalence of chronic conditions.^2-4 Understanding where engagement lags is a necessary first step to improving impact.

• Assess engagement across programs to identify hard-to-reach populations: Review participation and feedback across health, financial and well-being programs to understand where engagement is uneven. Examining patterns by role type, schedule, location or wage band can reveal where existing programs are not reaching intended audiences.
• Simplify how benefits are discovered and accessed: Consolidate information into centralized, easy-to-navigate platforms so employees do not need to search across multiple sites or vendors to find basic answers. Use consistent naming, plain-language descriptions and clear calls to action so employees can move from awareness to utilization with fewer steps.
• Foster health and benefits literacy: Employers are also uniquely positioned to promote benefits literacy by providing educational resources and tools that explain benefit basics, such as the meaning of terms like deductibles and out-of-pocket maximum in the U.S. Globally, modifying communications to meet local terminology and cultural norms is a critical component to effective efforts.
• Personalize content and navigation: Personalization helps employees quickly identify programs that are relevant to their needs, reducing decision fatigue. Navigators and workplace champions can also help employees understand options, particularly during complex or unfamiliar health moments. Vendors can leverage artificial intelligence to create greater personalization to support this effort.
• Work with partners to tailor content based on employee needs and feedback: Collaborate with vendors to configure engagement tools that prioritize information based on employees' unique healthcare needs so that they see the most relevant options first.
• Promote navigation: Encourage employees to utilize available healthcare navigators to help them make informed decisions and understand how to maximize plan features and minimize out-of-pocket costs. Here too, early adopters are leveraging AI-powered tools to personalize outreach and automate engagement, improving participation while maintaining ethical guardrails and transparency.⁵ In fact, according to the 2026 Employer Well-being Strategy Survey, 32% of surveyed employers strongly agree that AI is helping to generate appropriate engagement in well-being programs.⁶ Ensure that navigation tools also connect employees to culturally responsive providers and inclusive care through searchable provider directories that flag provider attributes such as language, cultural competence, disability access and telehealth capabilities.

2 | Use Trusted and Context‑Appropriate Communication to Advance Health Inclusion

Trusted and context-appropriate communication helps employees move from awareness to action. People are more likely to engage when messages come from credible sources who reflect their lived experiences and communicate in ways that feel relevant, respectful, and easy to understand. This is especially important in global organizations where norms, language preferences, and trust dynamics vary by country, culture, and community.

• Leverage trusted messengers and culturally relevant communications: Use internal and external messengers who different employee populations already trust (for example, peer champions, local leaders and clinicians) and tailor messages so that they reflect employees’ language, lived experience and cultural context. Consider an omnichannel approach (email, chat, intranet pages and engagement platforms working together) and use surveys and focus groups to confirm channel and message preferences. Ask vendors to share engagement and outcome metrics for employee-facing campaigns to evaluate what is working.
• Leverage ERGs to improve benefits communication and activation: Employee Resource Groups (ERG) can help employees navigate what already exists by translating benefit language into plain terms, validating that messages land as intended and reducing the trust gap that often limits participation. This approach strengthens activation without requiring new programs or duplicating governance work covered elsewhere. Involve ERGs early to review benefit explanations, portal language and campaign messages for clarity, tone and cultural relevance. ERG leaders and members can also reinforce credibility by sharing practical “how to use this benefit” guidance, hosting Q&As and normalizing help-seeking through peer storytelling. When ERGs help shape and carry the message, engagement efforts rely less on one-size-fits-all campaigns and more on trusted channels that reflect how employees actually learn and decide.

Related Business Group on Health Resources

• Podcast: Why the Message and Messenger Matter: Improving Health Literacy with Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick
• Powering Engagement and Improving Outcomes Through Effective Navigation
• Balancing Promise and Precaution: The Role of AI in Employer-Sponsored Health Care
• Podcast: Social Prescribing for Purpose, Connection and Improved Patient Outcomes
• Artificial Intelligence in Health Care and Employee Benefits: What Employers Need to Know

More Topics

Resource Health Inclusion