BMW faced rising healthcare costs increasing over 10% annually and wanted to inform employees on how this affected the company. A video was created featuring the VP of Human Resources to explain new benefit plans and steps employees could take to reduce costs. The video helped employees understand challenges, feel empowered in healthcare choices, and view management as credible communicators committed to containing costs while supporting employees.

1. CASE STUDY
BMW Empowers Employees While Managing Increased Healthcare Costs
Executive Summary
Faced with healthcare costs that were increasing more than Organization
10% a year, BMW of North America wanted to inform their BMW Manufacturing
employees of how those costs were affecting the BMW company, Corporation of North America
and consequently BMW employees. Projections helped BMW
management communicate with their employees about ways to Solution Implmented
manage healthcare costs that would benefit the employees as Fully Custom Video to explain
well as the company. BMW implemented a program that not only benefit future benefit plans,
cut costs but helped employees to become better healthcare featuring the VP of Human
consumers. By using a member of upper management as a Resources as a narrator.
narrator, who was straightforward and open about changes BMW
would have to make to adjust to rising costs, the video proved to
Benefits
be credible and effective in communicating with employees.
• Positive message about
company’s response to
About BMW Manufacturing Corporation
healthcare crisis
In 1992, BMW announced that it would build a manufacturing
facility in the United States to strengthen its international
• Up-to-date information about
production system. The location, a 1,150-acre site in Spartanburg
the rising costs of healthcare
County, South Carolina, remains the only plant located in the US,
provided to all employees
and now serves as an integral part in the company’s five-plant
production network. BMW builds some of the world’s finest luxury
• Consistent explanation
performance vehicles, and unlike many other automobile factories,
of the new benefit plans,
all of the manufacturing processes in the South Carolina facility
including steps for employees
are under one roof, creating an open communications environment
to become better healthcare
that enhances the focus on quality.
consumers
Benefits Crisis • Employees and their families
BMW of North America, like so many companies, needed to informed about choices they
address the problem of rising health care costs. Healthcare costs would have in their health
were becoming a dangerously large part of their operating budget, benefits coverage
and they needed to develop a plan to prevent these costs from
interfering with their business success. BMW management wanted
to keep their employees informed of changes taking place, and
also to enlist the support of the employees in the installation of the
new plans.
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2. CASE STUDY
BMW Empowers Employees While Managing Increased Healthcare Costs
The Right Approach
To communicate the information with employees, Projections
worked with BMW to create a custom video that would help BMW
employees understand, believe, and accept all the challenges
facing the company. The underlying reasons for the national
healthcare crisis were explained, and BMW stressed how they
could manage rising healthcare costs by working together. BMW
utilized unique solutions to not only lower costs but to enable Projections
employees to become better health care consumers.
Projections is arguably the
New programs, such as an on-site pharmacy, flexible benefit plan, foremost provider of employee
and an emphasis on prevention (including a full-service family communication resources to
medical clinic), were being planned. These changes would not North American companies.
only lower costs but benefit the employees. BMW also reassured
their employees that no cost-shifting would take place in the With capabilities ranging from
upcoming year, and the employees would be informed in a timely custom video to websites
manner of any impending changes. and interactive eLearning,
Projections has been serving
Communication Helped Employees Feel Empowered the communication needs of
Because BMW took a proactive approach to educate their companies large and small
employees before the changes took place, the employees since 1979 by providing all
could have a part in the transition and therefore be part of the services from consulting
solution. By using the Spartanburg VP of Human Resources as to scriptwriting, producing,
a narrator, the video showed important information was being editing, graphic design and
communicated to them in a straight-forward, credible fashion, and more in-house.
that management trusted the employees to take responsibility in
the choices about their health. Over the last 30 years,
Projections has crafted the
right message in the right
medium for thousands of
corporations and millions of
employees.
www.projectionsinc.com