Side Affects Episode 155 | The Science of Employee Persuasion | Part III

November 1, 2025·33 min·1 clip

A 24-piece dinnerware set drew $523 on average, while a 40-piece damaged set drew only $257.

1. McGohan Brabender Side Affects: Disrupting Health Care closes a three-part series on employee persuasion with Kenzie McEvely and Dave Homan discussing liking, social proof, and unity. 2. Kenzie McEvely is the producer and host, and Dave Homan is MB Chief Marketing Officer, which matters because he applies Robert Cialdini’s principles to employee benefits communication. 3. The episode asks how benefits teams can move employees from indecision to decision without overloading them with information. 4. Dave’s liking example uses two side-by-side farmer’s market vendors selling the same preserves to show how a smile and a conversation can beat a silent interaction. 5. He says a connection matters more than being “best friends,” because trust rises when employees feel common ground with the person speaking to them. 6. Dave recommends peer testimonials, such as an employee story about telemedicine, after-hours care, and a pharmacy delivering a script to a house. 7. He introduces “benefit buddies” for younger employees who age off a parent’s plan and may need help with deductibles, preventive exams, and family coverage. 8. Dave says a featured newsletter can go deep on one point solution or internal initiative, then let employees hear from someone who used it. 9. For social proof, he summarizes the idea as “when we’re in doubt, the crowd can’t be wrong” and uses hotel towel reuse as the case study. 10. He gives the baseline at about 35% reuse, then says messaging tied to “this hotel” pushed reuse over 50%, and “people in this room” pushed it over 80%. 11. Dave connects that to benefits by saying a flyer like “65% of your peers have already selected the high deductible plan with an HSA” can move people faster than a long explanation. 12. He contrasts that with system two overload, saying too much hard information can cause procrastination when employees are still unsure. 13. Kenzie adds that her company uses internal portal polls and Amazon gift-card drawings to get more comments because people respond when they see others participating. 14. Dave also mentions department challenges for open enrollment, with mixed teams and a pizza party for the winning group. 15. In the unity section, Dave defines the principle as “the tribe” and ties it to culture, trust, and doing something because it belongs to something bigger than yourself. 16. He points to hurricane relief blood drives and food collection after flooding as examples of people acting for a shared identity. 17. Dave says unity has to be earned through transparency, including explaining claims, disease states, and why premiums changed by 3% when the employer absorbed the other 15%. 18. The tone is conversational and practical, with Kenzie prompting examples and Dave answering in a teaching style that stays close to workplace use cases. 19. Listeners who work in benefits, HR, or employee communications will get the most from this episode. 20. People wanting personal storytelling or a lighter format may skip it.

As heard by us

Benefits persuasion works best here when it leans on social proof and keeps the wording simple.

Kenzie McEvely and Dave Homan wrap up a three part series on persuasion by keeping the focus on employee benefits communication. The piece stays grounded in practical choices: build trust, hold attention, and make the message feel human instead of overloaded.

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Why you'd press play

When your enrollment message needs traction without sounding like another spreadsheet in a blazer.

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