Let's face it – open enrollment is not a static event. It takes months of planning to execute a seamless and productive experience for employees. For many companies, open enrollment is the only time employees focus on reviewing their benefits package. Creating exceptional benefit solutions your employees need, want, and love is not just a science, it's an art.
Prior to the open enrollment event, HR managers should reflect and act on last year's wins and headaches – what worked and what did not. Ideally this begins right after the conclusion of the open enrollment period but if you haven't had that luxury, do it now. There's always time to improve!
As benefits administrators and HR professionals, being open about how to improve internal processes will provide immeasurable value to employees and create a smooth experience all around. Each year is an opportunity to improve upon previous years and to deploy new marketing tools that help educate and support your employees.
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Let's look at three key lessons we have learned from previous open enrollments:
1. Create buzz
Energize the enrollment season by infusing excitement into your communications… don't be shy about attention grabbing. Use humor or real-life stories to make the benefits more relatable.
Communicate early and often! To reduce confusion about new offerings or changes, promote open enrollment several weeks before the actual event begins. This will allow employees an opportunity to educate themselves and discuss plan options with significant others.
When introducing a new benefit, create awareness through various media and messaging that will help generate interest in the plan before and during the open enrollment period. Strategically utilize all communication channels to reach your audience. Look to the company intranet, company newsletter, social media, home mailings, posters, email campaigns, display monitors, text messaging and other avenues. If possible, offer in-person group meetings, webinars, lunch and learns, or face-to-face time with advisors for employees.
CCC – Clean, Clear and Consistent! Open enrollment communications should have a clean, clear and consistent message and brand so that employees can quickly find information and act on it.
Be strategic in your messaging, timing and placement of information so employees know where to look, who to ask for support and how to enroll with simple easy steps.
2. Enrollment mechanics 101
Enrollment in voluntary benefits is not one-size-fits-all, so it's important to consider the various enrollment platforms and strategies.
How to enroll? These days it is generally via an online enrollment platform. The key for an effective voluntary benefits enrollment is to position the election on the core enrollment platform placed logically in the sequence of enrollment steps – for example, if you are offering critical illness insurance and/or accident insurance, place it immediately after medical insurance.
Depending on the employer and the benefit, other ways to enroll would include: face-to-face meetings onsite at the workplace with a professional enroller, telephonic, paper forms or a combination of the above. The more personalized the method, the greater enrollment employers can expect.
When possible, track employees' progress through enrollment and engage with employees who may have abandoned the enrollment with a personalized message. Outline how much time they have left to enroll and where to go for additional support. By continuing communications, companies can keep their employees engaged and help them learn about their options through accessible information.
3. Take a pulse
Last, but certainly not least, get feedback from the people who matter the most – employees. One of the simplest, but most effective ways, is to conduct a survey. Poll employees about the open enrollment process, how it went for them, what can be improved and if the voluntary benefit options were presented clearly. There is no more valuable information to HR teams than direct feedback! Surveys must be solicited timely so that the open enrollment experience is at the top of employees' minds.
Open enrollment marks the culmination of all the hard work HR teams put in year-round to develop benefits packages that best support the business and well-being of employees. Examining the successes and pitfalls year over year will help companies showcase these packages in a clear, effective manner, and most importantly allow employees to make smart decisions for the year ahead.
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